Archaeologists found 500 Civil War items, including cannonballs, during tar cleanup in Columbia, S.C., river. Here's some of what they found in 'literal war zone'

Grapeshot, canister, 6-pound round (Photos courtesy of Sean Norris, TRC, 2023)

Some of the captured weapons and ammunition that Union Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman’s troops dumped into the Congaree River in Columbia, S.C., in the last months of the Civil War reemerged during a recent environmental project that removed tar from the riverbed.

Hundreds of Civil War artifacts have been recovered, including cannonballs, canister, remnants of a saber and wagon wheel and dozens of bullets. In February 1865, Sherman’s men threw Confederate war materiel into the river after they took what they wanted before marching to North Carolina.

Much of the South Carolina capital went up in flames after the city's surrender.

State, local and Dominion Energy this week announced the completion of the work. Tests showed the material found near downtown in 2010 was coal tar created by manufactured gas plants that operated throughout Columbia more than century ago.

Starting in June 2022, crews installed cofferdams and dewatering pumps at two so they could work on a dry riverbed. Dominion Energy said. Some 35,000 tons of sediment was removed.

The Civil War Picket reached out to Sean Norris, program archaeologist for TRC Companies, a subcontractor for Dominion Energy that performed archaeological work. His responses have been edited and some questions have been reordered.

Q. Were all of the artifacts recovered since June 2022? Were they found in a particular area, or were they scattered?

A. A small amount of ordnance was recovered during the early phases of this project as far back as 2015. The vast majority of the ordnance was recovered this year. (Photo above of some artifacts courtesy of Sean Norris, TRC, 2023.)

Q.  Can you give me an approximate number of Civil War artifacts recovered?

 A. We anticipate close to 500 pieces of ordnance and Civil War-related artifacts, in addition to thousands of historic and pre-contact period artifacts.

Q. Can you please provide some specifics on the Civil War items? 

A. We do not have a finalized inventory yet. But of note, we have the following:

-- 10” shells (right) with fuse wells for wood fuse plug (photo courtesy of Sean Norris, TRC)-- Iron canister balls (five sizes)

-- Iron grapeshot balls, 2,”

-- Iron canister top and bottom plates for 24-pounder

-- 6-pounder solid shot cannon balls (one with a Bormann fuse)

-- 12-pounder common shells with wood fuse plugs

-- .69-caliber musket balls

-- .69-caliber Burton pattern Minie bullet

-- .577/58-caliber Pritchett bullet

-- .577/.58-caliber Pritchett bullets, short pattern

--  An encrusted saber is currently going through some stabilization and cleaning. 

Q. Are all of the Civil War items dumped in the river believed to be Confederate? Were they tossed in by Sherman's troops?

A. All the ordnance appears to be from the Confederate armories around the downtown area. None appear to have been fired.

Q. How deep were most of the artifacts when found?

A. All were found in the riverbed after it was dewaters.  Some were up to three feet deep in sediment.

Q. Can you tell me about parts of a wagon wheel, what makes that particularly interesting?

Burning of Columbia in Feb. 1865 (William Waud, Library of Congress)

A. There are reports in the records and in diaries of an explosion happening during the dumping of the ordnance. The explosion apparently blew up a wagon and oxen team and three federal soldiers, including Capt. Williamson M. Davis, who is buried in the Florence, S.C. national cemetery. The wagon wheel matches the size and characteristics of a military wagon; there is evidence of charring on the spokes of the wheel. It is possible that this wheel is an artifact of that explosion. 

Q. Did work crews find an unexploded shell of some type?

A. We had UXO team from a company named Tetra Tech on site at all times. They did an amazing job of doing the initial recovery and establishing safety protocols.  When fused ordnance was recovered they implemented protocols to render the ordnance safe for removal then transferred the ordnance for off-site disposal.

Q. Were you there for most or all of the archaeological work? Was it also done by Dominion Energy contractors? 

A. We were contracted through Dominion Energy. They have been great advocates for recovering and preserving these artifacts since the archaeological work for this project began years ago.

(Archaeological work at left. Photo courtesy of Sean Norris, TRC, 2023.)

Q. Will these items go to the South Carolina Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum? If so when?

A. Artifacts are undergoing analysis and the conservation process. It will likely be 18 months to two years before they are ready for display at the Relic Room. (The Picket has reached out to the museum for comment.)

The wagon wheel is currently submerged in a conservation tank at the Confederate Relic Room. The wood spokes started decaying as soon as it was removed from the water and exposed to oxygen. 

A view of the work over the summer (SC Dept. of Health and Environmental Control)

Q. Any particular moments of discovery that stand out to you, especially ones in which you were a part?

A. Lifting the 10-inch cannonballs was a highlight. Holding these artifacts and realizing that almost 160 years ago the place I was standing was a literal war zone was a sobering moment.

Related: Was this wagon wheel shattered in explosion as Sherman's troops took S.C. capital? Experts hope to learn more when they conserve hundreds of artifacts. Read more