Thanks, It is an exciting find for me on a site I've hunted alot that will soon be lost to neighborhood development.
The Nashville Military College was only in existence from 1855 to 1861. I'm pretty sure I know which local militia unit camped at this site prior to a battle about 8 miles away. I'm hoping I can find an NMC cadet roster and compare it to the local militia roster....one more piece of the puzzle. As far as cleaning it, I'm gonna let it dry thoroughly before I think about cleaning, I will revisit it in a few weeks and have have a look at how much dirt flakes on its own, our clay here flakes off well as it dries.