The Feb. 13th State of South Carolina reports that a six pound unarmed cannonball was found recently in the Broad River and turned over to the South Carolina Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum which plans to stabilize it from corrosion.
It was likely fired by Confederates as Sherman's army approached Columbia in 1865. This provides further evidence that the Civil War era River Road bridge was located north of the current bridge. It is known that Wiggins Battery of Arkansas Artillery burned the bridge and fire at the abutment on the west side of the river.
This action slowed Sherman's troops, who built a pontoon bridge and crossed the river February 17, 1865.
The finder and circumstances of its discovery were not revealed.
And the War Goes On. --Old B-R
The Battle of Fort Fisher, N.C.
