Update on 42 Union artillery shells

I caught up with Henry County (Ga.) Civil War historian Mark Pollard on the status of the 42 Union artillery shells unearthed last year near Lovejoy.

As you may recall from a Picket article in October 2009, a contractor installing a new water line at a home made the discovery. The homeowner donated most of the Hotchkiss rounds to Nash Farm Battlefield, owned by Henry County.

Pollard told me at the B*ATL event in Atlanta this past weekend that the shells have been cleaned and are waiting to go into the farm's museum. The slow economy has hurt fund-raising efforts to make repairs and upgrades on the property below Atlanta. The museum did raise nearly $800 at a July 4 event and Nash Farm is planning the Simply Southern Jubilee and Re-enactment Battle in September.