Confederate Cache Traditional Cache
AgentMan: Looks like this one has been muggled.
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(regular)
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The Confederate Cache is located off a small country road in a nice, regularly visited park. Terrain is even, and park has a path with an incline of approximately 25 feet in altitude, but should be very easy to traverse. No high weeds to worry about. A very nice, well maintained park.
The cache is in a 1 gallon cylindrical Rubbermaid container painted to camouflage it. Initial contents of cache:
Janney Furnace brochures (please take one)
LCD clip watch
glow stick
golf ball
LED light
Dixie button (plays Dixie!)
SCV (Sons of Confederate Veterans) coin
Logbook to log your visit
2 pencils and a pencil sharpener
SCV information cards (please take one of these if you are interested in learning more about this fine heritage organization)
Janney furnace was built in 1863 by a Montgomery manufacturer by the name of Alfred Janney. He was in the area buying iron ore for another of his furnaces when he noticed brown ore on the ground under a ridge about a mile north of Ohatchee. The Confederates had hoped to use Janney Furnace to provide pig iron for the south, but it is unclear as to whether the furnace was ever actually used. None of the sandstone lining the circular chimney is blackened from smoke, which should be the case of a functional furnace. The furnace was constructed with the labor of about 200 slaves, with sandstone for construction quarried in the area. Janney shipped equipment and machinery from his furnace in Montgomery to be used at the site. As part of Sherman’s infamous March to the Sea, a 2300-man Calvary force under Union Gen. Lovell H. Rosseau advanced to Calhoun County in July 1864 and blew off the furnace stack and burned the supporting structures including the blower and charcoal houses. After Union soldiers burned the workers' shacks and demolished about 25 feet of the brick chimney that capped the stone furnace, construction was resumed, but was not completed by the end of the Civil War. Janney sold the land and returned to Montgomery, and the machinery that remained rusting around the furnace was sold for scrap.
The only remaining original structure is the furnace itself. Today, the furnace stack still stands as a reminder of this bygone time. While standing on the path that goes up and behind the furnace, you can see remnants of the reservoir directly to the left of the furnace, which held water for the steam engine. Also look for the remains of the charging bridge, which was directly behind the furnace and was used to load or “charge” the furnace. In addition, the charcoal house would have stood directly across from the charging bridge. Today there is a sign showing where it originally stood. There are informational brochures on the furnace located inside the cache, and when you locate it, please feel free to take one. It has more information about the park.
Directions to the Janney Furnace:
From Anniston, AL take Hwy 431 North towards Gadsden until you reach Hwy 144. Take a left onto Hwy 144 headed towards Ohatchee. Go 8.1 miles until you reach Big Oak Road (there is also a small Janney Furnace sign on the side of the road at this turn). Take a right onto Big Oak Road and follow this road 0.8 miles until it “T’s” off. Take a left and go 0.1 miles. You will see the Janney Furnace sign on your right. Turn right onto Janney Road. There is a small parking lot next to the park that you can use. Begin your journey here in the parking lot. The best way to begin your search for the cache is to take the path to the left that runs by the furnace, up around the top and behind the monument. Begin your search once you are up behind the furnace. The cache is located on this level. While searching, notice the large depression next to the furnace. This was a reservoir that was used to hold water that was consumed by a steam engine during the operation of the furnace. There should not be much risk of falling in, but I will caution you anyway. Please be careful if you decide to take a closer look!
After you have found the cache, please take time to look around at the furnace and monument. Thanks to the Calhoun County Commission, the SCV and other benefactors, this place has been turned into quite a nice park. There is a picnic table, if you have the time for a break or maybe even lunch. While you’re at the monument, please take a moment to locate the two Kirkpatrick names on the wall. Stephen B. Kirkpatrick and Thomas J. Kirkpatrick were two of my ancestors who fought and died for their country. They were from a family of five brothers that all fought in the war. Three of the five returned home, but these two gave their all. A true “Band of Brothers”!
Good luck!
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
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