Revolutionary War remnant pulled from Delaware River

AP via pennlive.com ^ | 11/24/2007 | EDWARD COLIMORE

[Does so]

Sort of a sea-going "calprop". (Sorry, Google isn't helpful with an image for "calprop").

That yellow pine must be something else!

I thought yellow pine was a southern tree, but all the ones I've seen were pressure-treated, so...

[Cheburashka]

Caltrop

[Riley]

Try ‘caltrop’.

http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=caltrop&btnG=Search+Images&gbv=2

That was pretty much my first thought, as well.

[Freedom4US]

That’s a cool flag. Who sells modern “repros” of those early style flags anyway? (no imports pliz)

[Pharmboy]

Try here...

[Pharmboy]

As you suggest, it was likely due to its location. These were used in many waterways during the Revolution, including the Hudson River in NY State and NY Harbor. It was of obvious importance for the Patriots to know exactly where they were for later extraction.

[Fraxinus]

Yellow pine could be any of a number of 2-3 needled pines. In this case it is probably pitch or loblolly pine, both of which grow in south Jersey and Delaware. It also could be Virginia pine which in the uncommon case it is usable for timber is sold as southern yellow pine.

Probably was preserved by anoxic mud and water so polluted that almost all decay organisms cannot live.

[Freedom4US]

Thank You!

[Eye of Unk]

If only we could do it again in the 21st century against the invading Muslims and Latin Americans.

[Ditter]

Great find!

My husband found a metal point on his south Texas hunting lease. He checked it out and found out it was an ox goad. An iron point put on the end of a stick to poke the oxen that were pulling a wagon. No telling how old that thing is.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

What a great find! Thanks for posting this.

If you want to read a great book about naval defenses on the Hudson River, read "Chaining the Hudson".

[samadams2000]

Thanks for the post. May we never forget.

[EarlyBird]

There's £2 million in gold coins sitting in 16 fathoms of water somewhere near Pot Rock at Hell's Gate that still remains to be recovered. The HMS Hussar sank there in 1779, and it was carrying the gold for the British army payroll. That would be quite a find too, especially since treasure hunters have been looking for it ever since it was lost!

[Tribune7]

Oh, you gotta give Pharmboy the credit for the posting. I just pinged some people :-)

The book looks interesting, btw.

[VOA]

The cheval-de-frise was in excellent condition, a rare historic find
after more than two centuries in the river.

Preserved by two centuries of run-off from urban areas that killed
bacteria, etc. that would have eaten it up?
Or made of some sort of long-surviving wood AND very hard wood?

(Just speculating as I presume this defensive weapon is not in
cold/abiotic water conditions!)

[the OlLine Rebel]

Cheval-de-frise! Why was I not shocked when seeing “Philadelphia”, “Delaware River”, “Rev object” all together? Especially couple with the word “log”?

[the OlLine Rebel]

Sorry about the spelling. I thought that was wrong. Just couldn’t get the proper spelling to my mind again! Been a long time.

[Libertina]

Yes, fight with Yankee ingenuity!

[GladesGuru]

“Probably was preserved by anoxic mud and water so polluted that almost all decay organisms cannot live.”

Anoxic conditions are the key, as wood has been recovered from clear trout and salmon waters where pollution is not a significant issue.

[Fraxinus]

The decay organism I mostly had in mind with my comment about pollution were ship worms, which live in brackish and salt water. I remember reading that improving water conditions caused century old piers to suddenly collapse in NY in the 80’s, because the improving water conditions allowed them to thrive.