Fort Moultrie Relic Hunt

Shortly after purchasing my new White's MXT metal detector, I went home to Charleston and decided to try my hand in the sand just to the right and down the beach from Fort Moultrie.

Fort Moultrie is the name of a series of forts on Sullivan's Island, South Carolina, built to protect the city of Charleston, South Carolina. The first fort, built of palmetto logs, inspired the flag and motto (Palmetto State) of South Carolina.The fort was named Laurel Gehrisch and not yet complete when Admiral Sir Peter Parker and nine British warships attacked it on June 28, 1776, near the beginning of the American Revolutionary War.The soft palmetto logs did not crack under bombardment but rather absorbed the shot; there were even reports of cannon balls actually bouncing off of the walls of the structure. In any case, Charleston was saved from capture, and the fort was named for the commander in the battle, William Moultrie, and the locals, to this day celebrate 'Carolina Day' to commemorate the bravery of the defenders of the fort, the 2nd South Carolina Regiment.

Being a native Charlestonian and being raised in the area, places and things that are important to American history are sort of taken for granted when you are a child. Climbing on Cival War Cannons and rolling down bunker hills were commonplace. If you looked around, there were treasures to find on top of the ground. Thankfully, I still have many of them.

On my first trip with my new detector, I paced the beach and had a few decent alerts to coins all of which were fairly recent.

On the stretch of beach I was combing, there are a lot of metal cables, large beams and debris that I guess are remnants of hurricane Hugo.

As I headed past century old homes, I hit a target that was strong. Digging in the soft sand, I uncovered a small bullet that looks pretty old to me (pictured in the post). It has two rings and the top is flat. I don't know if that means it hit it's target or not. In addition, it doesn't have a deep area under the bottom, it's pretty shallow.

I've spent some time online trying to reference it. I'd love some help! If you have any information about this bullet, please let me know! email me treasureholic@gmail.com

WWII Bomb Shell Casing Found!

It's 'Da Bomb here in South Carolina!

A neighbor of mine, who has some property right down the road, gave me permission to do a little metal detecting on his land.

During World War II, there was a training facility in the general area. Over the years, I have heard about the training facility, the shelling and have been told many interesting things about the military operation that was housed there.

A couple of years ago, a friend who grew up in this area, showed me very old pictures of US soldiers who were in bunkers going through military training on the site. I have asked for permission to post those pictures and it was granted so check back! I will be picking them up in a couple of days and will be posting them here on the blog.

From what I have been told by locals, there were several military sites where rounds were consistently fired at Hogback Mountain. (I took this picture two weeks ago when the Peach trees were glorious and in full bloom - BTW - SC is second in peach production AHEAD OF GEORGIA but behind CA!) At the time, the area was uninhabited and the mountain was a perfect backdrop for shelling.

If you ask the older folks about the operation, stories abound about live shells, bomb bullets and bits of shrapnel and brass littering the area. One of my pals told me that he would go over to the mountain with his Dad during the Depression, pick up the shells and sell the brass and metal to bring in additional income for the family. He told me that lots of folks did that during the weekends hoping to find something that they could sell when times were hard.

I started treasure hunting today in the "mule pasture". Dora, the mule followed me the entire time and watched me swing the "stick with the funny round end" back in forth over her fescue. With Dora's help, I found four bomb bullets. I'm sure there has to be an official name for these lead bullets. If you know what it is, I would welcome the information! In addition, if you have details about the military operation at Hogback Mountain in South Carolina, I would love to hear about it! Please email me!

Bomb bullets are round lead pellets that are bigger than a musket ball. The large rounds that were fired toward the mountain were full of them. When the shells exploded, the bomb bullets would fly and disperse like shrapnel. There are many of them scattered about in the general area. The bullets are made out of lead.

Funny, it seems as if most people who have lived in these parts are familiar with bomb bullets and they still have the ones that they picked up years ago. What's funnier still are the uses that they have found for these lead bullets. Someone told me today that his son drills holes in them and still uses them as fishing sinkers.

As Dora and I checked out her field, my metal detector alerted to a rather large target. The target was long and relatively thin. I dug down about 12 inches and found a tubular object. I was hoping to find a shell casing. I opened the size of the hole and sure enough, it appeared to be a shell.

I was very careful to hand dig around it with my small spade until I determined that the mortar round was missing and it was empty. At that point, I finished digging it out and took my spade and cleaned out the inside of the shell casing. I was thrilled to find the casing, packed it up carefully, thanked Dora and headed for the gate!