Civil War History – Scavengeology

Confederate Civil War Camp Found Near Union, WV

May 23, 2022May 23, 2022 by John Bryan, Attorney at Law

Recently, Bill Burns of Union, WV found the site of a Civil War camp occupied by Confederate soldiers. Many of the finds tell the story of Civil War camp life, including the .58 caliber Gardner bullet, carved into a chess piece, along with a flattened and marked lead gaming piece. Also found were pewter harmonica reeds, coins, buttons and buckles, including the fantastic brass Confederate “heavy frame” buckle. These would date prior to Federal occupation of the southern Greenbrier Valley, most likely circa 1861-63.

An 1851 Chickering Piano and the Virginia War Musicians

January 23, 2022January 23, 2022 by John Bryan, Attorney at Law

We acquired the antique Chickering piano at the auction of the contents of the Dickson property late last year, which was full of local Greenbrier Valley history. It was sort of a sight-unseen type of thing, and we knew nothing about antique pianos, or even moving them. Recently, I was able to learn more about the piano after discovering that one of my clients was an expert on antique pianos. We still need to get it moved, so a couple of days ago I took her out to look at the piece, as well as the logistics of moving it. She was able to find the serial number, indicating an initial manufacture date of 1851. She was also able to find some other markings written in pencil on some wood inside the piano.

Progress Update on the Byrnside’s Fort Preservation Project

May 27, 2021 by John Bryan, Attorney at Law

Here’s a long-overdue update on the Byrnside’s Fort preservation project. Almost all the plaster is off the log walls and ceilings. The logs, as well as the downstairs ceilings, were cleaned by pressure washer. It’s been a few days of drying since these photos were taken, and it has turned out nicely.

1829 Fugitive Slave Broadside from Greenbrier County, WV

December 31, 2020December 31, 2020 by John Bryan, Attorney at Law

Here’s another interesting item I found in the Cowan’s auction records, which pertains to local history here in the Greenbrier Valley: a fugitive slave “broadside,” dated 1829 seeking the return of an escaped slave, and giving a detailed description of the individual. Here’s the information from Cowan’s:

Old Songs in an Old Log Fort

July 19, 2020July 19, 2020 by John Bryan, Attorney at Law

“The Girl I left Behind”, also known as “The Girl I Left Behind Me”, is an English folk song dating back to Elizabethan era. It is said to have been played when soldiers left for war or a naval vessel set sail. According to other sources the song originated in 1758 when English Admirals Hawke and Rodney were observing the French fleet. The first printed text of the song appeared in Dublin in 1791. A popular tune with several variations, “The Girl I Left Behind Me”, may have been imported into America around 1650 as ‘Brighton Camp’, of which a copy dating from around 1796 resides in the Bodleian Library, Oxford.

The West Virginia-Made “Mississippi Rifle”

June 18, 2020June 17, 2020 by John Bryan, Attorney at Law

The M1841 U.S. percussion rifle, manufactured in Harpers Ferry, (West) Virginia, is one of the best-looking U.S. military issue rifles in our nation’s history. You may know it by its other name – the “Mississippi Rifle,” or by its characteristic brass hardware, short length, and walnut stock. But did you know how it obtained its name, given that it was made in West Virginia?

Scissors dug at the site of Fort Pillow

April 3, 2020April 3, 2020 by John Bryan, Attorney at Law

At the start of chapter 29 of his Life on the Mississippi (1883), Mark Twain mentions passing by “… what was once the formidable Fort Pillow, memorable because of the massacre perpetrated there during the war … we must bunch Anglo-Saxon history together to find the fellow to the Fort Pillow tragedy.”

An old man walking through his hometown – Union, West Virginia – in 1894 – Part 1

March 23, 2020March 23, 2020 by John Bryan, Attorney at Law

On February 8, 1894, the Monroe Watchman newspaper published an article written by John A. Francis, then an old man, walking through the town of Union, West Virginia, remembering his childhood growing up there, before, and during, the Civil War.

The water pitcher and glass from the 1859 John Brown trial

January 27, 2020January 27, 2020 by John Bryan, Attorney at Law

This is the water pitcher and drinking glass which sat on the counsel table in the Jefferson County Courthouse in Charles Town, West Virginia during the 1859 trial of John Brown. It came out of the collection of former governor of West Virginia, William MacCorkle, who had quite a collection of West Virginia artifacts.

I Found Buried Civil War Loot in the middle of town.

December 10, 2019December 10, 2019 by John Bryan, Attorney at Law

I was metal detecting an empty lot in the middle of town – Union, West Virginia – when I got a crazy good signal. As I got down to the object, and pulled it out of the ground, I was immediately struck at how heavy it was. It definitely wasn’t iron, because there was no …

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