Cannonball and Cannon Pieces on my First Day Ever!

[ContinentalClint]

After seeing a cannon piece on the banner i had to share my story. Last summer when I was just 15 years old I got a Bounty Hunter Tracker IV and did some research at the library of a foundry in town that produced cannons and cannonballs for the Continental Army from 1774-75. There was also a pond nearby where they test fired them, and that's still there. The foundry has been replaced by a barber shop for quite some time. Anyway, that weekend a friend and I went out to see if we could find any remains from the testing (my first time ever metal detecting!). After about two hours of nails, we got a hit at the base of a tree. About a foot down was a 6 pound solid shot cannonball! For the next few hours we dug a total of 4 pieces of iron that we originally thought were junk, until about a week later. A man from the historical society told me a story of a cannon that supposedly exploded during the test fire and then thrown into the pond. Since the pond had receded greatly in 200 years, we were detecting right where the soldiers would have thrown it. I brought the pieces in, and he confirmed that they were in fact FOUR CHUNKS OF A REVOLUTIONARY WAR CANNON AND A SIX POUND CANNONBALL! And probably the best part is that two of the pieces were actually contiguous--they match up perfectly when you put them together. All together the pieces weigh about 40 pounds total, and it was designed for a 3 inch diameter projectile. After my first and possibly greatest day ever metal detecting, I've loved this hobby and have upgraded to a Minelab E Trac to preserve all the history I can find.

 

[smokeythecat]

Excellent job. Those are definitely pieces of a blown American cannon. General Washington complained to Congress in one of his dispatches the iron cannons were so bad they blew up on the field, so the manufacturers were made to test fire them. Kaboom. The rest of the cannon may be there somewhere.

 

[CASPER-2]

 

[romeo-1]

If you're not hooked after a start like that then you're in the wrong hobby!

 

[BabyNeedsANewPairO'Shoes]

Sorry for you that you had to start at the top...
Nothing but pull tabs in your detecting future

But seriously, congrats!

 

[Digs68]

Really cool!

 

[maipenrai]

After hitting a hole in one, on your first shot, its time to quite, while your ahead!!