✅ SOLVED Civil War? bullet help

[Kevo_DFX]

Hi all,
While detecting in Maryland, we stumbled onto a hillside that seems to have had a skirmish or some other event that had a lot of rifle fire. Since we have found tis area, we have pulled well over 100 bullets out of the ground. Unfortunately, I do not have any of the unfired examples, only the three you see below.

I have very little civil war relic experience. I live in a corner of PA that had no activity, the only relics I have found that are attributable to the war are buttons lost from soldiers after they returned home.

That being said, I believe the below bullets, based on the quantity, style, and area found were from a minor skirmish in the civil war. What is weird is that no OTHER civil war related items were have been found at the site, save for an 1864 IH penny and an 1850 Seated Quarter. No buttons, buckles, snaps, etc.

So, in your judgement, could you answer the following questions:

1. Have we found a skirmish site?
2. Are the bullets below from the civil war?
3. If we have found a skirmish site, why have no other relics been found?

All measurements were taken with digital calipers and a jewelry scale:
Bullet 1: 28.6 grams, measurement at narrowest part of base: 17.5 mm
Bullet 2: 21.2 grams, measurement at narrowest part of base: 13.8 mm
Bullet 3: 19 grams, measurement at narrowest part of base: 10.1 mm


Thank you for looking,
Kevo

 

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[TNGUNS]

Sure looks like the right era. You may want to PM TheCannonballGuy and see if he would be kind enough to help.

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

They are civil war era Military bullets.

There are two explanations for finding fired (and some unfired) civil war bullets bullets without finding any other kind of military relics in the immediate vicinity.
1- A cavalry fight.
2- A target-practice range.

For smashed fired bullets, the very-precise weight is often more important than diameter-measurement. (In particular, your fired bullet #1 is impact-smushed a lot wider than its original diameter ...its weight proves it is not a .69-caliber bullet.) So, thanks for providing their precise weight.

Based on their body-style and precise weight:
Bullet #1 seems to be a "generic" 3-groove US .54-caliber Minie-ball.
Bullets #2 and #3 seem to be US cavalry carbine bullets, which are typically (but not always) .50 to .54-caliber.

 

[NOLA_Ken]

I think CannonballGuy has the right idea with target practice. Your hillside was probably used as a back stop on a rifle range. What you might think about doing is looking up range from the hill and try to figure out where the firing line was. You should find a lot of percussion caps at the place they were shooting from. You might find other relics there too, who knows what they might have dropped?

 

[got2dig]

Yep, Target Range I Have found two of them Lot's of lead and that was all. But you need to go two the spot they shoot from. Find this and you may have more than lead.
Nice find! HH

 

[Kevo_DFX]

Thank you for your excellent answers everyone, I appreciate it.