South Carolina River Cleanup Unearths Hundreds of Civil War Relics
During the cleanup of the Congaree River in South Carolina, hundreds of Civil War relics were unearthed, shedding new light on Union Gen. William T. Sherman’s ruthless Southern campaign. Union troops had dumped Confederate military equipment in the river to demoralize rebel forces in the birthplace of the secessionist movement.
The artifacts, including cannonballs, a sword blade, and a wagon wheel believed to have been part of an explosion during the supply dumps, were discovered while crews removed tar-like material from the river. The findings are expected to be relocated to the South Carolina Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum in Columbia, the state capital.
Sean Norris, the archaeological program manager at TRC, an environmental consulting firm, expressed his excitement about the discovery, stating, “It’s an interesting story to tell. It’s a good one—that we were able to take a real piece of it rather than just the written record showing this is what happened.”
While one unexploded munition was safely handled at Shaw Air Force Base, the remaining artifacts will undergo an electrochemical process for conservation, as well as measurement and identification, before being displayed, which is expected to take a couple more years.
The cleanup of the riverbed, aimed at removing toxic tar first discovered in 2010, involved Dominion Energy crews using armor-plated excavators as a precaution against potential explosives. The project, costing $20 million, was celebrated by state and local officials for its early completion.
South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster, a Republican, emphasized the importance of preserving these artifacts for current generations to learn from history. He stated, “All those things are lost on us today. They seem like just stories from the past. But when we read about those, and when we see artifacts, and see things that touched people’s hands, it brings us right back to how fortunate we are in this state and in this country to be where we are.”
The unearthing of these Civil War relics provides valuable tangible evidence of a significant chapter in American history, allowing future generations to better understand the impact of the Civil War and its aftermath.
