This is an excavated 6 piece relic set recovered from Liberty Pike in Franklin, Tennessee. These items were recovered by a long time local relic hunter who recently passed away. His widow brought his relics into the shop and now we're selling them for her. All these relics were recovered on private property with the land owners permission. This 4 1/2" by 5 1/2" riker box contains 6 dug relics, 5 bullets and one ramrod thimble. One of the bullets is a .58 caliber cleaner, the other four are .58 caliber Minie' bullets. The Minie' ball was a conical bullet with three exterior grease-filled grooves and a conical hollow in it's base. It's intended purpose was to expand under the pressure and engage the rifling in the barrel to increase muzzle velocity. The bullet came in a paper cartridge with the gunpowder. The bullet was removed from the paper, the gun powder poured down the barrel and the bullet then pressed into the end of the barrel. it was then rammed down the barrel with the ramrod, ensuring the charge was packed and the hollow base filled with powder. When the rifle was fired the expanding gas forcibly pushed on the base of the bullet, causing the skirt of the bullet to engage the rifling. This caused the bullet to spin, improving accuracy. It also provided a better seal for more constant velocity and longer range. It also helped cleaning of the barrel. The wounds caused by these Minie' bullets was much more severe than those caused by smoothbore round balls. These munitions were directly responsible for the high number of amputations performed during the Civil War. The Battle of Franklin was fought on 30 November, 1864 as part of the Franklin - Nashville Campaign of the Civil War. It was one of the worst disasters of the war for the Confederate Army. The Confederate Army of Tennessee was commanded by Lieutenant General John Bell Hood conducted repeated frontal assaults against fortified positions occupied by Union forces commanded by Major General John Schofield. They were unable to break through the fortifications. They were not able to prevent Schofield from conducting a planned withdrawal to Nashville. During the Battle of Franklin the Confederates committed almost 20,000 men, sometimes referred to as the "Pickett's Charge of the West". By the end of the day the Army of Tennessee would suffer 6252 casualties, including the majority of it's seasoned, battle proven leaders. Six general officers were killed, seven wounded and one was captured. Fifty five of the one hundred regimental commanders on the field that day became casualties. These casualties, combined with those of the Battle of Nashville fought just two weeks later, destroyed the Army of Tennessee as an effective fighting force.