Devonrex
Sr. Member
- Joined
- Jan 6, 2012
- Messages
- 351
- Reaction score
- 1,260
- Golden Thread
- 4
- Location
- SE Virginia
- 🥇 Banner finds
- 4
- Detector(s) used
- XP DEUS, Nautilus DMC IIB
- Primary Interest:
- Metal Detecting
An illegal practice during the rev war known as spiking the ball...............« on: Today at 11:38:52 PM »
"spiking the ball". Thought I'd share an interesting item with everyone here at TreasureNet. On my birthday I recovered almost a third of a large caliber revolutionary war mortar ball which I thought upon early electrolysis had a part of its original lifting ear still attached on the inside of the ball. Well I was wrong. After further electrolysis and a little research I found out that lifting ears did no go "through" the ball to make a complete ring like I had originally thought. They are only half a ring forged to the outside of the ball. What I have found is evidence of an illegal practice that was carried on by the British army to make a flawed cannonball usable. This large caliber mortar ball had a casting flaw in it that had left a huge hole going all the way through the 2 inch iron. Of course once filled with gun powder the powder would have spilled out and if the ball was used the flame from the burst of the cannon would have resulted in the destruction of the barrell (or mortar). A large iron spike was hammered through the ball stopping the leakage of powder. If you look close in the first 2 pictures you can even see the circular head of the huge iron spike. Its amazing how I continue to learn new things even after all the years I have in this hobby. This fragment on its own can can tell a story. If the ball had not burst and had been found whole one would have never known it had been "spiked". From what I've been told if an officer found out this was done to a ball the soldier was immediately reprimanded. An explosion would have resulted in the loss of the cannon as well as lives. I imagine this was done as a last ditch effort to one of the last remaining balls in the heat of a losing battle. This piece is pretty rare and will hold a special spot in my artillery collection. I also wanted to tell everyone here I hope you and your family have a Merry Christmas and I have enjoyed looking at all your incredible finds this year! Devonrex
Quote
Modify
Remove"spiking the ball". Thought I'd share an interesting item with everyone here at TreasureNet. On my birthday I recovered almost a third of a large caliber revolutionary war mortar ball which I thought upon early electrolysis had a part of its original lifting ear still attached on the inside of the ball. Well I was wrong. After further electrolysis and a little research I found out that lifting ears did no go "through" the ball to make a complete ring like I had originally thought. They are only half a ring forged to the outside of the ball. What I have found is evidence of an illegal practice that was carried on by the British army to make a flawed cannonball usable. This large caliber mortar ball had a casting flaw in it that had left a huge hole going all the way through the 2 inch iron. Of course once filled with gun powder the powder would have spilled out and if the ball was used the flame from the burst of the cannon would have resulted in the destruction of the barrell (or mortar). A large iron spike was hammered through the ball stopping the leakage of powder. If you look close in the first 2 pictures you can even see the circular head of the huge iron spike. Its amazing how I continue to learn new things even after all the years I have in this hobby. This fragment on its own can can tell a story. If the ball had not burst and had been found whole one would have never known it had been "spiked". From what I've been told if an officer found out this was done to a ball the soldier was immediately reprimanded. An explosion would have resulted in the loss of the cannon as well as lives. I imagine this was done as a last ditch effort to one of the last remaining balls in the heat of a losing battle. This piece is pretty rare and will hold a special spot in my artillery collection. I also wanted to tell everyone here I hope you and your family have a Merry Christmas and I have enjoyed looking at all your incredible finds this year! Devonrex
Attachments
Last edited:
Upvote
6
