I apologize for not adding the Day 7 blog yesterday, I was simply exhausted. We hunted in the rain yesterday morning, and I didn't make any find of note except for one small brass buckle. But the highlight of the day was when my digging buddy, carpool driver, and friend Josh came over with something to show me. He held out a carbine sling buckle, plow bent but with both keepers, and asked if I knew what it was. I sure did! It's a carbine sling buckle, used on a wide leather belt to attach a cavalryman to his weapon so he could hold the reins. Josh had found his first Civil War buckle! They were used by both sides, but based on the construction, it appears that his was made by the Union. I didn't get a picture of his buckle to show you, but below is a picture of a Union carbine sling buckle I found a while back right here in Saxapahaw. It was both my first Civil War buckle and the first Civil War relic I had ever found. Josh hadn't cleaned when I last saw him, so I don't know if it had any maker's mark. My buckle from Saxapahaw is double stamped. The first says "E. Gaylord Chicopee Mass.", the buckle maker. The second stamp reads "T. J. Shepard", the US equipment inspector. It's hard to get an idea of the size of this buckle from this picture, but it's quite large at about 3.25 x 2 inches.
We celebrated for a bit, and dug some more before the rains hit hard. We went back for lunch and the relic show (with some AMAZING finds on display) under the HQ tent. After lunch we were wet (with more rain coming), exhausted from a week of relic hunting, and happy with our respective buckles - so we decided to hit the road early, and come back to Saxapahaw a bit early. That was nice, as I was starting to miss this little town. It's good to be home.
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