Battle of Sharpsburg Mystery Cache
Difranco: Some serious renovation ruined the cache location. It appears the cache and its contents has been lost to loggers.
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(micro)
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COORDINATES ABOVE ARE NOT CORRECT
The Battle of Sharpsburg, fought on September 17, 1862, near
Sharpsburg, Maryland, and Antietam Creek, as part of the Maryland
Campaign, was the first major battle in the American Civil War to
take place on Northern soil. It was the bloodiest single-day battle
in American history, with almost 23,000 casualties.
Two famous men stood together on this battleground. One was
exceptionally tall and known as "the Rail Splitter". The other was
nicknamed "Son of the Morning Star" and buried his heart in
different battle. You can see them both pictured together in the
attached photo, the honest man in the center of the photograph
while the other is standing alone on the far right.
To find the correct coordinates you'll need to find out who these
men are then uncover the year of their birth and year of death.
"the Rail Splitter"
N 46* 51. ? = (Death - Birth)*10
"Son of the Morning Star"
W122* 50. ? = (Death - Birth)*25
Once you arrive at these coordinates, the cache will be located in
place were an ambush could be easily be made from. To discover the
ambush position, you will need to find a magnetic azimuth of
approximately 143° SE and march approximately 49 paces (I'm 73.75"
tall). My 11 y.o. daughter at 57" tall paced this distance at 60
paces even. I believe you will have to work a little bit to find
this cache. Please be sure to place the cache exactly as you found
it.
You can check your answers for this puzzle on
Geochecker.com.
***UPDATE 02/24/2008*** It is best to use a real compass over your
GPS. However, if your GPS is all you have would recommend
recalibrating GPS compass once you arrive at the coordinates.
Remember metal (rings, watches, etc.) may affect your compass/gps
readings.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
1.Trg lbhe nmvzhgu sebz gur cynpr jurer gurfr gjb zra fgnaq gbtrgure gbqnl. (abg arprffnevyl jurer lbhe TCF mrebf.)
2.Fznyy Fdhner Pryrfgvny Grn Gva cnvagrq gb or qvfperrg.
3.Pbagnpg zr vs lbh arrq nabgure uvag.