Found a genuine military artifact on the Gettysburg Battlefield today

[earthsciteach]

Our 8th graders went on the annual trip to Gettysburg today. On the way, I was telling one of the kids how I always look around the base of trees to see if I can find any bullets, flint, or anything else interesting. The roots upheave the ground around the base. Never really found anything of the field before, but am always on the lookout.

Today, as I was casually strolling around a tree, I look down and there is a cartridge. I picked it up and asked the tour guide if they have poachers on the battlefield. He said back in the '90's the deer population was out of control and they culled the herd. I guessed it was a 30-06 cartridge by its size.

Once back on the bus, I googled up the markings on the bottom. It is from the Frankford Armory in Philadelphia, PA, mfr'd in 1918. I mentioned this to the guide and he said the US Army used the battlefield as part of a base during WWI. Googled that and found that it was Camp Colt, "the birthplace of the tank corps of the US Army." It was commanded by none other than Captain Dwight D. Eisenhower. It wasn't from the civil war, but I think it is a pretty cool find!