Civil War soldiers may be buried in couple's yard

[Carole]

Civil War soldiers may be buried in couple's yard
The Associated Press

SPRINGFIELD, Ky. --A couple in central Kentucky will soon have scientific proof of whether their yard is the final resting place of hundreds of civil war dead.

Ben Breeding, owner of the old Jack Arnold House in Washington County, already has all the evidence he needs though.

The house was a hospital during the civil war, says Ben, wife Susan Breeding, and Sherry Robinson, a Kentucky Division officer for the United Daughters of the Confederacy.

The (Danville) Advocate-Messenger reports that Ben and Susan believe more than 300 civil war graves and some human limbs are buried around their property. The Breedings and Robinson believe limbs were tossed over the porch after surgery.

Besides their intuition and historical knowledge, Ben Breeding has a secret weapon - his trusty dowsing rods.

Metal such as steel, Ben Breeding explained, can detect buried human remains and water lines.

Breeding can detect the orientation of a body as well as its gender, he said, and the bodies on his property are male, supporting the idea that they were Civil War soldiers.

The Breedings were told when they bought the house in 2006 that the property may have held soldiers' remains.

Archaeologists Philip Mink and Donald Handshoe were sent by the Kentucky Archaeological Survey, and have surveyed the grounds using ground penetrating radar technology. The results will take several weeks to be resolved.
http://www.kentucky.com/471/story/538028.html