It was one of those sunny December days when the temperature is in the low thirties and it almost feels like spring. I walked on the crusted snow to a predetermined spot on the beach and began to clear the snow. The sand had a frozen surface, but once broken, was moist and easy to dig. The sand rested on a clay bed at this spot and that was my goal. As I pushed the sand behind me I checked it with my detector.

The object of my search popped out of the sand before me. A button, the size of a dime, displayed a cannon surmounted by an eagle, a reminder of the occupation of the fort by the US. Artillery in 1814. Before I packed and left, a half dozen other buttons tested in my pocket.

Any relic hunter would be ecstatic at my finds, but at the time relic hunting outside of a small circle of friends was an unknown factor. It wasn't until I had accumulated over 500 buttons and other relics of the War of 1812 that I realized what I had found

Most treasure hunters become interested in metal detecting and eventually get into relic hunting. I started by finding relics and then became interested in metal detecting. The location of the site that started me relic hunting is Fort Erie. Once the scene of bloody encounters between British and American forces, this quiet community is now a major gateway to Canada for thousands of American tourists.
The history of the fort began in 1764, when General Bradstreet rested at the mouth of the Niagara River awaiting the completion of the portage around the Great Falls of Niagara by his troops and supplies. The expedition had been sent to defeat Pontiac and the Indian confederacy that were harassing the English settlements. To pay for this expedition, a stamp tax was assigned to the Colonists and we know how that ended.

Bradstreet may not have appreciated the rustic accommodations, because he directed Col. John Montressor of the Royal Engineers to construct a fort on the site. The fort was built to hold two companies very comfortably, but the following spring it was found that the powder magazine had been built ill a run off. Fifteen years later a winter storm drove massive chunks of ice against the walls of the fort rendering it indefensible.

Rebuilt in a different location, the new fort managed to withstand the lake's fury for twenty-four years. The third fort was built on a knoll a hundred yards from the river. Stone bastions formed the four corners of the square connected by a palisade with 2 two-story barracks within.

In 1813, when the U.S. army captured Fort George, at the other end of the river, the British garrison partially destroyed the fort before joining their regiments at Burlington. The occupation of Fort Erie seesawed between the opposing armies without any major conflicts. In July of 1814, after capturing Fort Erie General Brown's command advanced towards Fort George. It was to be a combined land-naval assault, but Admiral Chauncey's failed to appear and the attacking army retired.

Napolean's defeat and exile in Europe had released British regiments for duty in the Canada's. The reinforced British forces applied pressure on the retreating American armies. At Lundy's Lane a skirmish began to snowball as alternately each opposing army moved troops to support the combatants engaged in bayonet point combat. When the next night fell the battle came to a standstill out of shear exhaustion of the soldiers.

The American army retired behind the walls of Fort Erie and an extensive construction campaign began. Earth-works and abbatis extended the fortifications a mile up the river accommodating the entire command.

The British assault on August 16 was disastrous. To ensure stealth, the British commander had ordered the flints removed from the soldiers' muskets and assault at bayonet point. The Americans were prepared and a sheet of musket fire disintegrated two points of the attack. The central point managed to breach the walls of the northeast bastion when a violent explosion ended the close combat. The shattered remains of both sides retired to their respective lines leaving 134 men buried in the rubble of the bastion.

Sickness and inclement weather undermined the morale of both armies. With the partial destruction of the British batteries in an American sortie the British moved back to Fort George. The absence of the British threat allowed The American army to destroy the fort and return to Buffalo.

This ended Fort Erie's moment of glory and it fell into disrepair and neglect. For years, the beach in front of the fort has been known to produce artifacts of the occupying armies. Bolton and Calver of the New York Historical Society visited the beach in 1927 and an ample supply of buttons was added to the societies collection. Examples of their finds and an excellent reference guide can be found in "History Written with a Pick and Shovel" now being published by the Virginia University Press.

A friend who told of musket balls appearing on the beach after a storm aroused my interest. About two minutes after walking the beach I found my first musket ball. The thought of owning a part of the his-tory of Canada filled me with pleasure and pride. The thought of these relics being washed into oblivion by the river compelled me to search diligently.

I had been loaned a metal detector to locate bottle dumps without much success, now it came into its moment of glory. All my spare daylight was spent digging in the sand and evenings found me cleaning my finds.

Not content with having these relics, I wanted to know about the soldiers who used them. The local library was constantly pressed to find scarce and obscure books dealing with the early military units posted at Fort Erie. Regimental records provided me with much of the information that I sought.

I feel that historic relics are more than a collector's prize, each is an integral part of a historic novel. The background of each relic should be researched and recorded.
Besides being my first relic site there were many memorable highlights. My son liked to use the detector when I wasn't using it and often found square nails. A reading buried in the clay had me helping him when my shovel showed a cavity filled with gold dust. The black outline around the gold showed a leather pouch that probably was buried by a soldier going into battle who never returned. There was not even an ounce of gold dust in the pouch, but it will always be one of my great treasures.

I paid special attention to the clay buried readings after that. The next clay reading produced a pocket containing over 500 musket balls. Generally my finds for a day consisted of a half dozen buttons, the occasional coin and many musket balls.
Of the buttons, the best find was in a dirt-filled crevasse in the bedrock. In a very short period I retrieved a Butlers Rangers Queens Rangers, Royal Artillery and Royal Canadian Volunteers buttons, all relics of the revolutionary period.
The coin finds were sparse, but good. A 1795 U.S. half dime was the best find, but the many English and U.S. pennies and Spanish coins from the 1812 period were appreciated just as much.

The number of relics recovered could fill several pages. Let us just leave it as over 700 buttons, 44 coins and other relics were recovered.Fear of erosion by lake Erie has led to the dumping of massive boulders along the beach, which retards the relics being washed out of the bank. Occasionally while walking along the beach I find a musket ball or buttons that has found its way through the fill to the beach. The relics are still there; given time the beach will accumulate another bounty for some future relic hunter.

Eastern & Western Treasures

SEPTEMBER 1980