[China Clipper]

Excuse me for interrupting your thread, bu I was under the impression that it was against the law to use metal detectors and remove "relics" from national sites that are designated historic battle sites.

Am I wrong?

[Riley]

Excuse me for interrupting your thread, bu I was under the impression that it was against the law to use metal detectors and remove "relics" from national sites that are designated historic battle sites.

Am I wrong?

No- you're quite correct. Not everywhere where a battle took place is a designated historic site though- far from it.

The Ox Hill site was offered to the NPS, but they weren't interested. By the time I ended up pawing around out there, they were building townhouses on it. The construction people saw us walking around out there and plainly didn't care. There is a tiny park across the street which is the sum total of what is protected there and of course, we left that alone. Where we were is all paved over now, with buildings and parking lots on it.

[Oatka]

Excuse me for interrupting your thread, bu I was under the impression that it was against the law to use metal detectors and remove "relics" from national sites that are designated historic battle sites.
Am I wrong?

Probably not - especially nowadays. This event took place in 1961 in the Wilderness area where I believe some private lumber companies owned the land and allowed public access for camping, etc. Metal detectors then were such an unknown that there was no thought of banning them anywhere.