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157-year-old Civil War explosive found at metro Atlanta battlefield

The Cobb County Police Department bomb squad removed the ordinance at Kennesaw Battlefield earlier this week.

KENNESAW, Ga. — An archeological survey earlier this week at Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield was interrupted for a fairly remarkable reason - they had to call the bomb squad, to take care of an explosive that had been sitting there for more than 150 years.

According to the Cobb County Police Department, the archeologists working the site uncovered unexploded ordnance, dating back to the Civil War, about 10 inches below-ground.

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The department said bomb technicians carefully dug it out, examined it, and then moved it to a bunker for storage, where it will later be counter-charged. 

The Cobb Police Department described it as a parrot shell that was commonly used during the Civil War by the Union Army.

The department provided several photos of the explosive:

Credit: Cobb County Police Department
Credit: Cobb County Police Department
Credit: Cobb County Police Department
Credit: Cobb County Police Department

The department didn't say where exactly at the National Battlefield Park the explosive was found. 

The Battle of Kennesaw Mountain took place on June 27, 1864 and is generally considered a brief defensive success for Confederate forces in the midst of Union General William Tecumseh Sherman's successful campaign to take Atlanta.

   

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