Canister shot? And mystery item.

[BladeRunner2019]

Hi all.

I found these today at a skirmish site where the yanks blew up a Confederate railroad bridge. I think the iron ball may be canister shot, but would like confirmation from the experts. It's about 1.1 to 1.2 inches in diameter and weighs 2.9 oz. I have no idea if the other item is possibly CW related. Any help would be appreciated!

 

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[fyrffytr1]

Not sure about the ball but your other piece looks like part of a snaffle bit.

 

[RustyRelics]

Yep, that's canister. That is exactly the size of a canister ball I cleaned this morning. Those clean up super nice, if you know what you're doing.



That black ball in the center is a canister ball found in Chancellorsville by my dad. Before, it looked like a giant two inch round blob of rust. I took a small hammer, and gently tapped at the rust until it fell of in chunks. Then I soaked it in vinegar, overnight, give it a lick and a promise with a brass wire brush, and seal it with WD-40, and that's a killer display item.

Great find!

Oh, and sorry for the hijack.

 

[BladeRunner2019]

Yep, that's canister. That is exactly the size of a canister ball I cleaned this morning. Those clean up super nice, if you know what you're doing.

View attachment 1746566

That black ball in the center is a canister ball found in Chancellorsville by my dad. Before, it looked like a giant two inch round blob of rust. I took a small hammer, and gently tapped at the rust until it fell of in chunks. Then I soaked it in vinegar, overnight, give it a lick and a promise with a brass wire brush, and seal it with WD-40, and that's a killer display item.

Great find!

Oh, and sorry for the hijack.

Thank you for the confirmation! And I appreciate the tips on how to make it look better. I'll definitely give that a go.

PS - Very cool display. Love that plate. I'm hoping to get lucky and find one of those eventually, but I don't get to hunt a lot of CW spots.

 

[RustyRelics]

No problem, glad to help!

P.S. I wish I found the plate, but my dad did, in Chancellorsville.

 

[BladeRunner2019]

Was this type thing used by both sides or is this likely Union?

 

[RustyRelics]

Was this type thing used by both sides or is this likely Union?

It depends where you found it. If you dug it in a confederate position, it's yankee. Opposite for Confederates. If it was a battle site, who knows. Both sides used them.

 

[BladeRunner2019]

It depends where you found it. If you dug it in a confederate position, it's yankee. Opposite for Confederates. If it was a battle site, who knows. Both sides used them.

Thanks. It was a small skirmish site where the yanks came to blow up a Confederate train bridge they were protecting.

 

[RustyRelics]

It seems odd that they would be firing canister there. Perhaps there was another action there at some point? Huh.

 

[BladeRunner2019]

It seems odd that they would be firing canister there. Perhaps there was another action there at some point? Huh.

I am not aware of any other action there, but there certainly could have been. I did find some friction primers there also. That would be another clue there was at least some artillery.

It's also possible that might not really be canister shot and is railroad related. There is a ton of RR related iron in the area. But based on the size being very close to known canister shot, I'm leaning towards that's what it is.

I need to do some more research on the skirmish to see if I can find any mention of artillery being there.

 

[RustyRelics]

I am 100% convinced that is Canister. I am also a railroad guy, and there is no way that's railroad related. The friction primers prove that as well. Perhaps it came out of one of the shells. Soldiers were young back then, some practically kids. Perhaps one figured a way to get a ball out...