A
Campsite of the Mexican Army on the Middle Bernard Creek in April, 1836.
A very important event occured in late 1996. A local resident was in
the process of digging a pond on his property about 2.5 miles west of
the town of East Bernard, Texas when he unearthed a solid iron
cannonball. This was a place rumored to have been the campsite of the
Mexican Army in 1836. The results of the archeology that took place
after this incident changed what was written in Texas history books.
Gregg Dimmick and Ed Person went to investigate and found
more
artifacts including another cannonball, musket balls and gun parts
identified as being from
the India Pattern Brown Bess musket. The Brown Bess was one of the
primary firearms of Gen. Santa Anna's army. Gregg, Ed and
Joe
Hudgins quickly determined that the site had the potential of having
great significance and they were correct. They contacted the Texas
Archeological Research Laboratory in Austin, Texas. The site was
assigned the trinomial 41WH91. The owners, Bruce and Susan Badger,
allowed the Houston Archeological Society to do a proper investigation
of the site. Field work began on September 14, 1996 and continued
through November 9, 1996.

|
Archeologists
documenting the locations of artifacts
Joe
Hudgins and Gregg Dimmick measuring an artifact location

|
 |
Portion
of an Oval Brass Plate with raised lettering
reading
"GRANADEROS".
| Gilded Brass Mexican Eagle Emblem |
Rectangular
Brass Cross-Belt Plate Measuring 6.5 cm x 4.7 cm and weighs 78.8 gms
Iron Shackle
Spanish-Style
Rowell from a Spur
A concentration
containing three
groupings of lead
canister shot apparently discarded
intact. Traces of their metal cans and wooden
bottom
were found along with the shot.

|
 |
Brass
Cane Handle | Iron Bayonet Socket ot the type fitting
a Brown Bess
Musket. |

|

|
No. 6
Line Battalion Button
| Picture of a No.
6 Line Battalion Flag |
Brown
Bess Trigger
Guard with Iron Sling Ring
Brown
Bess Ram Rod Pipe
 |
 |
Brown
Bess Trigger Guard
| Brown
Bess Terminal Ram Rod Pipe |
Unknown Brass
Object
India Pattern
Brown
Bess Lockplate