If all goes well, and the Senate passes the Navigation Act, then the money will be available to dredge the Savannah river. Part of the money will be used for archaeologiacl mitigation, in other words - survey, excavation and conservation of the artifacts. I spent last week on the river on a barge, discussing how we can successfully raise the remaining artifacts from the site. Please do NOT think of that we have a wrecksite on the riverbottom with tons of goodies. What we do have is a collection of material that was left behind after a number of river dredges passed through. The bottom of the hull is not there, and there are no small artifacts of a personal nature. Yes, there are four guns, two engines (both unbolted and disconnected), a condenser (?), a propeller and shaft, some ordnance, and sections of the casemate, etc. The disposition of the material possibly suggests that a salvage attempt was underway, and then the material was dumped. Unfortunately, the entire bottom is covered with an invasive species of small black mussel, and teredo worm has gone through all of the wood - so the casemate is not stable. The underwater visibility in minimal! The guns include one 9" Dahlgren, two 32-pdr's - they look to be banded and rifled, and a small 6 pdr. These will all be raised next summer and conserved, and then go on display in a yet to be named museum.
Jim J.
