The Battle of Natural Bridge: the Private Collection of the Gerrell Family Jessica L
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Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2011 The Battle of Natural Bridge: The Private Collection of the Gerrell Family Jessica L. Barnett Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCE THE BATTLE OF NATURAL BRIDGE: THE PRIVATE COLLECTION OF THE GERRELL FAMILY By JESSICA L. BARNETT A thesis submitted to the Department of Anthropology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science Degree Awarded: Spring Semester, 2011 The members of the committee approve the thesis of Jessica L. Barnett defended on November 18, 2010. _______________________________________ Glen H. Doran Professor Directing thesis _______________________________________ Lynne A. Schepartz Committee Member _______________________________________ Rochelle A. Marrinan Committee Member Approved: _____________________________________ Glen H. Doran, Chair, Department of Anthropology The Graduate School has verified and approved the above-named committee members. ii To my grandfather, William F. Clark (1922 – 1976), who has always been an inspiration. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank Terri Gerrell for inviting me into her home and allowing me to look at the collection. Also, I would like to thank Michael Arbuthnot, for the support and advice he has provided during my graduate education. Thanks also go to Drs. Glen Doran, Lynne Schepartz and Rochelle Marrinan for being a part of my committee, and giving me their experience, knowledge, and support through my graduate studies. Much thanks to my family, my mother Phyllis, my grandmother Dorothy and my sister Stacy, for your continued emotional and moral support through this entire process. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Tables .................................................................................................................................. vi List of Figures ................................................................................................................................ vii Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... ix CHAPTER ONE: THE CIVIL WAR .............................................................................................. 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 1 Natural Bridge ......................................................................................................................... 1 Civil War ................................................................................................................................. 2 CHAPTER TWO: MATERIALS AND METHODS ...................................................................... 9 Previous Work at Natural Bridge ............................................................................................ 9 Procedure ................................................................................................................................. 9 CHAPTER THREE: LAND BELONGING TO THE GERRELL FAMILY ............................... 11 CHAPTER FOUR: P. G. ARTIFACTS, LLC ............................................................................... 14 Uniforms ............................................................................................................................... 14 Artillery ................................................................................................................................. 19 Utility .................................................................................................................................... 29 Unknown ............................................................................................................................... 32 CHAPTER FIVE: COMPARISON ............................................................................................... 34 Distribution of Union and Confederate Artifacts .................................................................. 37 Ethical Implications .............................................................................................................. 39 CHAPTER SIX: SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS ................................................... 42 Recommendations ................................................................................................................. 45 Appendix A: Field Specimen List ................................................................................................. 47 Appendix B: Photos of P. G. Artifacts, LLC ................................................................................. 51 Table of Contents for Appendix B ........................................................................................ 51 References Cited ............................................................................................................................ 77 Biographical Sketch ....................................................................................................................... 82 v LIST OF TABLES 5.1 Comparison of artifact concentration between the ESI survey and P. G. Artifacts, LLC .... 34 5.2 Item Count of P. G. Artifacts, LLC ....................................................................................... 36 5.3 Distribution of Union, Confederate, and Indeterminate Civil War Artifacts ........................ 39 6.1 Percentage of categories in P. G. Artifacts, LLC .................................................................. 43 vi LIST OF FIGURES 1.1 GIS/Photoshop of St. Marks River and watershed .................................................................. 2 1.2 The plan for the Union attack on Tallahassee. The three crosses represent, from north to south, Natural Bridge, Newport and St. Marks ...................................................................... 4 1.3 The actual events of the battle of Natural Bridge ................................................................... 7 3.1 Map showing the boundaries of the Forbes Purchase ........................................................... 12 3.2 Aerial map of the Gerrell family land ................................................................................... 13 4.1 Union buttons showing the staff eagle seal, and letters representing branch of service ....... 15 4.2 The backmark of FS 8 ........................................................................................................... 15 4.3 Left, brass Union breastplate with possible bullet hole, on right, another example of a Union breastplate. ................................................................................................................. 16 4.4 Brass belt buckle ................................................................................................................... 17 4.5 Metal decoration for a Federal horse bridle .......................................................................... 18 4.6 An example of a cannon ball loaded with case-shot ............................................................. 19 4.7 The case shot found on the Gerrell land ................................................................................ 20 4.8 FS 52: Case-shot in size and shape, but not in weight. ......................................................... 20 4.9 Canister shot found on the Gerrell land ................................................................................ 21 4.10 One of the three halves of 12-lb. cannon balls found on the Gerrell land ............................ 22 4.11 100-lb. cannon ball, 12-lb. cannon ball, and pistol that were found at the Burns’ place in 1992 ........................................................................................................................................ 23 4.12 Minie balls in several stages of deformation ......................................................................... 24 4.13 The 3 Minie balls from the P. G. Artifacts, LLC .................................................................. 24 4.14 44-caliber Tranter double action revolver pistol ................................................................... 27 4.15 Three percussion cap cans from the Gerrell land .................................................................. 27 vii 4.16 Gun swivel ............................................................................................................................ 28 4.17 Bullet Mold ........................................................................................................................... 28 4.18 (left) FS 36, a padlock cover; (right) a lock found on the U.S.S. Cairo ................................ 31 4.19 FS 37, metal, shield-shaped object. ....................................................................................... 33 5.1 Distribution of Union and Confederate artifacts at the Rakestraw property ......................... 38 B1 Buttons, FS 1-4 ...................................................................................................................... 53 B2 Buttons, FS 5-7 ..................................................................................................................... 53 B3 Buttons, FS 8-10 ..................................................................................................................