|
Major Civil War Archaeological Site
Discovered Near Millen, Ga.
Millen, GA -
During the waning days of the Civil War, the
Confederates built a prisoner of war camp
near Millen, Ga. Camp Lawton was neither as
crowded nor as well-known as nearby
Andersonville, but at 42 acres, it was
physically the largest Civil War pris
 oner
of war camp.
Constructed in 1864 to alleviate the
horrendous crowding at Andersonville, Camp
Lawton was hastily abandoned, and the
prisoners evacuated when threatened by Gen.
William Sherman’s march on Savannah. For
nearly 150 years, the site has been
relatively undisturbed, and the exact
location of the camp’s stockade was lost to
time. Archaeologists had long ago dismissed
the possibility of significant findings.
Today, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
Georgia Southern University and the Georgia
Department of Natural Resources announced a
major historic discovery: 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, operated by the Georgia
Department of Natural Resources, where the
majority of Camp Lawton’s stockade and Fort
Lawton earthworks exist. Following the
announcement, the public was able to view
many of the artifacts, including some of the
prisoners’ personal items, at an open house
at the park.
“This is a unique and very unexpected
discovery,” said Richard Kanaski, Regional
Archaeologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service’s Southeast Region. “It appears to
be one of the most intact and undisturbed
Civil War archaeological sites found in
decades, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service is taking great care to make sure
this valuable resource is protected for the
American people, who are the owners of this
site and these artifacts.”
The Georgia Department of Natural Resources
and Georgia Southern University began
discussions about an archaeological survey
at Camp Lawton in late 2009. Georgia
Southern anthropology professor Dr. Sue
Moore, graduate student Kevin Chapman and a
team of students from
Georgia
Southern designed a survey plan to locate
the boundaries of the stockade, the place
where the prisoners had lived.
As he moved forward with his investigation,
Chapman was shocked when he began finding
artifacts from the soldiers. First, a couple
of nails. Then some buttons from Union
uniforms. Then a coin, an 1834 U.S. Large
Cent.
“I held the coin in my hand and I realized
we had a pretty undisturbed site,” Chapman
recalled.
Dr. Moore, Chapman and the Georgia Southern
archaeological team began finding more and
more artifacts from Camp Lawton, unearthed
and viewed for the first time in almost 150
years: bullets, coins, eating utensils, a
tourniquet buckle, a small brass picture
frame, a pocket knife, a hatchet head, and a
small clay pipe with a soldier’s teethmarks
on the stem.
“When Kevin brought the pipe in, the hair
stood up on my arms,” said Dr. Moore. “It’s
like touching that person. These finding
tell the personal stories of the soldiers
who were imprisoned and the life they led in
the camp.”
“This is one of the most exciting and
intriguing Civil War discoveries of the
modern era,” she added. We are standing here
today because the Georgia Department of
Natural Resources Commissioner Chris Clark
wanted to locate the original stockade and
contacted us.”
“This discovery is of archaeological and
historical significance to our country, and
we are thrilled for Magnolia Springs State
Park and the local community to be a part of
it,” said
Clark. “We are
also very proud of the partnership we’ve
formed with Georgia Southern University and
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.”
The artifacts are not only visually
impressive; they also tell their own
stories. “The pipe tells of the ingenuity of
the soldiers in the face of adversity,” said
Chapman. “The keepsake items such as picture
frames speak to their feelings of
separation. The tourniquet buckle and
bullets are testaments to the horrors of
war. Through them, the past comes to life
for today’s students of history.”
Due to its extremely fragile nature, the
site remains closed to the public.
Archaeological excavations and research will
continue at the site for years and must be
allowed to go forward undisturbed. The U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service has installed a
security fence and other measures to protect
the site and the artifacts. The
Camp Lawton
site is protected by the National Historic
Preservation Act of 1966, the Archaeological
Resources Protection Act of 1979, and the
American Battlefield Protection Act of 1996,
as well as numerous state laws. Anyone who
trespasses or damages the site is subject to
criminal prosecution.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Georgia
Southern University and the Georgia
Department of Natural Resources are
discussing long-term plans for making the
artifacts available for public viewing. The
Georgia Southern Museum (www.georgiasouthern.edu/museum)
in Statesboro,
Ga., will host a public display in the fall;
details will be announced soon.
Bo Ginn National Fish Hatchery is currently
not operating, but the Service expects to
bring it back into operation in the spring
of 2011. The 127-acre hatchery is recognized
as a valuable asset for aquatic resource
conservation in the Southeast. It will serve
as a refuge for threatened and endangered
aquatic species and other rare species of
concern.
Magnolia Springs State Park (www.GaStateParks.org)
is open daily and is known for its
crystal-clear springs, boardwalk and 28-acre
lake available for boating and fishing.
Overnight visitors may choose from cottages
or campsites. The earthen breastworks which
guarded Camp Lawton can still be seen at the
park.
For more information:
http://www.fws.gov/camplawtonsite
and
http://www.georgiasouthern.edu/camplawton
|
