I've noticed that there are a few other Alabama relic hunters reading this forum and there's a question I've been dying to ask of other guys in Alabama, but I just don't know any relic hunters here anymore. Not long after I got into relic hunting here (about 5 years ago) a hunting partner moved, another died, and a couple others just seemed to drop off the map.
Anyway, are most of the camp sites you've found on ridges and high ground? I only know of one site that was on a flat area in Limestone County. Seems like back when there were more wooded areas the areas below the ridge lines probably didn't drain too well. I've seen references in the ORs to Alabama as having a lot of swampy areas and at least one entry where an officer was begging his CO for permission to move his camp to higher ground because of the unhealthy nature of where they were camped. Seems that if that's true its a clue on where to look when trying to puzzle out where a camp might have been, in North Alabama anyway.
Anyway, are most of the camp sites you've found on ridges and high ground? I only know of one site that was on a flat area in Limestone County. Seems like back when there were more wooded areas the areas below the ridge lines probably didn't drain too well. I've seen references in the ORs to Alabama as having a lot of swampy areas and at least one entry where an officer was begging his CO for permission to move his camp to higher ground because of the unhealthy nature of where they were camped. Seems that if that's true its a clue on where to look when trying to puzzle out where a camp might have been, in North Alabama anyway.