How should I approach this?

Digging Up Bottles · Dec 5, 2012

Ok. Here's the situation: About a mile away from me there is this house built in 1854. It was a confederate general's headquarters during the Civil War. I want to find the privy(s), but there's one problem...the land it sits on is 7 acres! It's not one of those townhouses, it's in rural Virginia [8|]. My question is: what is the best strategy to find this privy on such a huge landscape?

Oh...this will be my first potential privy dig. I'm getting some probes shipped to me on the 11th. The anticipation is unbearable!

Thanks for the replies!

RICKJJ59W · Dec 5, 2012

Walk behind the house and say to your self..."How far would I want to go if I had a bad case of the runs?" and probe around there [

]

Seriously I would probe around the back of the house. I never found a outhouse 7 acres away from the house[

]

Digging Up Bottles · Dec 5, 2012

[

] That's a good one Rick! I'll keep that in mind!

Plumbata · Dec 5, 2012

Good luck, but I would imagine that in Virginia, most pontiled pits used by a confederate general would have been dug up years ago. Who knows though, it is worth some serious investigation. Metal detecting would likely be very fruitful too.

surfaceone · Dec 5, 2012

It was a confederate general's headquarters during the Civil War. I want to find the privy(s), but there's one problem...the land it sits on is 7 acres! It's not one of those townhouses, it's in rural Virginia . My question is: what is the best strategy to find this privy on such a huge landscape?

Hey Tim,

Are you talking about this general?

I'd be probing every depression I saw. Do you have a metal detector? I'd think one would be most useful in such an area.

There would have been thousands of soldiers that camped with him. You're talking Latrine City!

Is any of the land used agriculturally? I'd be walking and looking and would use a spray can of paint to mark spots...

Rural / farm house pits are often hard to find. What is the topography like?

Digging Up Bottles · Dec 5, 2012

Hey surfaceone. The topography is pretty flat around the house, so it won't be that hard to find depressions. It has a pond and a stream within the woods in the back, the woods being about 4-5 acres. The land was originally farmland, but has been sold off over the years for housing. If General Hill passed through Loudoun County on his way to Gettysburg, he may have stopped there. I have to do more research about that.

I do have a metal detector, a Teknetics T2 SE. Good for this Virginia clay.

Digging Up Bottles · Dec 5, 2012

Correction: The house was built in 1813. That much better [

]

Digging Up Bottles · Dec 5, 2012

After a little research, I think I may have found a name. General Thomas Jackson (don't know if it's Stonewall Jackson since it's such a common name) burnt Berlin Bridge in Brunswick, MD, about 3 miles from the house. Go to Loudoun County in the American Civil War on Wikipedia for more info instead of me summarizing it all.

Here's a link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loudoun_County_in_the_American_Civil_War

deenodean · Dec 5, 2012

Invite me !! I have my passport ... [

]

surfaceone · Dec 5, 2012

General Thomas Jackson (don't know if it's Stonewall Jackson since it's such a common name) burnt Berlin Bridge in Brunswick, MD,

Hey Tim,

Only one General Thomas Jackson in the Confederate Corps, however.

"Standing like a stone wall..."

How should I approach this?

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