Confederate Weapons Dump Found in South Carolina

COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA—A year-long cleanup of the Congaree River in South Carolina has yielded Civil War-era weapons, including bullets, cannonballs, swords, and at least one unexploded ordnance, according to a Live Science report. The artifacts are thought to have been dumped in the river in February 1865, when Union soldiers led by General William Tecumseh Sherman occupied the capital city of Columbia. According to historical accounts, they captured from Confederate forces more than one million ball cartridges, tens of thousands of pounds of gunpowder, thousands of sabers and bayonets, as well as backpacks and tents. South Carolina state underwater archaeologist James Spirek said that the project has helped researchers to determine the extent of the area Sherman used as a dump site. To read about archaeological discoveries at a Civil War POW campsite, go to “Life on the Inside.”