Bettendorf's Finch is retracing his great-grandfather's steps in Civil War
Clinton man has ancestors in civil war effectsBob Betsinger Clinton, Iowa, had two grandfathers and great-uncle who fought in the Civil War. In addition to a variety of newspaper clippings, photographs and family papers, Betsinger has discharge papers, the Springfield rifle and cavalry sword that belonged to Ebenezer Betsinger.
He said that the elements are part of the story of his family.
"You take this stuff and you wonder what kind of experiences he has lived."
Walter D. Hodgson Mercer County, Illinois, Joined the 124th Illinois Infantry at the age of 15 years and went to fight to preserve the Union during the Civil War.
About 100 years later, two of his grandchildren son, Don Finch Bettendorf and his brother, Harry, have combined their metal detectors and go to retrace the steps of their ancestors through American history.
Don Finch estimates he has visited 80 percent of Civil War battlefields.
"I had everyone follows his grandfather, too," he said with a laugh.
Finch is now retired, and his wife, she has replaced her deceased husband's brother, his traveling companion, but Finch is still spending time on the battlefields and campgrounds of the South in search memorabilia that help tell the story of what his great-grandfather lived as a young soldier in the U.S. Army 150 years ago.
Finch, who also participated in many Civil War reenactments, found or bought memorabilia enough of war between states to fill a room.
It even has a complete set of "War of the Rebellion," the official government documents of the Union and Confederate armies, which takes an entire library.
"If it is in your blood, it is difficult to escape," he said.
The most numerous items in his collection are dozens of mini balls, lead projectiles fired from the Springfield and Enfield rifles used during the war. Some balls are flattened mini, what happened when they hit an object, a characteristic that made them such a devastating weapon, Finch said.
"When they hit your body, they came to destroy," he added.
Among other issues he found with his metal detector are belt buckles, coins, pieces of artillery projectiles, gun tools, pieces of harness, horse and mule shoes and tools cut by the soldiers.
Finch said that if the soldiers need something they did not between 1861 and 1865, they found a way to do it themselves.
Civil War Battlefield Maps - News
His finds also include a ball and chain, which Finch speculates may have been used to confine either a prisoner of war or a slave. Finch said he plans his expeditions by studying topographical maps of the battlefields and campgrounds.
They find the burial spots of Civil War solders whose families could not afford gravestones. They sift through Philadelphia death records and look up cemetery plot maps. When they find a soldier, they file the required paperwork to get a headstone for
“We want people to get a sense of the whole story,'' said Ronald Grim, curator of the library's Norman B. Leventhal Map Center, which organized the exhibit. “During the Civil War, maps became a major way of illustrating the battles.
The Belle Boyd House in the Eastern Panhandle is one of 150 lesser-known Civil War destinations the commission is highlighting on a new 13-state map to be released Thursday, pointing the way to that footnote on history and plenty more.
Civil War Trust, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving historic sites, is putting together iPhone "battle apps," with integrated maps and GPS to make sure you don't get lost (www.civilwar.org/battleapps). I downloaded a few podcasts recently and set out
Geographic Travels: Washington Post's Interactive Civil War Map
The Washington Post has a neat interactive map of the Civil War battle s. We can set the date displayed battles. The results show what battles were fought there and the losses are given in a range of circle sizes. Unfortunately, but reasonably understandable, most battles are no further information. However, large battles are labeled and clicking on the circle battle will give the user more information about the context of the commitment. Finally, since the board is powered by Google Maps, you can zoom in and see things like the 1862 battles around Richmond.
RT : Follow in the soldiers’ footsteps with historic battlefield maps on our iPad app. Find out how here: 
RT : Follow in the soldiers’ footsteps with historic battlefield maps on our iPad app. Find out how here: 
RT : Follow in the soldiers’ footsteps with historic battlefield maps on our iPad app. Find out how here: 
Sweet! Now I need an iPad RT : Follow in soldiers footsteps w/battlefield maps on our iPad app 
RT : Follow in the soldiers’ footsteps with historic battlefield maps on our iPad app. Find out how here: Civil War Battlefield Maps - Bookshelf
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