Talisman.

This is coolbert:

Witchery the American Civil War? Witchery?

From the Internet web site www.military-history.org and thanks to same.

"Civil War find could be rare ‘witch bottle’"

March 9, 2020.

"It seems an unremarkable discovery. But a bottle found by archaeologists on the site of an American Civil War redoubt may have had a supernatural purpose."

"Back in 2016, the William & Mary Center for Archaeological Research (WMCAR) conducted a project near Interstate 64 in Williamsburg, Virginia."

"Among their findings was a green bottle, next to the remains of a hearth built by Union troops at Redoubt 9. This was one of a series of small fortifications erected by the Confederates, but later occupied by Federal troops."

"Filled with iron nails, the bottle was initially thought to have been placed there for storage. But Oliver Mueller-Heubach and Robert Hunter, staff members at WMCAR, have theorized that it is likely to be a rare ‘witch bottle’."

"Originating in England during the Middle Ages, this type of talisman was introduced to North America by colonial immigrants."

"Placed next to a hearth, it was believed the heat would warm the inside of the bottle and trap malevolent forces."

Practitioners too of Celtic magic ritual even evidenced during the American Civil War? Eating the brains of a vanquished enemy a "ceremonious" custom engaged in by Confederate troops of the Irish heritage:

"Hence the ancient Irish were known to eat a portion of a slain enemy's brain. The head-hunting practices of Irish fighters continued until the mid-19th century, when early Irish immigrants to North America fighting for the Confederacy were known to have hunted the heads of Union soldiers."

I pass on that one! 

coolbert.