|
Battle of Hobkirk Hill Survey
Test Lot One Summary
by Tariq Ghaffar, Project Archaeologist
Fig.1: 617 Greene St. Property looking west across broad open area.
The first property addressed on the metal detector survey of the Battle of Hobkirk’s Hill was that of 617 Greene Street, owned by Mr. and Mrs. William P. “DeeBo” Kelly,
III. This property was selected first due to imminent impact caused by the sell-off and development of a south parcel of the lot. The lot was metal detected twice—once in October 2005 by David Reuwer and John Allison, then again on December 10, 2005
by John Allison and James Allison after timber was cleared, stumps were pulled and construction on a new home [for Charles V. B. Cushman, III, Esq.] was begun.
The lot (treated not as two pieces of land, but as a whole) consists of 2.31 acres.
It lies on the south side of Greene Street and on the mid southern slope of the
west Hobkirk’s Hill. The standing Kelly residence, built near the putting green
of the Kirkwood Golf Course in about 1900, lies on the upper northern portion of
the property on an area that is terraced, heavily planted, and landscaped. The terrain
continues to the south in what appears to be a natural southerly slope, with few
trees or obstructions (referred to in Fig.1 as broad open area) at the time of our
visit on December 10th. Between the two visits, large mature hardwoods had been
removed from the southwestern portion of the lot, to provide a drive access to the
southwest subdivided parcel. The removal of these arboreal obstructions allowed
metal detectors to examine previously unsurveyable ground on the second visit. A
house foundation was also constructed in the southwest quadrant of the property
between visits. By the time the lot was photographed (see Fig.’s 1 & 2), much
change appeared to have taken place, though the topographic terrain remained the
same. In short, disturbance caused by construction (up to December 10, 2005) seemed
minimal and superficial.
Thirty metallic artifacts were recovered from the property. They were broken into
six primary categories. These categories are the same as those being used to sort
the artifacts recovered from the South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology’s
survey of the Battle of Camden. The categories consist of: lead shot associated
with the battle (S); arms and accoutrements, not including ammunition (A); clothing
artifacts (C); iron and lead canister shot (G); miscellaneous artifacts, probably
or possibly associated with the battle (M); and of miscellaneous artifacts not associated
with the battle (N).
Archaeologists Jason Smith, James B. Legg and Tariq Ghaffar, as well as ARCHH team
members and various experts on certain types of historic artifacts examined all
the artifacts. As of this writing, conservation of artifacts has not yet begun.
All artifacts photographed are in their un-conserved state. They will be re-photographed
after conservation has taken place.
Eighteen of 30 finds on the property consisted of lead shot. These were analyzed
using Daniel Sivilch’s chart of musket ball weights and calibers (see Figure 11
and as
published in Vol. 2, Number 1 SCAR, January 2005), levels of patina and second
opinions of numerous and experienced archaeologists and amateur researchers. By
this process, 11 of the shots were determined to be associated with the Battle of
Hobkirk’s Hill (S). Three were determined to be possibly or probably associated
with the battle (M), and four were determined to not be associated with the battle
(N).
Fig.4: Artifact Catalog for 316 Greene Street
Of the eleven lead projectiles determined to be of the battle, six are musket balls
of a caliber (.68-.70) typical of the 18th Century English army. Five shots, consisting
of two musket balls of the caliber (.63-.66), compatible with French-made muskets
supplied to and used by the Continentals, and three pieces of buckshot of a caliber
(.29-.31), consistent with Continental Army use during this period, comprise the
remainder. (see Figure 5)
Fig. 5: Continental shot. Top row, left to right: FS #’s 7, 19 & 21.
Bottom row, left to right: FS #’s 16 & 17.
Fig. 6: Weights and extrapolated calibers of shot recovered from 617 Greene Street.
| FS# | Bag# | Weight | Caliber | Affiliation |
| 4 | 4 | 31.0g | .7011 | English |
| 6 | 6 | 3.6g | .3420 | Indet-too small |
| 7 | 7 | 21.6g | .6216 | French |
| 8 | 8 | 1.5g | .2555 | Indet-too small |
| 9 | 9 | 16.1g | .5636 | Indet-slug |
| 10 | 10 | 1.75g | .2715 | Indet-too small |
| 11 | 11 | 5.4g | .3915 | Indet-too large |
| 13 | 13 | 29.7g | .6912 | English |
| 15 | 15 | 30.5g | .6973 | English |
| 16 | 16 | 2.6g | .3069 | American buck |
| 17 | 16 | 2.7g | .3108 | American buck |
| 18 | 17 | 5.5g | .3939 | Indet-too large |
| 19 | 18 | 22.7g | .6319 | French |
| 21 | 20 | 23.0g | .6347 | French |
| 22 | 21 | 30.0g | .6935 | English |
| 28 | 27 | 32.4g | .7115 | English |
| 29 | 28 | 29.5g | .6896 | English |
Fig. 7: British Shot. Top row, left to right: FS. #’s 4, 13 & 15.
Bottom row, left to right: FS. #’s 22, 28 & 29.
The remaining seven pieces of shot (see Fig. 8) are comprised of a rectangular slug
of lead, designated (M), as its original size/shape is unknown, a lead ball fragment
(M), which appears to have been incidentally cut out of a tree by a saw or axe,
two pieces of buckshot determined to be too small for the military period (N), and
two pieces of buckshot which were determined to be too large for the military period
(N). In addition, these remaining seven shots include a piece of buckshot (FS# 18)
measuring .3939 cal., which is probably 18th Century shot, was included as a probable/possible
associate of the battle (M), despite its large caliber, as it appears (like FS.
#’s 16 & 17) to have been fired, it has a prominent mold-mark, and it exhibits
a high level of patination.
Fig. 8: Shot possibly or probably associated with the battle. Right to left FS #’s 5, 9 & 18.
Six other non-projectile artifacts possibly or probably associated (M) with the
battle include a 31mm x 16mm lead strap with a slot cut in the center of it and
exhibiting shear-marks on its edges, a 130mm x 40mm iron strap/plate with at least
one possible attachment hole, whose shape is suggestive of a musket butt-plate (M),
two brass leather rivets which are archaeologically ubiquitous and could be associated
with any period from the 18th Century through today (M), a 9cm x 4cm lead strap
with a small nail-hole punched through it (M), and a brass finial, whose function
is undetermined, with a screw in its base (M). (See Figure 9.)
Fig. 9: Left to right: perforated lead strap with sheared edge (FS. #1); iron strap/plate with attachment hole(s) (FS. #12); brass leather-rivet, intact (FS. #23); brass leather-rivet, broken (FS. #24); lead strap with small perforation (FS. # 25) & brass finial with screw in base (FS. # 26).
Six non-projectile artifacts whose affiliation seemed to be not related to the battle
were also recovered. They included a modern light bulb collar, a harmonica reed
plate (no earlier than mid-19th Century), a modern ball-bearing, an unidentified
brass machine part, a brass tube with a funnel shaped edge (which appears to be
a piece of modern plumbing), and a zinc alloy eagle-effigy bayonet pommel, determined
to be a German SS policeman’s ceremonial dress bayonet, likely a WWII souvenir (see
Fig. 10).
Fig. 10: Eagle effigy bladed weapon pommel, thought to be affiliated with WWII.
To summarize, 30 artifacts were collected. Of those, ten were discounted as not
relevant to the Battle of Hobkirk’s Hill. Of the remaining twenty artifacts, nine
may or may not be associated with that day’s events, and eleven are consistent with
military arms of those armies at that period of history (see Fig. 11).
|
Category |
# of Artifacts |
% of Collection |
|
S |
11 |
37% |
|
A |
0 |
0 |
|
C |
0 |
0 |
|
G |
0 |
0 |
|
M |
9 |
30% |
|
N |
10 |
33% |
|
|
|
|
|
Total |
30 |
100% |
(Fig. 11)
Of the eleven pieces of shot that were readily identifiable as being from the battle,
six were determined to be British musket balls and five (including three musket
balls made for French muskets, and two pieces of buckshot of the caliber almost
exclusively preferred by Continentals at this time) were diagnosed as American.
All musket balls were fired. None were dropped. Though buckshot does not exhibit
traits indicating fired or unfired condition as readily as ball, the two pieces
of buckshot recovered and typed as being Continental, based on caliber, do exhibit
signs of impact from firing.
In conclusion, three questions regarding this property’s data might be asked in
reference to the limited amount of work done so far on Hobkirk’s Hill survey. First
- are these significant concentrations of artifacts? Second - are there any battle
factors that can be surmised from this property’s data? And third - what other questions
does this data raise?
In response to the first question: yes, there may be a concentration of artifacts.
Artifacts seem to be concentrated in the mid-west and the southwest corner of the
property (See Fig. 3) with the exception of three diagnostic artifacts next to
the far eastern boundary. Given the small sampling of the battlefield overall, not
much can be surmised from the concentrations at 617 Greene Street alone. However,
with the systematic survey of surrounding properties, this property’s small part
of the big picture will become clearer. Note too, a) ARCHH only did approximately
two-thirds of this lot due to extant built features and b) anecdotal proof was provided
ARCHH that a large hole was dug in the center-south of the subject lot to dispose
of Hurricane Hugo debris in 1989.
Secondly, we can infer certain things about the Battle of Hobkirk’s Hill as it pertains
to 617 Greene Street. We can infer that this lot of west Hobkirk’s Hill was well-fought-over
ground. These current finds are consistent with the archival history that the Continental
Line right flank with arms trailing advanced down hill over this lot. But we cannot
induce either the extended location of the Continental line or the British line,
given an apparent absence of dropped ammunition, arms, accoutrements and clothing
artifacts. We can also infer that the address probably lies either between where
the lines were located, or possibly on a periphery of military action. This little
cluster of evidence does show that the Virginian flank was taking fire as it descended.
Of course, as with any archaeological investigation, new questions are raised with
each find. Did the Virginia Regiments of the Continental Army stand or even camp
on the property to the north, uphill and on the other side of modern Greene Street?
How far to the south would the British line be located? Had the Continentals begun
to use irregular buckshot since the Battle of Camden? And who brought a Nazi knife
to Hobkirk’s Hill? Only future investigations can answer these questions, but given
the amount of data found at 617 Greene Street, the quality and quantity of data
yet to be yielded by other properties is promising. |