Numerous eating utensils, above, were among the artifacts found at the Camp Lawton site as were belt buckles, knapsack hooks and buckles from enlisted soldier’s Kepi hat, below. (Staff photos by Deborah Bennett) It was not a wagon of gold, the remains of Civil War soldiers or Sherman’s horse, but it is a major historic discovery. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Georgia Southern University (GSU) and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR) announced last Wednesday, Aug. 18, the excavation of numerous Civil War artifacts from Camp Lawton on the property of Bo Ginn National Fish Hatchery, which the Service administers.

The announcement was made at Magnolia Springs State Park where a majority of Camp Lawton’s stockade and Fort Lawton earthworks exist with numerous dignitaries in attendance including: Mark Museus, Deputy Regional Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; Dr. John Derden, Professor Emeritus, East Georgia College; Chris Clark, Commissioner, Georgia DNR; Dr. Sue Moore, Professor of Anthropology, GSU; Kevin Chapman, Archaeologist, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and GSU; U.S. Rep. John Barrow and State Rep. Jon Burns.

“This is the most pristine discovery in recent years,” said Mr. Museus. “This will yield new insights into the lives of those who fought in the war.”

Discussions about an archaeological survey at Camp Lawton began in late 2009 when GSU anthropology professor Dr. Due Moore, graduate student Kevin Chapman and a team of GSU students designed a plan to locate the boundaries of the stockade. As the project progressed, the team began finding artifacts from the soldiers and soon realized that they had an undisturbed site.

Items recovered include: bullets, coins, eating utensils, a tourniquet buckle, a small brass picture frame, a pocket knife, a hatchet head, nails and a small clay pipe with a soldier’s teeth marks on the stem.

“When you see that pipe, you can feel that man’s presence at Camp Lawton,” said Mr. Chapman who noted that the discovery of the site was an opportunity to tell the story of individual men and their desire to survive.

“This site is precious and unique. We owe the inhabitants their chance to speak through its history,” commented Dr. Moore.

But what about the bodies and the gold?

“They’re here,” said Dr. Derden.

“This site contains a body of evidence from which archeologists and other researchers can draw to help reconstruct the events of that fall in 1864, much, much more is yet to be learned. And there’s gold here, too, at least symbolically. It shines in the story of the irrepressible human spirit by which common men faced with uncommon tasks rose to meet them. It gleams in the persistence of human memory long after its makers have gone, and it glitters in the dogged human search for meaning from the past,” he commented.

Due to its extremely fragile nature, the dig site remains closed to the public and archaeological excavations and research will continue for years. For the time being, the Georgia Southern Museum in Statesboro will host the artifacts. There is also talk of constructing a museum at Magnolia at some point in the future to house the artifacts.

A security fence has been installed and other measures to protect the site and artifacts have been implemented. Anyone who trespasses or damages the site is subject to criminal prosecution. The Finds