Grenade found in Starkville heads for Jackson
At the site of a new Starkville rental property, a front-end loader pushing debris around the base of an oak tree unearthed more than old soda bottles.
Buried just beneath the surface and surrounded by roots was a one-pound, 10.5-ounce cast iron grenade shell.
With construction in mind, Audie Hughes was shocked upon finding a grenade while clearing overgrown land at Santa Anita between Jackson and Montgomery Street.
“We found it in August, and at first, I thought it might have been a cannonball,” Hughes said. “Then we thought it was a smoke grenade from the Civil War, but it wasn't a smoke grenade.”
Hughes said they were grateful it was not loaded because, even if not lit, loaded artillery can be hazardous.
“I'm just glad we found it like it was,” Hughes said. “Otherwise, I might not be here to talk about finding it in the first place.”
Unsure of the grenade's history, Hughes sought the help of Duffy Neubauer, curator of the Starkville Civil War Arsenal.
Despite his expertise, Neubauer was equally stumped but through the help of friends around the world, images and dimensions of the grenades were sent to military museum curators in Europe.
“They all looked at it, and it took them a matter of a few seconds to determine exactly what it is,” Neubauer said.
The unknown cast-iron ball was determined to be a French grenade, estimated to have been produced between 1720 to 1760, which is preamerican Revolution.
The cast-iron grenade would be filled with explosive powder and would then have a cork or a plug used to seal in the powder. That stopper would have a hole drilled into it for a fuse. Then, to be activated, all someone had to do was light the fuse.
“Typically, that little lip is very common and unique to the French design,” Neubauer said. “That made it easy for them to compare with other grenades and find a match.”
With the production time frame and country of origin established, Neubauer was still confused.
“The big question is, ‘What is this doing in Starkville, Mississippi?'” Neubauer said.
Since his specialty is Civil War history, Neubauer researched to learn about the French presence in Mississippi during those decades.
Neubauer found the French were heavily involved across the state well before the American Revolution.
“There has been speculation that in Starkville there was Indian colonization, so you could wonder if they were using those to defend themselves against Native Americans,” Neubauer said. “It could be wrong. It could be right, but who knows. It is one of those things that we will never know.”
Even with these ideas, Neubauer said they will never be sure why and how it ended up in Starkville.
“Maybe it was used another place in the state and then, 100 years later, someone found and said, ‘This is neat. I'm going to take it home as a souvenir,'” Neubauer said. “Then, they brought it back to this area.
Yet, in the face of historical uncertainty, Neubauer said the present allows historians and researchers a place to start when learning about the grenade.
“We do know this,” Neubauer said. “At some point, it came to Starkville, and at some point, it went in the ground. All we can tell you know is what it is and when and where it was dug out from.”
After coordinating with directors at Two Museums in Jackson, the museum has agreed to ac
cept the donation with the plans to include it in their Mississippi military section.
“That is what you are doing sometimes,” Neubauer said. “You're just connecting the dots and hoping this could help spark others' interests so they can keep doing the same thing, connecting more dots.”
While the grenade's story may end at Two Museums, the possibility for finding more artifacts in Starkville remains.
Neubauer and Hughes plan to survey the land with a metal detector when the weather is suitable.
“We thought if there is something that old in the ground there, and the fact that the property just behind there is an old road that was there before Starkville was Starkville, who knows what else we could find,” Hughes said.
Thinking of history like modern-day trash, Neubauer noted the items we research today were not always valued the same in their day.
“You go down the road today and people throw their garbage out on the road,” Neubauer said. “Someone got tired of carrying it, didn't think they needed it and pitched it off the road.”
Plans for their excavation may be uncertain, but Neubauer is ready to take on the task and work diligently to find and preserve Mississippi's history.
“We might not find anything, but you never know until you go look,” Neubauer said. “Somebody's got to do it.”