Shiloh Relic Hunt Will Fund Tennessee Marker at Freeman’s Battery Site
By Kathryn Jorgensen
November 2002

SHILOH, Tenn. — Relic hunters who are disappointed when they go home empty-handed should head to Shiloh on Nov. 9 for what is being billed as “America’s largest seeded hunt.”
Riley W. Gunter, commander of Freeman’s Battery Forrest’s Artillery Camp 1939, Sons of Confederate Veterans, doesn’t promise everyone will find something, but with 5000 “quality hits,” it will be hard to miss at the first annual Shiloh Relic and Coin Hunt. An added bonus is that the hunt will take place on 40 acres of privately owned historic land.

Gunter describes 2500 minie balls, reproduction pistols, swords, original belt buckles, three original breast plates, a cannon ball, gold coin, four spurs, hams, prints, 200 Federal eagle buttons, bayonets and more which will be awarded. Copper tokens buried 2 to 4 inches deep will represent some of the prizes.

“So many people hunt and never find anything,” says Gunter. That won’t be a problem in Shiloh. At the end of the day any high-dollar prizes that weren’t found will be awarded. The hunt will begin with firing of an original Confederate cannon and will include a lunch break.
Gunter expects 100 to 200 people — but just in case more relic hunters register, they have additional relics and another 40 acres they can seed.

Proceeds from the $75 fee and lunch charge and the camp’s annual North Alabama Civil War Show and Sale (Oct. 26 and 27 in Muscle Shoals) benefit the camp’s fund for markers honoring Capt. Samuel L. Freeman and his battery.

The marker program started last year. The goal is a monument a year. The first relic show raised enough money for a 10-foot granite monument which was placed at Parker’s Crossroads Battlefield, site of the Dec. 31, 1862, Tennessee battle during Gen. Nathan B. Forrest’s second raid into western Tennessee.

This was where Forrest personally placed a 12 pdr. mountain howitzer under command of Sgt. Matt Baxter of Freeman’s Battery and stayed with the gun despite heavy Yankee fire. Baxter loaded the gun while under it on his back, sighted it and disabled a Federal cannon. This was where Forrest commanded his men to “charge both ways.” Freeman’s battery lost many horses, caissons and guns, says Gunter.

This year’s proceeds will fund a monument between Franklin and Spring Hill, Tenn., on the Lewisburg Pike where the battery was captured and Freeman murdered. It will be another 10-foot granite marker costing about $10,000.

On April 10, 1863, while advancing on Franklin, the 4th U.S. Regular Cavalry ran into Forrest’s command which was strung out a mile. Freeman saw them and ordered his guns into action.

Gunter says Freeman hurt his knee and was among the 29 captured by Federals who took off with their prisoners with Forrest in their rear. Prisoners were told that if they didn’t keep up they’d be shot.

Freeman was shot in the mouth and killed. Forrest lamented, “brave men, none braver.” When Freeman was buried the next day in Franklin Forrest “swayed with womanly grief.”

Camp 1939’s ultimate goal is a national tomb for the unknown Confederate soldier on Shiloh Battlefield. Because of National Park Service policies against new monuments Gunter says it will take legislation or waiving of the rule by the Interior Secretary.

Of all the Confederates who were killed and buried at Shiloh, only two are known, says Gunter. They were wounded, captured and died in Federal camp and were buried on the hill above Pittsburg Landing. The other Confeder-ate dead were buried in trenches. Gunter says five trenches are known and he suspects there are others. When the war ended the Federal dead and the two Confederates were reburied in the national cemetery.

“If I can get permission I can raise the money,” he says. In the meantime the camp works to mark Confederate actions. It also assisted the Battle of Shiloh Camp rebuild the log church at Shiloh and it supports efforts to preserve and interpret Parker’s Crossroads Battlefield.

Full and associate members of Camp 1939 are also members of Freeman’s Battery Forrest’s Artillery unit which has three original Confederate and two Federal cannon.

As for himself, Gunter says he’s “driven to honor the Confederacy.” He was 11 years old when he carried the flag at the 1954 Brice’s Crossroads reenactment in Mississippi, making him one of the oldest reenactors in terms of seniority. He joined the Nathan Bedford Forrest Camp #215 when he was 15.

He can be reached at (731) 689-4114 or (731) 925-7962.