What a battlefield relic can tell

[Blockaderunner]

This may be of some interest to battlefield relic collectors. I have just finished reading a book entitled 'Two Men in a Trench II'. This is the book of a BBC television series. Archaelogists Tony Pollard and Neil Oliver investigated a number of battlefields from medieval times to World War II. These were all in Britain, but their findings are very relevant to Civil War fields.
During the course of their investigations, the pair found many musket balls. Some were still perfectly round, others were flattened, while others were slightly oval in shape. While investigating the 1689 Highland battle of Killiecrankie, the two archaelogists carried out a test. They set up a block of ballistic soap covered with cloth to represent clothing. In front of this they placed a replica of a wooden highlanders shield. Behind the block was a pile of sandbags. Using period replica muskets, they fired through the shield to see the effects. The muskets were fired at a range of 25 yards which would be quite normal in battles of the period. The musket balls passed through the shield, through the ballistic soap, and stopped in the sandbags. The balls were recovered and examined. The archaelogists expected the balls to be flattened or badly distorted, but this was not the case. What they found were balls that were slightly oval in shape, just like they had found on many fields before. They were also surprised to see a very slight impression of the weave of cloth.
Whether the findings can be applied to 1860's ammunition, I can not say. But take a look at your battlefield relics and tell me what you see.