Looters steal Civil War history at Petersburg National Battlefield

[struggle4progress]

By WRIC Newsroom
Published: May 27, 2016, 4:43 pm
Updated: May 27, 2016, 5:23 pm

PETERSBURG, VA. (WRIC) — ... the National Park Service is investigating looting that took place at a Civil War battlefield earlier in the week. According to the National Parks Service, the initial assessment at Petersburg National Battlefield identified a large number of excavations in the park.

Thieves were likely looking for relics on a field where more than 1,000 Union and Confederate soldiers died fighting during the Siege of Petersburg.

“This is an affront to the memory of people who fought and died on this field and it is destruction and theft of history from the American people,” said Petersburg National Battlefield Superintendent Lewis Rogers. “This kind of aberrant behavior is always disgusting but it is particularly egregious as Memorial Day weekend arrives, a time when we honor the memories of our friends and family.”

The affected area of the battlefield is an active crime scene, Rogers said. The remainder of the 2,700-acre park is open to visitors. Park staff discovered the excavated pits earlier in the week ...

http://wric.com/2016/05/27/looters-steal-civil-war-history-at-petersburg-national-battlefield/

[no_hypocrisy]

1. What kind of "artifacts" were excavated and stolen?

[1939]

2. Usually

Spent Minie balls, belt buckles, an occasional bayonet, etc. Your take is mostly Minie balls.

Using a metal detector on a national battlefield is verboten and leads to confiscation of the metal detector and charges.

Better to find parts of a battlefield in private hands (and there is quite a bit of that) and get the landowners permission.

[Journeyman]

3. Minnie balls, other ammo, knives, belt buckles, anything with a marker . . .

there's a large market for Civil War era artifacts, especially anything with an identifying insignia. National military monuments don't allow any excavations, nor do they allow metal detectors or any sort of organized approach to finding relics and mementos. Should you find something, you're asked to turn it in, so it can be properly catalogued.

A greater issue at most parks (and one especially troublesome at Gettysburg), is the wanton destruction of the monuments and statues that dot the battlefields. Many times, it's simply young drunks out being rowdy, tying ropes to the statues and dragging them about on the roads and fields.