In February of2008, Southeastern Archeological Services conducted an archeological survey of approximately 9.1 ha (22.5 ac) of Georgia Ports Authority land on the north side of Brampton Road. The GP A plans to construct warehouses and other facilities on the property; therefore the work was performed to ensure that the GPA is in compliance with state regulations (the Georgia Environmental Policy Act‑‑GEP A) concerning the identification and protection of significant archeological sites on state controlled property. About one third of the tract has been heavily disturbed by the construction of a large building and two railroad spurs, about one third of the tract has been lightly graded and graveled and one third is in mature woods.
Brampton Road dates to the eighteenth century and led to Brampton Plantation on the river bluff about 700 m (2,300 ft) to the east. The road is depicted on Civil War maps as the location of a Union line, during the battle for Savannah in December of 1864. Confederate lines and artillery were several hundred yards to the southeast, across a creek and to the west flanking Brampton Road. The Georgia Archaeological Site Files and nineteenth to early twentieth century maps indicated that no known sites existed on the tract and that no known structures existed on the tract. It was likely that Union entrenchments and activity would have been focused on the higher land on the south side of Brampton Road. Nevertheless, given the proximity of the Union line and the known battle that took place, we concluded that it was possible for Civil War artifacts to occur on the tract. The tract was surveyed by the principal investigator and metal detector specialist Dan Battle over a three‑day period. All 30 shovel tests placed in the relatively undisturbed area were sterile. Metal detecting focused on the 40‑m wide area along Brampton Road but included the entire wooded parcel between a railroad spur and Brampton Road.
The metal detecting led to the recovery of a fired, but unexploded Confederate artillery shell, two bullets and several fragments of metal that are likely related to the Civil War fighting that occurred in the area. We saw no evidence of entrenchments or other Civil War features. It is likely that these features were located elsewhere and that the artifacts in the project area were a result of skirmishing and artillery fire along a battle line. While there may yet be additional Civil War era artifacts on the tract, we believe that our two rounds of metal detecting with three types of metal detectors is sufficient investigation and adequately samples the archeological potential of the tract.
We conclude that the three to six Civil War artifacts we encountered is essentially "background noise" related to a vast battle field that stretched from the Savannah River to many miles to the west and southwest and that encompassed thousands of acres. Because of this vastness, the fact that much of this area has been intensively developed and our very limited survey area, it is not possible delineate a distinct battle field or battle site at the project area. To facilitate the processing and discussion of the encountered artifacts, we have been forced to somewhat arbitrarily create an archeological site that corresponds to the areal extent of these artifacts, archeological site 9CH1191. We recommend that site 9CH1191 is not eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places because it lacks integrity and has little to no further research potential. Thus, we recommend that the Brampton Road tract contains no significant cultural resources.
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