CW cannonball today

[gxray]

I was recently inspired by Hutch's 12 pounder boreman find so i set out today to find a cannonball. I went to a site where I knew artillery was fired. I was hunting the woods to escape the heat and all nearby fields are planted. After about 2 hrs of finding nothing but barbed wire and shotgun shells , I started heading out of the woods. Suddenly I got a deep iron signal and started digging. About 7 inches down i hit that all too familiar orange clump of rust. i pulled it out of the ground and expected a shell frag based on the size. As I chipped away at the sponge rust, a chunk of it popped off and revealed the smooth , round edge of a grape shot. Although it's only 1 1/2 inches in diameter , it is in fact a cannonball. Made my day. I searched around a bit more and found what might be a small piece of shell fragment. Then I walked up to a small stream and saw what I thought might be a parrot shell laying in the bottom of the stream. No such luck...turned out to be a 40 oz beer bottle. Another eyeball scan of the stream and I saw something round laying there. I pulled it out and it is a wooden wagon wheel with metal rim from an old tobacco cart. Also found a modern 45 cal bullet and a shard of pottery. Here are the pics ( dime is for size reference)

 

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[juju]

That shot is awesome. I have a field I hunt here that kicks out fragments of shells sometimes. But I only hunt it during the winter. The brush is too thick this time of year. Hope you find many more in the future.

JuJu

 

[mainer]

Sweet!

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

Love the old grape shot
Found three of those in my backyard years ago, turned out they were from the War of 1812

 

[N.J.THer]

I would think grapeshot but I'm sure someone with more experience will pipe in soon.

Congrats

NJ

(see it happen while I was typing this email.. )

 

[BILL96]

It gives me shivers everytime I think about what that grapeshot could do to people, it's a great find and a terrible reminder of what was happening at the time.
Bill

 

[Dman]

Congrats on the grape shot. That's an awesome find.
Dman

 

[allen]

looks like a great day of detecting to me !!

 

[Hutch911]

Could be canester shot or Grape shot. I'm no expert but I was reading the Federals changed over to canester prior to 1861.The confederates use grape a bit longer. The reason for change was the canset er keep the rounds tighter together for further accuracy. Congrats way to go. There has to be a shell there somewhere keep pounding it!

 

[Tennessee Treasure Hunter]

really cool find!!

 

[Tnmountains]

Nice shot. I am not sure I know the deference between canister or grape. Sometimes we find a whole pile of them in a hole that was not fired. I think they may have been stacked with wood or something on each end. Nice finds for sure
TnMtns

 

[steelheadwill]

Great Historic find!!
Will make an awesome display piece...
hoping More finds coming!!
Good Day, Herbie

 

[Hutch911]

Nice shot. I am not sure I know the deference between canister or grape. Sometimes we find a whole pile of them in a hole that was not fired. I think they may have been stacked with wood or something on each end. Nice finds for sure
TnMtns

The only difference was how the round was constructed. Grape Shot was exposed and held together by wire, cloth or steel plates with a wood sabot.. Canister was like a big can. The projectiles where the same eather Lead or Iron.