Excavation of Hut Sites at the McGowan Encampments

South Caroline Palmetto button recovered from McGowan Encampment by local relic hunter.

To better understand the camp plan, four huts were excavated during the summer of 2004. The first step in testing these areas was to clear the site of brush and leaf litter to expose surface features. Immediately apparent was that each depression was associated with a very slight mound with rocks protruding from the surface. Subsequent excavations revealed these mounds to mark the location of the hearths for the hut sites while the depressions were the remains of borrow/trash pits associated with each hut. We are fortunate to have several descriptions of huts built within the camp. One account by a soldier in McGowan's Brigade provides a detailed description of the new quarters erected after the brigade relocated in January 27, 1864:

"The size of the house when finished was about 12 feet square, being entirely built of logs, chinked with clay. The chimney was built of split wood, chinked with clay the same as the house, but having a thick coat of clay inside to prevent taking fire. The protection, however, was but partial, so that there was hardly a day in the winter but somebody's chimney was on fire in the camp." (Benson 1962:55)

The reconstructed hut from the White Oak Museum is likely very similar to how the huts at the McGowan encampment appeared. The bottom shot shows the interior the hut. [Click picture for larger image.]	McGowan hut sites following excavation. Red arrows point to the scorched base of the fireboxes, while the orange squares indicate the position of the log walls of the hut. [Click picture for larger image.]

Artifacts Recovered from the Camp

The scarcity of material goods recovered from the site attest to the harsh living conditions to which McGowan's men were exposed. The majority of materials recovered from the trash pits were concentrations of small burned nails and burned clay--all materials that were potentially swept from the hearth and deposited in the pit. The majority of the ceramic vessels found at the site were stoneware jugs and crocks that were manufactured in South Carolina.

Alkaline-glazed jug recovered from one of the trash pits at the McGowan Encampments. This jug was manufactured in South Caroline and likely carried in baggage wagons to the encampment.	Nails and burned clay recovered from one of the fire pits at McGowan. The nails are likely from provision boxes (burned for kindling) while the burned clay is probably from chimney lining that washed into the heart during rain storms.