Artillery pieces?

[Narthoniel]

Hello,

Both of these pieces of iron were found near relics pertaining to the civil war.

Is the round ball a piece of grape or cannister?

Is the broken piece a shell fragment?

I have not found many pieces of artillery, and I am hoping that these are cannon related.

The round ball is roughly 1 and 3/4 inches in diameter.

The iron fragment is almost exactly 1 inch in thickness, and is roughly 3 1/2 inches across.

Thanks for any help,
Anthony

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

The rounded fragment appears to be a fragment on an explosive cannonball. With so much rust-&-dirt concretion on it, I cannot be certain about whether it is from a 24-pounder (5.82"-caliber) roundshell or a 32-pounder (6.4"-caliber) roundshell.

Regarding the smaller ball... I am hesistant about authenticating iron balls when they are heavily corroded, because super-accurate diamter measuring is needed for authentification, and that is impossible with a ball that is as heavily corroded as the one you found.

The only good news about badly corroded iron balls is that they are extremely unlikely to be a 20th-Century ball. So, with that in mind, I'll say that that your ball (which you say is "about" 1.75 inches in diamter) could be a badly corroded artillery Canister ball. There are several possibilities for the caliber of Canister ammo it was in. It could be a corroded:
24-pounder Canister ball = 1.85"
8-inch Howitzer Canister ball = 1.85"
32-pounder Canister ball = 2.04"

Artillery ball sizes are listed at:
www.civilwarartillery.com/shottables.htm
Please note that there are three different charts -- one for cannonballs, one for Grapeshot balls, and one for Canister balls.

It is very unlikely to be a Grapeshot ball, because no Grapeshot balls were smaller than 2 inches in diameter.

I see you are posting from Virginia Beach VA. If you dug the frag and the Canister ball somewhere on "the Virginia Peninsula," it's very diificult to know whether they are from the Revolutionary War, the War-of-1912, or the Civil War. To figure that out, you have to rely on the time-period of other military relics (such as bullets and uniform buttons) that you find at the same spot where you found the cannonball fragment and Canister-ball.

 

[Narthoniel]

Thank you for the detailed and thoughtful response.

I took a hammer to both pieces prior to photographing and measuring. There is still some rust, but i want to know better what I have before I expend too much effort cleaning and preserving them.

The round ball was found in an area that gave up 2 buttons and a coin from the 1840s-1860s. There was no known military activity there, and we were surpised to see the relics come out. This was up near gloucester.

The rounded fragment was found in an area where a skirmish/small battle took place during the seige of Suffolk. Many fired bullets were found in the same field. Due to my inexperience, I was unsure if the shells they used were as thick as the piece I found. I cannot imagine what else it could be, but I do not feel qualified enough to say for sure that it is a fragment.

Thank you again,
Anthony