You can't drive to the top of Kennesaw Mountain anymore. But hard campaigners can still walk or bike up; weekend shuttle will go to daily in a couple months

Restriping and other work was scheduled to begin this week at the park outside Atlanta (NPS photo)

I drove Saturday morning (Jan. 3) across town to Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, hoping to drive to the top of the Georgia peak a couple days ahead of the formal closure of the road to private vehicles.

Oops.

The walk to the summit provides some pretty cool views (Picket photos)

I had forgotten Mountain Road wasn’t open to cars on weekends. OK, how about the shuttle bus operating next to the visitor center? Well, it wasn’t operating because of rainy conditions. So, I did what hundreds of people do every day: Walk the 1.6 mile paved surface to the summit.

I greeted fellow walkers and took in a few signs indicating Confederate cannon and defensive positions from June 1864.

There’s a few for Maj. Gen. Edward Walthall’s division, namely  Quarles and Reynolds brigades. At the top, I used a marker to match views of Marietta and Atlanta and saw one listing 14 Georgia generals who fought for the Rebel army at Kennesaw Mountain. And above that is a cool stretch of emplaced cannons mimicking the Confederate positions.

Beyond the history, you get great views of the skyline and buildings below as you walk the winding road. I returned via the same route because the popular walkup trail was a bit wet and I didn’t trust my knees and bum ankle. (For the curious, the summit is 1,808 feet above sea level.)

I imagine my experience of seeing the road entrance blocked will be a surprise to many visitors this week as the news spread that the park Monday closed the road to private vehicles seven days a week as part of a safety improvement project.

The aim is to reduce congestion, ensure safety and protect resources.

"This change in use addresses growing safety concerns on a narrow, heavily used road," said Acting Superintendent Beth Wheeler in a news release. "We understand this change may impact how some visitors experience the park, and we are committed to prioritizing a safe and accessible experience for all visitors while also preserving the natural and historical integrity of the park."

A marker provides details on what can be scene from near the summit (Picket photos)

The road to the summit will eventually be accessible daily by shuttle, foot and bicycles, the latter of which must follow a specific schedule. The unpaved walkup trail will not be affected by the project.

"Once construction is complete, the park will expand its existing weekend/holiday shuttle service to seven days a week." said Wheeler in an email to the Picket. She said the park has seen increased visitation and held a public comment period in summer 2024.

The bottom line for the next couple months: Visitors can walk up the mountain on the road or the trail, bicyclists can come each day and the shuttle still operates on the weekend.

Work includes restriping the road and improvements to the summit and shuttle plaza near the visitor center. 

Wheeler says there will be a pedestrian lane on the outside edge of the road. The pedestrian lane will be wide enough for both ascending and descending walkers. 

A wider lane will be available for the shuttle and bicycles. It will be separated from pedestrians by new striping.

I noticed Saturday, ahead of the closure, that walkers were spread out over much of the road, so it will be interesting to see whether rangers will be able to keep them to the designated lane. Perhaps there will be sticks or something similar to separate the two lanes. (At right, a walker carried this replica canteen up the road)

Cyclist access will be permitted daily from 7:30 a.m.-10 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m. (or 6 p.m. during winter hours) outside of shuttle operating times.

The road has a pretty good elevation grade increase in places and has a couple blind spots. And there's no shoulder lane. In other words, it has looked like any other old road -- with no marked spots for pedestrians.

Park officials say it has seen increased traffic incidents and medical emergencies.

While cars, when not attended to properly, are the most inherently dangerous of the three modes of transportation, pedestrians and bicyclists often have close calls and incidents.

Intermittent road closures to all forms of transportation will occur through late March, perhaps longer, the park said.

Visitor Ann Wright told the Atlanta CBS News affiliate that motorists sometimes sped up not matter how many strollers or bikes were on the road.

Some have questioned whether fewer people will make the trek to the top if they can't drive themselves.

A trail leads from Mountain Road to Little Kennesaw Mountain (Picket photo)

"I think it kind of shuts off a lot of availability for people who aren't physically able to get up there because I know it is kind of more of a strenuous hike, but I think it would be better for the park and for the conservation of the nature for sure," hiker Jenna Nation told the station.

Wheeler said the new shuttle schedule has not yet been set. The park will share information in the spring when the construction project is complete and the new uses and times for Mountain Road begin, she said.

The wartime version of the road going to the mountain top allowed Southern troops to haul cannon to the commanding heights.

Union forces on June 27, 1864, made demonstrations in the area (above), but the real attack occurred farther to the south. The assault was a costly – but temporary --failure as the army neared Atlanta.

There was no fighting at the summit during the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain.

The T.R.R. Cobb House in Athens, Ga., is reprising debate over who killed general at Fredericksburg. Clues and claims are featured each Wednesday on social media

Cobb's and Kershaw's troops in Fredericksburg at the stone wall (Library of Congress)

Tune in this week tor another episode of “Who Killed Tom Cobb?”!!!

Tom Cobb, for the unfamiliar, was Thomas Reade Rootes Cobb, an ardent Georgia secessionist and Confederate brigadier general killed at Fredericksburg.

On Dec. 13, 1862, Cobb bled out after he was wounded while leading his men along Sunken Road. Of some debate in subsequent years was the manner of death.

Most historians – including staffers at Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park in Virginia -- attribute the ghastly leg wound to shrapnel from a Federal artillery shell. Brig. Gen. Joseph Kershaw and Col. E.P. Alexander, however, reported that Cobb (right) was felled by a sharpshooter. There’s at least one other story, though it was largely debunked by veterans and historians

Six years after the T.R.R. Cobb House in Athens, Ga., asked middle schoolers to weigh in, the topic is being reprised through a weekly video series (on Wednesdays) featuring former Cobb House interns laying out evidence and accounts.

Curator Ashleigh Oatts said the series has been in the works for more than a year. The impetus is to boost the house's social media presence, and videos are the best way to do that.

“We were hearing from some visitors that they had heard that Tom Cobb died in X way (usually not the correct answer) and realized that the general public might appreciate hearing from the primary sources and becoming detectives through this video series,” she said.

The general -- a lawyer, slavery defender and architect of the Confederate constitution before he joined the cause's army -- was mortally wounded within sight of where his mother was born in Fredericksburg.

The death theories first were the subject of a summer 2017 article in the magazine of the Watson-Brown Foundation, which operates the T.R.R. Cobb House in Athens, Ga.

Sam Thomas, who was the curator then, decided to throw the whodunit to a group that would have no bias or prejudice – a class of eighth-graders. About half of them believed Cobb was killed by a sharpshooter, while others thought his death was result of friendly (or unfriendly) fire. You can read details of that claim here.

Cobb’s brigade was at the center of the maelstrom at Fredericksburg – the Sunken Road, which was bordered by a stone wall and just below Marye’s Heights.

“His men successfully repulsed repeated Union assaults on their position throughout the day on December 13, the park says on its website. “Between the first and second major wave of attacks against the Confederate position, Cobb was hit with shrapnel and mortally wounded. He had been standing behind the Stephens House when an artillery shell exploded through the house.” The officer was 39.

The video series is running every Wednesday through Dec. 17, though there may not be one shown Thanksgiving week, said Oatts. Three have been rolled out as of this writing.

Peter Maugle, park historian and ranger at Fredericksburg, will present a “solution” talk on Dec. 10, and the museum will wrap up the series the following Wednesday.

“The solution isn't a specific person, rather narrowing it down to the battery that was responsible (but also correcting misinformation stating that he was killed by friendly fire.),” said Oatts.

Cobb Legion's flag at the Athens house is on loan from the Atlanta History Center (Picket photo)

Among the weekly subjects:

-- H.M. Reed, son of a 13^th Mississippi Infantry veteran, told author Margaret Mitchell in 1937 about his father: “He dropped down beside the general and shoved his thumb into the wound and pressed the ends of the artery together and stopped the bleeding…When they arrived at the hospital they had to lift the general and my father out together as he could not release the pressure on the artery for a second. They laid both of them down on a bed together and the general expired before he could remove his thumb from the wound. My dad said his thumb was numb for a week afterwards."’

-- A Confederate’s interview with the Marietta (Ga.) Journal in which he claims Cobb was killed by a Rebel soldier in retribution for an incident that occurred weeks before the battle.

-- The account of Edward Porter Alexander, who apparently heard second-hand an account claiming it was a sharpshooter. "The fatal shot came from a house some hundred and fifty yards in front and to the left, which was occupied by the Federal skirmishes.”

-- The Rev. Rufus Kilpatrick Porter, chaplain for Cobb’s Legion;

-- Capt. W.R. Montgomery (left) of Cobb's Legion: “The whole time of the engagement our brave and gallant General Cobb was encouraging his men until a shot from the enemy’s cannon gave him his mortal wound. He was on the right of our Co, only a few feet from me when wounded.”

-- A letter from Joseph Henry Lumpkin, Cobb’s father-in-law, to Lumpkin’s daughter “Callie” Lumpkin King. While he was not present at Fredericksburg, he writes with some knowledge of the condition of the body. Lumpkin described the shell exploding outside the Stephens House, the fragment hitting his son-in-law above the knee, the removal of the general from the field, the cause of death and the funeral in Athens, Ga.

A postscript from my 2019 article on the topic: The T.R.R. Cobb House displays the Cobb’s Legion flag used at the battle in Virginia. The flag reportedly covered his legs after his body was sent to Athens days later and he lie in repose in his library. Cobb, his brother Howell and their families are buried a few miles away in Oconee Hill Cemetery.

These unusual Rebel forts outside Atlanta were never tested by Sherman. A few Shoupades survive; volunteers toil to reveal a trench between two of them

Ron Wendt steps near exposed trench leading up to First Shoupade; Matt Larson wields a mattock; work Sunday was near Shoupade, 2, and redan, 3; the other Shoupade is marked 4; diagram shows defense design (Picket photos)

Where cannons and rifles once bristled, mattocks, saws and loppers were the weapons of the day Sunday afternoon for a small, but hardy crew working to clear vegetation and expose a trench that connected unique Confederate fortifications outside Atlanta.

The nonprofit River Line Historic Area (RLHA) sponsored the “Trimming the Trenches” workday at Shoupade Park in Smyrna, Ga. The goal is to “enrich the visitor's visual educational experience.”

Timber and earthen redoubts – known as Shoupades -- were built by enslaved laborers near the Chattahoochee River and were briefly manned in July 1864. The arrowhead shape allowed defenders to shoot in several directions. Artillery placed in nearby redans added to “the killing zone.” (Bill Scaife model of a Shoupade, left)

RLHA  and individuals have been working to expose the outline of an infantry trench between one Shoupade and a redan. The park is in the middle of a residential development.

While the work is still to be completed, progress was made Sunday. I could see the faint line indicating the trench where troops could move from one fortification to the next.

Born in Indiana, Confederate Brig. Gen. Francis A. Shoup (right) lent his name to a fort system that Union Maj. Gen William T. Sherman, intent on taking Atlanta, called “one of the strongest pieces of field fortifications I ever saw.”

The Chattahoochee River was the last natural obstacle for Union troops moving on Atlanta.

Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston ordered a series of defenses and the Rebels built 36 Shoupade forts, said Roberta Cook, executive director of RLHA. Ten remain in various levels of condition. Some are on public land and some on private property.

For all their ingenuity, the Shoupades never saw action. Sherman, using his familiar flanking strategy, crossed the river elsewhere, forcing Confederates to retreat to Atlanta. There is a belief that Johnston and some of his soldiers did not fully appreciate Shoupade's work.

Author Brad Butkovich says the forts were meant to be an impregnable barrier to the river with a small force, freeing up troops to guard the army flanks. He argues Johnston failed to use the forts to his advantage.

Cobb County owns the two-acre Shoupade Park and cuts the grass in the common area between its two Shoupades.

The shoupades are in vegetation in the center and a cleared area to the right (Cobb County Parks)

The earthworks are fenced but visitors get a good view and four signs explain how they worked. Charlie Crawford, president emeritus of the Georgia Battlefields Association, wrote the text. That organization has lamented development around several River Line sites.

“The River Line Historic Area adopted the park eight years ago to improve its level of care with volunteer labor, but it has been a challenge,” said Cook.

Volunteers have concentrated on clearing excess vegetation from the redan and the “First Shoupade.” English ivy is being kept in place to ward off erosion on the latter, Cook said. Recent work days have concentrated on the connecting trench so people can a better idea of how the defensive system was designed. 

Roberta Cook, Matt Larson, Gould Hagler, Julie Schrodt, Ron Wendt (Picket photo)

Shoupade Park is bordered by the Park Avenue subdivision. Pulte Homes donated the fortifications to the county when it built the large neighborhood on Oakdale Road, and it paid for the interpretive signage.

Cook led Sunday’s effort. Joining her were Matt Larson and Julie Schrodt, Park Avenue residents, and Gould Hagler and Ron Wendt, members of area Civil War roundtables. Schrodt  is a RLHA board member.

The nonprofit is involved in several endeavors, including maintaining historic cemeteries.

The Chattahoochee River Line stretched for nearly six miles and was meant to slow Federals. But Johnston was largely buying time before he was outflanked.

Cobb County maintains Discovery Park at the River Line, which features a Shoupade, anchor fort and an impressive stretch of Confederate earthworks. It is a few miles south of Shoupade Park.

I visited the park after the work day and enjoyed the walk on the top of a ridge and down below where a trail parallels the Chattahoochee River. 

Cobb County Parks maintains a helpful web page about Discovery Park, including a guide to Civil War markers. New trails and signs have been introduced in the past five years.

“Designed by a Confederate officer and built by army engineers, heavy units of the Georgia militia, slightly wounded soldiers and about a thousand enslaved Africans, these fortifications are some of the few still remaining,” the page says.

Julie Schrodt removes branches; interior of First Shoupade at Shoupade Park (Picket photos)

“The defensive line became known as Johnston’s River Line after Confederate General Joseph E. Johnson and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. These fortifications are important as a reminder of the way war was fought in the 19^th century. Their historical importance and undisturbed state have led to their preservation.”

Another view of the trench line, with Ron Wendt inside (Picket photo)

Crawford, with the GBA, said a Federal artillery battery site at Discovery Park is currently off-limits. Battery D, 1^st Illinois Light Artillery Regiment, served west of Nickajack Creek.

The city of Smyrna's River Line Park includes another Shoupade. The park includes playing fields, concessions, trail and a playground.

The Second Shoupade at the park off Oakdale Road (Picket photo)

Oorah! Marine Corps makes sure a recovered Schenkl artillery shell is safe, hands it over to Liberia House in Manassas, Va., ahead of its 200th birthday bash

Photos of returned shell (top) and after its discovery in April (below, City of Manassas)

The Liberia House in Manassas, Va., recently received an unwrapped present ahead of its 200th birthday celebration. The hand-delivered item arrived with no fanfare or box, but it did include a rather unique card.

“The following ordnance items have been certified free from bulk explosives, have been certified inert, indicated by an accompanying inert certification.”

U.S. Marines stationed about 25 miles away returned a Civil War Schenkl artillery shell that was found in April by contractors using heavy equipment at a creek near Liberia House, which has a rich history.

“At my request, they did not clean the shell up except to remove loose dirt. So it looks very much like it did when it was discovered, except now it has a big hole in the top from being worked on,” said Mary Helen Dellinger, curator at the city-run Manassas Museum, which manages the historic site.

The striking Liberia House was made from bricks fashioned from red clay on site (City of Manassas)

The fuse was not present at the time of discovery, but Virginia State Police considered the small shell to be a live round. They held it until explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) technicians at Marine Corps Base Quantico could take custody.

The Schenkl shell would have contained black powder but the Picket was unable to determine whether it still was present 160 years later. An EOD technician at the base who answered questions Tuesday about explosive ordnance said he did not have details on this shell.

The technician said if any black powder was present the item would have been carefully pressure washed and cleaned with a filtration system.

Hard to say which side had this particular round

Local officials believe the shell will be a great addition to Oct. 11 programming marking the 200^th anniversary of Liberia House. The 10 a.m.-4 p.m. event includes tours, music, 19th century games, a demonstration of quilting and storytelling.

Manassas, obviously, is associated with two major battles and numerous smaller operations and skirmishes.

The Schenkl was primarily used by Federal artillerymen in a variety of cannons, including the Parrott.

“As far as Federal vs. Confederate shell – it’s difficult to say,” said Dellinger (left in city Instagram post) of this example.

“We do know that during the Battle of Bull Run Bridge the 2^nd New York was stationed on the property (exact location unknown) and were firing at the Confederates at Fort Beauregard (located about ½ mile from Liberia). Because of the history of both sides being on the property during the war, it’s really hard to say which side left the shell behind.”

About 400,000 Schenkl shells were made during the Civil War. They came in several styles, including ones that contained case shot. It had a Papier-mache sabot.

Shell will make its public debut Oct. 11

The Prince William County property served as headquarters for Confederate and Union forces early in the war. Jefferson Davis (in 1861) and Abraham Lincoln (in 1862) came here to confer with their generals. “Proof of occupation is displayed as faded graffiti left by Union soldiers is visible on interior walls,” the city says.

Soldiers from both sides wrote graffiti in many structures in the region. Those surviving at Liberia Hall are Union.

Dellinger previously told the Picket past archaeological digs at Liberia yielded numerous Civil War-related pieces, among them buttons, bullets, small bits a pieces of metal that relate to horse equipage, other accoutrements and a sword -- “the coolest thing until this shell.”

Manassas touts its extensive Black history through a trail for residents and visitors. Liberia House tells the story of the enslaved people on the land at the time of the war.

Liberia House was built for William J. and Harriett Weir in 1825. Enslaved laborers did most of the construction on the two-story, Federal style brick home. They are believed to have crafted much of the stylish interior, too. Its 1,600 acres made Liberia a large working farm and plantation.

Dellinger said the birthday party will not have a Civil War focus but there will be come wartime components, including the debut of the Schenkl round.

”After that, I plan on leaving the shell at the house so when we have it open for public events it’s on hand for people to see.”

Marines keep busy with calls about ordnance

19th century photo of house shows men in fashionable clothing (Library of Congress)

Quantico routinely gets requests to handle possible explosive ordnance, including some dating to the Revolutionary War and Civil War. Calls come in from the National Park Service, museums and state and local governments, among other agencies.

The Quantico EOD technician told the Picket the team will try to render them safe if possible.

“Everybody has stockpiles they need certified, looked at, or inerted, on top of people finding (items) in their yards in Northern Virginia.”

Liberia House is located at 8601 Portner Ave., Manassas. The house is open for special events and tours and an annual bee festival. The grounds are open from sunrise to sunset. For more information, contact the Manassas Museum at 703-368-1873.

Schenkl shell was unearthed near a historic home in Manassas. After it is disarmed, the ordnance will be showcased at 200th anniversary of Liberia House

Civil War artillery shell (left) after it was found near creek at Liberia House (City of Manassas)

On a sunny afternoon last week, contractors using heavy equipment at a creek near the historic Liberia House in Manassas, Va., unearthed something quite out of the ordinary.

Workers who are restoring eroded banks of Flat Branch Creek and safeguarding a spring house contacted city staff. Employees sprang into action, calling Manassas police. Police Sgt. Brett Stumpf said the department reached out to the Virginia State Police bomb squad.

Once on scene, experts carefully worked around a 3-inch artillery round caked in dirt but quite intact.

“It’s definitely a Schenkl shell – and it’s in really great shape,” Mary Helen Dellinger, curator for the Manassas Museum -- which manages the site -- told the Picket in an email Wednesday. “The fuse was not present when the shell was discovered.”

Map shows the Liberia House (top left) and the highlighted work area where the shell was found (City of Manassas)

The ordnance, which would have been filled with black powder, is now with Virginia State Police.

“It was determined to be a live round and was removed from the site by our agent,” said Matt Demlein, public relations coordinator for the agency. “At a later date, it will be turned over to Marine Corps Base Quantico for safe rendering and then returned to the City of Manassas.”

Rendering could include removing any explosive material inside. Stumpf said he had no timeline for the examination of the shell. It's possible it will be exploded if it cannot be rendered safe, he added.

City Manager Steve Burke mentioned the April 9 discovery during a council meeting on Monday night. His announcement was first reported by the local Patch news site.

Local officials believe the shell will be a great addition to events marking the 200^th anniversary of the city-owned house, which is notable for its large number of enslaved persons working the plantation before the Civil War and graffiti left by Union soldiers who occupied the dwelling.

The Liberia House is made of bricks fired from red clay on site (City of Manassas)

The Schenkl was primarily used by Federal artillerymen in a variety of cannons, including the Parrott..

“As far as Federal vs. Confederate shell – it’s difficult to say,” said Dellinger of this example. “We do know that during the Battle of Bull Run Bridge the 2^nd New York was stationed on the property (exact location unknown) and were firing at the Confederates at Fort Beauregard (located about ½ mile from Liberia). Because of the history of both sides being on the property during the war, it’s really hard to say which side left the shell behind.”

About 400,000 Schenkl shells were made during the Civil War. They came in several styles, including ones that contained case shot. It had a Papier-mache sabot.

Generals stayed here, and so did soldier graffiti

Before war came to Manassas and other communities in Northern Virginia, the landscape was dotted with small farms and large plantations.

Liberia House was built for William J. and Harriett Weir in 1825. Enslaved laborers did most of the construction on the two-story, Federal style brick home. They are believed to have crafted much of the stylish interior, too. Its 1,600 acres made Liberia House a large working farm and plantation.

The Prince William County property served as headquarters for Confederate and Union forces early in the war. Jefferson Davis (in 1861) and Abraham Lincoln (in 1862) came here to confer with their generals. “Proof of occupation is displayed as faded graffiti left by Union soldiers is visible on interior walls,” the city says.

Soldiers from both sides wrote graffiti in many structures in the region. Those surviving at Liberia Hall are Union.

Among the inscribers were Capt. Levin Bevins Day (left) of the 3^rd Delaware and Leverett Horatio Waldo of the 130^th New York. The inscriptions date from 1863 to 1864.

“Armed with pencils, red crayons or charcoal from a fire, graffiti was a way for soldiers to leave a piece of themselves behind as they marched into uncertain conditions,” a city website says.

Dellinger told the Picket past archaeological digs at Liberia yielded numerous Civil War-related pieces, among them buttons, bullets, small bits a pieces of metal that relate to horse equipage, other accoutrements and a sword -- “the coolest thing until this shell.”

“We’ve also found evidence of civilian life -- clay marbles, shards of dinnerware, bits of old brick, pottery and pieces of farm equipment,” the curator said.

City has long told history of the enslaved

Manassas, obviously, is associated with two major battles and numerous smaller operations and skirmishes. But the city also touts its extensive Black history by creating a trail for residents and visitors.

The Liberia House tells the story of the enslaved people on the land at the time of the war.

“Eliza and Phillip. Frances and Nathaniel. Susan and George. These and more than 70 others, their names lost to history, were enslaved to the Weir Family of Liberia,” a Manassas Museum sign says. “Decade after decade, two generations of men, women and children, regarded as personal property, lived and toiled on this land.”

A 2015 Washington Post article on Liberia House discussed how stories of the enslaved were finally getting attention in many historic sites.

“At the Liberia Plantation … scholars and historians have engaged in an extended debate about whether the name is a reference to the nation of Liberia, where African Americans settled in 1820, or a nod to the Libra sign of the zodiac,” the article says.

The city has told the story of enslaved people at Liberia for more than two decades.(19th century photo right, Library of Congress)

Linneall Naylor, a descendant of one slave who bought his freedom, told the Post said she learned to embrace the past.

“No one talked about it – it was such a touchy subject, especially for African Americans,” she said. “Slavery was such a hardship for families, and a lot of people moved to get away from the memories.”

Celebrating Liberia House through the fall

Manassas officials hope to share the Schenkl shell with the public at the main 200^th anniversary celebration in October.

“We are also putting together a special exhibition, “Liberia: Sentry to the Ages” in honor of the 200^th,” Dellinger said. “That exhibit will open at the Manassas Museum on June 6 and remain on public view through next spring.”

Liberia House and Manassas Museum are among eight historic sites administered by the city.

Rachel Goldberg, programs and education coordinator at the museum, said a daylong event is planned for Oct. 11.

Among events leading up to that are a "basement to attic" tour this Saturday, open house days on Saturdays during the summer and a “history happy hour” in August.

Liberia House is located at 8601 Portner Ave., Manassas. The house is open for special events and tours and an annual bee festival, which is scheduled for June 21. The grounds are open from sunrise to sunset. For more information, contact the Manassas Museum at 703-368-1873.

A bomb squad rushed to a suburban Atlanta home to check out a possible Civil War cannonball said to be found in the yard. I now toss you the rest of the story

Metal ball had been moved into a bucket in a Marietta, Ga., shed (Cobb County Police)

The bomb squad in Cobb County, Ga., is called in two to four times a year following the discovery of metal objects that look like Civil War ordnance.

That's hardly surprising, given the amount of combat, artillery and troop movement in Cobb and neighboring Paulding County in summer 1864. (more on that later)

“We deal with Civil War ordnance more than other local bomb squads due to Kennesaw Mountain, Cheatham Hill, Pickett’s Mill and other historic sites,” says Cobb County Police Sgt. Joel Cade, who heads the squad.

Such was the case in mid-December, when police in Marietta, the county seat, reached out to the squad.

A resident in the eastern part of the city had called authorities about some items she had found, according to the Marietta police report, which listed the incident code as 89L: BOMB DEVICE LOCATED

“(She) advised that she had located multiple objects that she thought could be explosive devices," wrote one of the responding officers. "(She) advised that the objects were large, round metal objects and that she had located throughout the side and back yards,” the report says. “(The woman) further advised that she had moved one of these objects into a bucket in the shed.”

The Marietta officers thought the item resembled a cannonball. The home and residents on the street were told to evacuate. Traffic on a stretch of a larger road was temporarily blocked. The officers called the bomb squad.

Cade and others traveled to the scene and dealt with the situation.

A couple weeks later -- after I reached out to authorities following a media report --  Cade emailed me about what they saw. It wasn’t what I was expecting.

“It was very clean when we took possession of it. It was in the townhome’s back storage closet when Marietta police took it and placed it into a bucket. The complainant alleged she found it in the ground but could not explain why there was no dirt on the ball,” he wrote.

The bomb squad, citing training and similar calls, determined the solid ball was non-hazardous. And it had no fusing or charge.

So what is it?

Wait for it…..

A shot put ball. 

All of 4 inches in diameter and weighing about 15 pounds (below). To the layman, it sure looks like it could be a cannonball. 

Great for sports competition, but not the field of battle (Cobb County Police)

That raised more questions and I fired a few more back at Cade, who got back with me a few weeks later.

“We concluded it was a shot put from prior cannonball calls we have had and compared it to resources we maintain in our files,” Cade replied. “The ones we have been called out to in the past that were adjudicated as cannonballs have a different texture to the iron, and they have prominent fuze wells.

“Additionally, shot-put sizes can vary (men’s, women’s, junior’s) but I haven’t seen one the same size as the cannon balls we have recovered in the past.”

“The spanner wrench holes with removable plug, opposite welded plug, weight/diameter and good condition led us to the conclusion it was not ordnance. Additionally, as an extra step, we used high energy radiography and looked inside the ball, no fillers or fuze was seen.”

The shot put was destroyed and the remains disposed of, said Cade.

So there you have it.

Of course, a whole lot of real Civil War ordnance has been recovered in metro Atlanta over the years.

Charlie Crawford, president emeritus of the Georgia Battlefields Association, said many shells were found during the construction of downtown Atlanta buildings and sites. Others were dug up in northwest Atlanta. “Those shells were probably from the U.S. artillery massed northwest of the city during the August 1864 bombardment,” he said.

The area home to the shot put ball may have been crisscrossed by Federal and Confederate artillery units during the Atlanta Campaign. And there was artillery firing a couple miles away, and an errant shot may have landed in the neighborhood.

But that scenario proved to be moot in this case.

In 2022, Bomb squad members gingerly removed this round from the Kennesaw battlefield (NPS photos)

Cade said real Civil War ordnance his team has handled include cannonballs and Parrott, Hotchkiss and Schenkl projectiles.

"There are a variety of ways things have been discovered, and some of the ordnance ended up being gained unlawfully," he said. "The few of those cases we responded to the person who had possession was deceased and no prosecution was appropriate (we were notified by their estate)."

One of the more recent publicized discoveries of an actual shell in Cobb County came at Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park in February 2022. The county police bomb squad took custody of the Parrott round but later returned to the park after it had been rendered safe and inert.

Officials implied the shell was left intact, a rarity after bomb squads are called in. Usually, they take an object to a safe location and detonate it.

In 2009, a contractor found 42 artillery shells south of Atlanta, near Lovejoy.