Myers Depot Metal Detectors

Did Soldiers Carry Money

ME&MYACE400

ME&MYACE400

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This maybe a silly question, but yesterday I was invited to some private property to hunt and the owners clam that the soldiers use to camp out along the river on there property. I was wondering if I might find money or something other that they had?

The owners are excited about me coming to check it out:grin:

Thank You
 
Yep! Those payroll wagons were not rolling along for no reason! There was no Direct Deposit or Debit cards back then! I am not sure of the specifics of all soldiers, but I can imagine, since the Roman Times or before, a payroll wagon would show up at a camp, pay would be disbursed, and then the guys would commence to gambling and wagons of vendors and various others would show up as well..probably following the payroll wagons like vultures..If you are finding harmonica reeds...thats good dirt...Report back...
 
They sure did. I often hunt national guard property where they bivouac in the woods and have since the early 1900's. I have found quite a bit of silver, collar buttons, and other militaria from both WWI & WWII.
 
Mud-puppy said:
Yep! Those payroll wagons were not rolling along for no reason! There was no Direct Deposit or Debit cards back then! I am not sure of the specifics of all soldiers, but I can imagine, since the Roman Times or before, a payroll wagon would show up at a camp, pay would be disbursed, and then the guys would commence to gambling and wagons of vendors and various others would show up as well..probably following the payroll wagons like vultures..If you are finding harmonica reeds...thats good dirt...Report back...
Click to expand...

Well the first part of the hunt only produce the top of a 12 gauge bullet. Now not to far away it looks as though i dug what looks like part of a rifle, i looked around and didn't see any trees to close so i'm thinking this was no root. It detected by all categories. It was about 4 to 5 inches wide and wood looking. Will have to go back with more digging power:lol:
 
Good Luck with the dig....yep, should be plenty of coins from card games gone array and spilled here and there...maybe... just trying to pump you up!
 
I say make notes of the stuff you find and where you find them..

Sometimes you can get a good picture of what was going on there..

sort of like do some forensics on it.. or just beep and dig the hell out of it.
 
SoOregonMd said:
I say make notes of the stuff you find and where you find them..

Sometimes you can get a good picture of what was going on there..

sort of like do some forensics on it.. or just beep and dig the hell out of it.
Click to expand...

That's what i do, look around and picture the scene as if it was real. I have the spot marked to go back. After looking at rifles i am more excited to go back. My hubby thinks it could also be a buried murder weapon:wow:
 
solders pay

From most things i have read most civil war solders were paid in coins and many pay wagons on both sides off the war were lost during the conflicts. Since there was a lot of down time around camps and on army post many coins could be lost. Since solders had no way to send their wages home they had to carry it , gamble it or spend it on booze.
 
I might suggest you read the actual letters that Civil War soldiers sent back home. By doing so you get a factual account of camp life, battles fought, the effect on families and a myriad of other facts as they truthfully occurred.

Look up Cornell University Making of America, the Library of Congress and other sites that offer a searchable database of the official records of the war.

Doing so will greatly reduce guessing, speculation, and personal opinion. Facts are difficult to dispute.
 
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