✅ SOLVED 17 lb cannonball

[Half Cent Hock]

Cannon ball. Solid shot, no fuse, weighed 18 lbs with crud. Chipped off crud and it weighs 17lbs on the button and diameter is 5.12 inches. I'm guessing an 18lbr with some weight lose. 11 miles as the crow flies to big water on Potomac so I can't think navy. What i'd like help with is to determine circa. It was found in a field where there is both colonial and civil war item found within 50 Yards. Any thoughts appreciated. Thank you.

 

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[TheCannonballGuy]

Half Cent Hock wrote:
> What I'd like help with is to determine circa. It was found in a field where there is both
> colonial and civil war item found within 50 Yards. Any thoughts appreciated.

Very-very few 18-Pounder Smoothbore cannons were used in the civil war. So we can almost certainly eliminate that possibility for the origin of your 5.12"-diameter cannonball. But you left out an era of Artillery in America after the Revolution in which 18-Pounders were still used in some quantity. it's the War-of-1812. So, you'll need to do some historical research on the RevWar and War-of-1812 use (or presence) of an 18-Pounder cannon at the exact spot where your ball was found.

 

[Half Cent Hock]

Half Cent Hock wrote:
> What I'd like help with is to determine circa. It was found in a field where there is both
> colonial and civil war item found within 50 Yards. Any thoughts appreciated.

Very-very few 18-Pounder Smoothbore cannons were used in the civil war. So we can almost certainly eliminate that possibility for the origin of your 5.12"-diameter cannonball. But you left out an era of Artillery in America after the Revolution in which 18-Pounders were still used in some quantity. it's the War-of-1812. So, you'll need to do some historical research on the RevWar and War-of-1812 use (or presence) of an 18-Pounder cannon at the exact spot where your ball was found.

Thank you sir for your reply. I concur with your thinking that is prior to the civil war and possibly 1812 or before. I'm thinking It would have had to been army and was thinking maybe the run up the potomac produced it. This farm is all over the history map. As always its gonna be next to impossible to put troops on location but its right off kings highway soon could have been a camp at anytime. Thank you again for your reply.