Charles,
 
I have excavated several Civil War structures and conducted numerous
systematic metal detector surveys, and have never seen a wire nail in
good context. I have also puzzled over the same issue that you have
concerning the 1850s introduction of wire nails. This is pure
speculation, but it appears that the military was using its stockpile of
cut nails before moving on to the new wire nail.
 
John Cornelison
NPS SEAC
 
 
        -----Original Message-----
        From:   Heath, Charles [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
        Sent:   Thursday, April 30, 1998 8:41 AM
        To:     [log in to unmask]
        Subject:        nails and civil war sites
 
        Have any of you folks recovered wire nails in good context from
Civil War
        era (1861-1865) military sites in the South.  Most TPQ lists
indicate that
        small wire nails were introduced around 1850, but were not
"popular" until
        the last quarter of the 19th C.  If anyone has recovered such
nails from
        Civil War sites, were they Union or Confederate sites? Are there
observable
        differences between archaeologically recovered and conserved
wire nails from
        the mid-19th C. vs. those from the early-20th C.???
 
        Thanks,
 
        Charles Heath