A few points on this subject. Unless I have misread the progress of ammunition, were not all Revolutionary projectiles, either from rifle or musket, round balls? If so, the cutting of a cross on one side to create a "dum dum" effect, would be useless, as loading the ball in the heat of battle would as likely put the cross at the back as well as the front.

After WWII, my Uncle Robert owned a restauarant-motel called the "Stonewall Inn". It was made of stone, had a wall, and was on Atlanta Road at Paces Ferry Road, just south of Smyrna. The dining room had at least ten display cases, set into the walls, and glassed in. The bottom foot of these cases contained Minie balls gathered in the area, which was right in the middle of the Atlanta Campaign, and only a few miles from Kennesaw mountain. There were literally thousands of theses balls. Most were in fairly pristine shape; a few were blunted by having sruck rock or bone. Only two were stuck together, having hit each other in flight.

Lastly, I carry a .30 caliber bullet in my left wrist, from a training accident. I was carrying targets from a shed to the butts, when hit by a ricochet. A Gunners Mate pulled what we assumed was the offending projectile from my wrist. Many years later, I fell while working security at a hospital, injuring that wrist. Upon viewing the X-Ray, the technician said, "What the hell is that?", pointing to an artifact clearly showing in the film. I recognized it at once as a .30 caliber bullet, still in my arm after 25 years! It seems I had been hit by TWO bullets, stuck together. When the Gunners Mate pulled one out with his needle nosed pliers, we thought that it was the only one. The second is still in my arm. You can feel it if I move my wrist just right.

THe point of all this, is that in all those thousands of Minie balls, and my experience with a ricochet, no metal objects were revealed. The earlier explanation of a stray piece of metal from a tin cup or plate makes the most sense. Sorry to be so long winded. Stan