✅ SOLVED CANNONBALL?

[Patriot Relics]

Hey guys,

I am in uncharted territory with this one... while I have found many musket balls in the past, I have never recovered a cannonball. The diameter is approximately 3.5 inches and it weighs in just under 3 lbs. There is a small rectangular section protruding from the side..maybe a fuse? I found the piece on the beach near an old frontier fort. Can anyone identify the era and type of this artillery piece and how best to preserve it...and should I be concerned that it still may contains explosive.

 

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[NOLA_Ken]

I'm sure Cannonballguy will see this soon, but my thought it that it's more likely the broken off top of an iron gatepost or something like that. I just can't see it being a cannonball with that chunk on the side.

 

[Patriot Relics]

Hey NOLA,

Keep in mind that I have done 0 restoration on this piece other than tapping it lightly with a hammer to remove encrustations from the surface. I suspect the protrusion is little more than corrosion from the salt water. Here's another angle-

 

[NOLA_Ken]

Ah, ok, from the description and the pic I thought it was a part of the ball

 

[DigIron2]

Looks like a solid shot to me.Given the weight you mentioned I would guess probably revolutionary war period?Hopefully the Cannonballguy will be around to see it.Don't worry,it is harmless unless you drop it on your toeNice find

 

[ARC]

Either scaling or bar shot.

 

[Patriot Relics]

Update

Thanks for the feedback- hopefully Cannonballguy can confirm if its a Revolutionary War ball! DigIron wins the ID as solid shot, here's another pic now that most of the corrosion has been removed. It is in fact perfectly spherical.

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Pardon the delay in replying - I've been under the weather both figuratively and literally. That beach-found cast-iron ball has been seriously corroded by the Tannic Acid which is common in Lowcountry Carolina saltmarshes, swamps, and waterways. The Tannic Acid chemically leached iron molecules out from INSIDE the ball's solid iron body -- which is why it now weighs a lot less than its 3.12-inch diameter says it ought to weigh. Among artillery ball sizes, that diameter (3.12-inches) matches up with only two types used in the US:
1- a French 4-Pounder caliber cannonball from the Revolutionary War.
2- a Civil War era 42-Pounder caliber Grapeshot ball.

 

[DigIron2]

Hope your feeling better Pete.the only weather I'm under is this darn snow.I wasn't even thinking coastal artillery .that would be one heck of a grapeshot.Nice find vm!

 

[HutSiteDigger]

you find more civil war relics or 18th century relics around the cannonball ?

 

[Patriot Relics]

I did several round balls- slightly smaller than the .69s I've found in the past, but no other relics. Fairly confident that the fort dates from the Revolutionary War based on the significant erosion of the earthworks (compared to know civil war cites in the area) and the fact that all Civil War forts are well documented in the area.

 

[Patriot Relics]

Pardon the delay in replying - I've been under the weather both figuratively and literally. That beach-found cast-iron ball has been seriously corroded by the Tannic Acid which is common in Lowcountry Carolina saltmarshes, swamps, and waterways. The Tannic Acid chemically leached iron molecules out from INSIDE the ball's solid iron body -- which is why it now weighs a lot less than its 3.12-inch diameter says it ought to weigh. Among artillery ball sizes, that diameter (3.12-inches) matches up with only two types used in the US:
1- a French 4-Pounder caliber cannonball from the Revolutionary War.
2- a Civil War era 42-Pounder caliber Grapeshot ball.

Thanks for the followup CannonballGuy

 

[DigIron2]

I did several round balls- slightly smaller than the .69s I've found in the past, but no other relics. Fairly confident that the fort dates from the Revolutionary War based on the significant erosion of the earthworks (compared to know civil war cites in the area) and the fact that all Civil War forts are well documented in the area.

its probably a Revolutionary, French 4 pounder then,even nicer imo.

 

[Patriot Relics]

Thanks again to DigIron and CannonballGuy for the identification- French 4 pounder! I just put the electrolysis kit back together. I'll post the after pics after a few days of corrosion removal.