Notice the two major styles of axe heads excavated from the camps: the simple wedge (top row) which resembles a later New England style that was adopted and began to be called by the name "Yankee" at the turn of the 20th century (USFS Axe Manual); and the wedge with the "axe lip" or "lug" (bottom row) which gives more wood to metal contact, and an extra steady and durable fitting of the handle into the eye of the axe head (Gränsfors Bruks). Among all the varying sizes of axe heads excavated, this represents a fair cross section of the range of sizes.

Some of the heads studied show use as wedge tool by having a severely battered butt (such as the head at top right). Some axe heads were found to have the upper toe of the bit angled upward (such as the head at bottom right). Note that the original lengths of all heads could have been originally longer, but from continuous sharpening they may have been shortened. The head at bottom left, dug from the camp of the 6th Maine, is the closest to it's original shape.

There was an absense of double-bit axes in the collection of excavated artifacts, and none have been seen in original photographs of Civil War troops. The double-bit axe was invented in Pennsylvania by William Mann around 1850. By 1860, the double-bit axe was very common in the Northeast, but it appears that government contracts did not purchase this type, at least according to available photographic evidence and dug originals. Because its popularity was generally limited to the Northeast, it is doubtful the design was used extensively, if at all, in the South.
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Two styles of picks were among the several originals in the collection: those with flat bottoms (such as the head on the left) and those more crescent-shaped (such as the head in the center and on right). An additional difference between the styles is the width of chiseled end, used for cutting through roots, where it is wider on the flat bottomed pick and more narrow on the crescent-shaped picks.
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Contrary to belief, not all spade heads of the period were constructed of two sections of metal connected with five rivets. While this method of construction was in practice by some manufacturers (seen on the spade at bottom left), there were many being produced with simpler methods, as seen in the top three examples. All examples feature additional small plates on the top edge for pushing the spade into the ground with a foot, and all taper half an inch down to the tip. The necks of spades are generally more straight when compared to a more curving neck as seen on shovels. The handles are antique but not original to the heads, and are fitted onto the original heads for display purposes.
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Commonly known as an artillery shovel, the image on the left exhibits the five rivet construction seen on one of the spades above. Note how much more the neck curves for leverage than the spades. The center and right images show flat shovels, seen very often in original photographs, and contain no rivets although photos do show examples of this type of shovel with rivets. According to the White Oak Museum curator, other similar heads have been found in winter huts with the front flat edge bent upward. It is hypothesized these heads were from broken shovels and implemented as skillets for use inside the fireboxes, as the necks would have provided excellent handles. Of course, this would have only been seen in permanent camps, because the weight of the shovel head would have simply been too much to carry on the march.
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Other tools such as these could have made their way into permanent camps. Only one mattock head was found, shown at left, and the broad axes could have been used for constructing huts or other buildings that required squared lumber. Broad axes may have been carried by Engineers, but it is doubtful they were used by standard troops or pioneers.
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