Locating Bivouac/Campsite?

Tennessee737 · Feb 12, 2020

So I'm doing a bit of winter research on some bivouac and camp areas around Middle TN. I have read a lot of the OR reports and have a few properties in mind I would like to ask permission. I have read "Finding Civil War Camps in Rural Areas" but I still find myself unsure of a few things. How far off the roads would the soldiers usually camp? I know when Hood was passed by in Spring Hill the soldiers reported being able to see the Confederate camp fires and a few Union soldiers even wandered over into the Confederate camps...so I'm thinking maybe 2-300 yards? I'm sure a lot of it was location/geography dependent.

The book I read also mentions camps on the south/southwest side of the hills in winter. I can see this as beneficial for warmth but wouldn't the other sides of the hill be just as beneficial for other reasons such as staying hidden. Would it matter in the summer? Would wooded vs. pasture play a role in the location decision? Should they camp closer to the water or the road? I can see the advantages of each. Looks like sleeping right next to the road would leave you pretty vulnerable to attack if anyone snuck by your pickets.

Anyway, sorry for the ramblings but any advice or thoughts would be greatly appreciated. I'm really new to all this and trying to find a bit of direction.

Cheers!

7centsworth · Feb 12, 2020

Try to get a hold of letters that the soldiers wrote. I watch eBay constantly for letters from the camp I hunt. I read in one letter where they trained up to a mile and a half alway. That letter alone opened up a whole new ballgame for my relic findings. And once a man I hunted on asked me to look for a hitch pin he had lost. This was about 1000 yards from the road and creek. When I was looking for the pin I started finding relics by the hundreds. I knew his place had been detected but they had never detected this far back.

TexHunter · Feb 12, 2020

Excellent thread...

Tennessee737 · Feb 12, 2020

7cents, that is great! Its gotta be a great feeling to find an area you are almost certain no-one has detected before! Thanks for the advice. I have been looking for diaries online but I'm having trouble finding anything that is specific to my area. They gotta be out there, I just have to find the right place to find 'em. I checked the local library and found one diary(book) that talked of a few areas around here. Maybe a local historical society or similar place will have something more that I can look through. I like the eBay letter idea...I guess there are lots of letters out there that families hold onto for generations then for whatever reason get sold....havn't put a lot of thought into that one. Good stuff!

7centsworth · Feb 12, 2020

I actually have the camps I hunt saved on eBay and I have two others spelled wrong in case somebody spells it wrong when they post it. I actually got one really cheap that was spelled wrong once. But sometimes they have the letter where you can read it. So I will read them and take notes. It has been a while since one has been posted from the camp I hunt though.

Tennessee737 · Feb 12, 2020

I have just been looking on eBay. I think that will be a great source. Now if I could only re-learn to read the cursive writing. Takes me a while but I usually can struggle through most of them. I really like the ones they transcribe...what a time saver!

maxxkatt · Feb 16, 2020

one of the best tips I have heard. I do a lot of research in the Atlanta area comparing old CW maps to current locations on Google Earth and historic aerial maps but it is still tough to narrow down some specifics like artillery placements.

maxxkatt · Mar 13, 2020

I notice in the OR reports for CW in Atlanta they use as a reference land lots. So the union must have had local land lot maps. Maybe you have land lot maps in your area and the OR's referred to them. It would be a great help.

I find identifying actual CW campsites and march routes not as easy as it sounds.

In Georgia historical markers are worthless since some have been moved a mile or so and the wording stays the same since they are cast in brass.

plus local reports seem to be always contradicting each other so you don't know which to believe. So you end up hunting the one that is still huntable.

Locating Bivouac/Campsite?

Tennessee737

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7centsworth

TexHunter

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Tennessee737

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7centsworth

Tennessee737

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maxxkatt

maxxkatt

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