I'm just getting back into this hobby after a lay off since the mid 70's. I had built a detector from a Heathkit and had not actually used it when I was sent to one of my company's factories in New Orleans. Long Story short, I hooked up with a guy at the factory who took me out to a CW battlefield, part of which is on privately owned land. The site included part of the fortifications of Port Hudson, the last Confederate fortification on the Mississippi. The scene was like second growth forest with the remains of earthworks running through it.
The site was under siege by the Union Navy for weeks so we were digging lots of shrapnel and 3 ringers. Then I got a signal that hurt my ears. At a depth of about 6 inches I struck what turned out to be a dud 55 pound 8 inch mortar bomb. The shell was still loaded with black powder and pieces of the wood fuse plug were still in the hole. Apparently the shell's fuse had been cut a little too long and the shell had struck the sandy soil fuse first, snuffing it out. At least that was the most popular theory, as the fuse hole was at the bottom 0f the hole when I dug the round. A CW Ordinance Expert disarmed the round, My friend sand blasted and painted it and build a small crate for it so I could ship it back to Ohio. Believe it or not, but I actually talked the ticket agent at the airline into allowing me to put in onboard the plane as checked baggage. No problem back then but if I tried that these days I'd still be a guest of the prison system.
The site was under siege by the Union Navy for weeks so we were digging lots of shrapnel and 3 ringers. Then I got a signal that hurt my ears. At a depth of about 6 inches I struck what turned out to be a dud 55 pound 8 inch mortar bomb. The shell was still loaded with black powder and pieces of the wood fuse plug were still in the hole. Apparently the shell's fuse had been cut a little too long and the shell had struck the sandy soil fuse first, snuffing it out. At least that was the most popular theory, as the fuse hole was at the bottom 0f the hole when I dug the round. A CW Ordinance Expert disarmed the round, My friend sand blasted and painted it and build a small crate for it so I could ship it back to Ohio. Believe it or not, but I actually talked the ticket agent at the airline into allowing me to put in onboard the plane as checked baggage. No problem back then but if I tried that these days I'd still be a guest of the prison system.
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