Battlefield yields new secrets about Civil War battle

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- An archaeological dig at the Wilson's Creek National Battlefield has yielded several artifacts that historians hope will give a more accurate account of the bloody Civil War battle.

Area volunteers and researchers from the Midwest Archaeological Center in Lincoln, Neb., unearthed about 400 artifacts last week, using metal detectors and trowels at the battlefield southwest of Springfield.

The project is part of a five-year study to confirm historical records or provide new evidence about where the soldiers camped, where units traveled and where they died. "We know a lot based on oral history and military maps of the time, but they're not totally accurate," said Richard Lusardi, superintendent of the 1,750-acre battlefield. "The archaeological finds help put things into context."

Analysis of the findings over the next three years could tell Lusardi to shift the angle of the Union and Confederate cannon batteries aimed at each other across "Bloody Hill," so named because of high casualties there. The discovery of clusters of Confederate bullets could reveal where their Union targets once stood.

"We're putting a face on the battlefield," said Doug Scott, an anthropologist with the archaeological center, who led a similar dig at Wilson's Creek last year.