Maryland Archeology Month

-April 2008-

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Pewter Canteen Spout

Pewter Canteen Spout

Site: The Best Farm

Location: Monocacy National Battlefield, Frederick, MD

Project: Multi-year Archeological Identification and Evaluation Study of the Best Farm, undertaken 2001-2004 by the National Park Service and the University of Maryland (College Park) under the auspices of an existing cooperative agreement.

Artifact: Pewter canteen spout inscribed "LT. HART. 128"

Description: In 2003, archeologists from the University of Maryland and the National Park Service, with assistance from local volunteers, undertook a systematic metal-detector survey of a hay field at the Best Farm, one of six component farmsteads that comprise Monocacy National Battlefield near Frederick, Maryland. This survey was part of a larger multi-year study of the Best Farm property that was intended to provide the National Park Service with information to aid in long and short-term planning and development at the site.

Historic occupations of the Best Farm date back to the 1790s, but the property also has a storied Civil War past. The opening stages of the Battle of Monocacy, fought on July 9, 1864, began on the Best Farm, and the systematic metal-detector survey of the property yielded fired small arms projectiles, artillery shell fragments, and other evidence of the battle. However, the Best Farm also has other important Civil War associations, both prior to and after the Battle of Monocacy. For example, the Best Farm is situated along the Georgetown Pike, which served as a major marching route for both the Union and Confederate armies. Lee's general staff camped at the Best Farm during the Antietam campaign in 1862, and it was there that Special Orders 191 was recovered. The Best Farm is also adjacent to Monocacy Junction and the railroad and highway bridges over the Monocacy River, all of which were strategic military targets during the Civil War. As a result, large numbers of both Union and Confederate troops established temporary encampments at the Best Farm, archeological evidence of which was recovered during the systematic metal-detector survey of the property.

Among the thousands of artifacts recovered from the systematic metal-detector survey of the Best Farm was an inscribed canteen spout. Manufactured of pewter, the canteen spout measures approximately one-inch in diameter and one-inch in length and is inscribed "LT. HART. 128." Subsequent primary historic research identified the soldier to whom the canteen spout likely belonged; Ambrose B. Hart of the 128th New York Infantry.

Ambrose Hart enlisted in the Union army as a Corporal at Poughkeepsie, New York on July 30, 1862. After some initial patrolling in Maryland and Pennsylvania, his regiment was sent to Louisiana in December 1862, where they fought in a number of battles, including the siege of Port Hudson. Hart was promoted to Sergeant shortly after his arrival in Louisiana, and was promoted again to 1st Lieutenant (Company D) in July, 1863. In July 1864, the 128th New York was sent back to Maryland. Sometime between August 5 and August 7, 1864, the 128th New York, along with other elements of the 19th Corps, camped at Monocacy Junction en route to the Shenandoah Valley Campaign. It is likely that the canteen spout inscribed with his name and regiment was lost on the Best Farm during those two days in August, 1864.

Contact: Joy Beasley, Cultural Resources Program Manager, Monocacy National Battlefield, (301) 668-3647 joy_beasley@nps.gov.