Raymond Battlefield Park Addition

The reason for so much unfired ammunition in the Raymond area was because it was pouring down rain when the battle was going on.Where the Union troops camped following the battle of Raymond along Mississippi Springs and Snake Creek we found whole cartridge boxes ,up to 40 rounds, dumped out when fresh ammunition was issued. I found the Confederate burial trench along the creek near where the bridge crosses. The remains had been reburied at the Raymond city cemetery at the turn of the century. There were scant remains left in the trench.
Bill Wright ex historical -archeologist
Mississippi Department of Archives and History

That is true, and they are still here, popping up out of the ground. Just last summer, one of my family members outside Raymond was doing some bulldozer work on his property, along a narrow ridge, and pushed up around 800 or so .58 caliber minie balls — he gathered them up off the ground like Easter eggs!! He had to buy a bunch of cases to put them in, but they sure make for a nice display and unique conversation.

The war is still in the dirt here!
 
Two quantities of minie balls I recall well I found in Bovina. One was nearly a whole case of .69 caliber and the other one was at a site that had been hastily abandoned by the Confederates. It was about half a case of .58 caliber 3 ring which had evidently been contained in a wooden box along with a beautiful Confederate wishbone buckle.
 
That is true, and they are still here, popping up out of the ground. Just last summer, one of my family members outside Raymond was doing some bulldozer work on his property, along a narrow ridge, and pushed up around 800 or so .58 caliber minie balls — he gathered them up off the ground like Easter eggs!! He had to buy a bunch of cases to put them in, but they sure make for a nice display and unique conversation.

The war is still in the dirt here!
I bet I can guess what property it was!

For what it’s worth though, it did not rain during the battle. It was hot and dry.
 
The reason for so much unfired ammunition in the Raymond area was because it was pouring down rain when the battle was going on.Where the Union troops camped following the battle of Raymond along Mississippi Springs and Snake Creek we found whole cartridge boxes ,up to 40 rounds, dumped out when fresh ammunition was issued. I found the Confederate burial trench along the creek near where the bridge crosses. The remains had been reburied at the Raymond city cemetery at the turn of the century. There were scant remains left in the trench.
Bill Wright ex historical -archeologist
Mississippi Department of Archives and History
It didn’t rain during the battle. In fact, it was hot and dry, and the troops marching sent dust clouds hundreds of feet in the air.

It did rain heavily during the battle of Jackson tho
 
I bet I can guess what property it was!

Not anywhere on the battlefield (on the off-chance that is what you are implying). I didn’t catch BillWright’s assertion of rain during the fight. But you are right. I think Miller’s recent book on Vicksburg, which states that it rained during the fight at Raymond, has caused folks to repeat the notion — which, as you state, is incorrect.
 
Not anywhere on the battlefield (on the off-chance that is what you are implying). I didn’t catch BillWright’s assertion of rain during the fight. But you are right. I think Miller’s recent book on Vicksburg, which states that it rained during the fight at Raymond, has caused folks to repeat the notion — which, as you state, is incorrect.
Not at all! Didn’t mean to imply that.

The current battlefield only covers half the fight. The other half took place on a ridge roughly where this red stripe is.
25C84EFD-9AD6-4BD1-963A-90DFD41F9CB7.jpeg
 
Not at all! Didn’t mean to imply that.

The current battlefield only covers half the fight. The other half took place on a ridge roughly where this red stripe is.View attachment 427919

Interesting. However, the artifacts I was describing came from a different property on the other side of town and probably had no relation to the battle. I suspect the bullets I mentioned were associated with McClernand’s corps, possibly Blair, who arrived during, or had marched through, the rainstorms subsequent to the battle. A couple dozen were wormed, the rest dropped, indicating ruined ammunition due to moisture and a resupply.
 
Interesting. However, the artifacts I was describing came from a different property on the other side of town and probably had no relation to the battle. I suspect the bullets I mentioned were associated with McClernand’s corps, possibly Blair, who arrived during, or had marched through, the rainstorms subsequent to the battle. A couple dozen were wormed, the rest dropped, indicating ruined ammunition due to moisture and a resupply.
Ah! Yeah, McPherson and McClernand both camped on that side of town, McPherson on the 12th and McClernand on the 13th/14th. I guess the rain on the 14th must have been the culprit.
 
Speaking of Raymond, the 159th battle anniversary is today. Wish I was there. I will be there some day on the battle anniversary...because it's there.
 
We have a little museum in town and they are stored there. All the artifacts recovered (each and every one) were painstakingly mapped and marked with GPS and put in individual packets. Our recoveries changed the traditional knowledge and view of troop locations, particularly Cannon positions and the 3rd Tennessee's precise location.
Not sure why I missed this the first time this got a bump from the moderators.

How big a gap was there between the 7th TX and the 3rd TN? From the sources I have seen, it appears that when the 23rd Indiana broke and ran, half of them ran straight towards the 20th Illinois and half ran back towards their place in line. The 7th TX chased the group that ran for the 20th Illinois and the 3rd TN chased the other group. This left the regiment in the middle of the brigade curiously unengaged (124th Illinois) while the two units on either side were hotly pressed (20th Illinois and 45th Illinois).

Do you have a map of the locations for the rounds you recovered?
 
See post #26 in this thread.
Thanks! What is the distinction between red, yellow, and green markers?

You can see the gap between the 7th Texas and the 3rd TN, so that certainly gives me a better feel for why the 124th Illinois mostly sat unengaged.
 
How big a gap was there between the 7th TX and the 3rd TN?

From my recollection — and being strictly based on artifacts recovered — there was a significant gap between the two where little or no artifacts were recovered. The terrain in there is also a bit broken up by a ravine, but not sure if that was the case during the battle. But I would say it was at least 30 yards or so. But that’s just from my memory.
 
From my recollection — and being strictly based on artifacts recovered — there was a significant gap between the two where little or no artifacts were recovered. The terrain in there is also a bit broken up by a ravine, but not sure if that was the case during the battle. But I would say it was at least 30 yards a or so. But that’s just from my memory.
The Confederate rifle at some point tried its hand at shooting the wagons parked oh top of the hill behind the Federal line, but they were overshooting by about 10 feet. It would be interesting to calculate the trajectory and go find those rounds to prove what type of gun they had.
 
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