Is this a cannonball???? Cannonballguy please identify

[wayfas4u]

I Dug this in Fort Gaines Georgia (founded 1814) at a 1820’s house location that was known to have a blacksmith shop on the property. Cannons were setup on nearby Chattahoochee river during the civil war. I am not sure what the hole (not threaded)
was used for. Calipers indicate right at 3.020” diameter and weighs a shade over 3 pounds. Feels heavy & solid. Any identification is greatly appreciated. I would really like for TheCannonballguy to see this.

 

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[fyrffytr1]

I hope it is.

 

[wayfas4u]

Me too, i want it to be, especially from the town location it was dug in.

 

[GaRebel1861]

I hope it's the real deal as well. We'll see.

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

Does the hole go all the way through the ball?
I'm hoping for you that it's a cannonball, but I'm wondering it it may have been either a scale weight or a weight for a hanging oil lamp chandelier.

Maybe consider sending a PM to the 'TheCannonballGuy' with a link to your post.
Dave

"Fort Gaines, once called the "Queen City of the Chattahoochee" because of its importance to the riverboat trade, was founded in 1814 to protect white settlers in southwest Georgia and southeast Alabama from the Creek Indians. General Edmund Pendleton Gaines, born in Virginia in 1777, arrived at the fort in 1816 with the fourth infantry of the U.S. Army, which honored Gaines by naming the fort in his honor. Later, during the Civil War (1861-65), the fort protected residents from the Union army.

The town was chartered in 1830, and the railroad arrived in the 1850s. The old Frontier Cemetery is the burial place for many of the original founders of Fort Gaines and includes the grave of John Brown, the second president of the University of Georgia. The newer cemetery, New Park, was built around an Indian burial mound that dates to about A.D. 200. During the Civil War the schools in Fort Gaines were used as hospitals, and able men and boys left home to fight. After the war, the rebuilding process was slow. The next several decades brought paved roads, brick buildings, and modern necessities, but no substantial growth occurred until 1955."

 

[wayfas4u]

Thank you for your response Dave, the hole only goes through about an inch, at a slight angle not inline with the center, and is not threaded. I did send TheCannonballguy a personal message the same time I posted this. That is good advice to send him a little info on Fort Gaines. I never considered it to be a scale weight or Lamp weight, thank you for your good insight.
Rodney

 

[flyadive]

Looks like a cannon ball wrong to me?
This should help
Saved from thecannonballguy.... http://www.pochefamily.org/books/SolidShotEssentialsMod.html

http://www.civilwarartillery.com/shottables.htm

 

[wayfas4u]

That is very good info flyadive! Thank you for sharing!

 

[fyrffytr1]

If it is solid it wouldn't have a fuse would it? What would make it explode?

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Flyadive, thank you for posting a link to the educational article (with helpful photos) I co-wrote on how to tell with certainty whether an iron ball is or isn't an Artillery ball (cannon ball, Grapeshot-ball, Canister-shot ball).

Wayfas4u, thank you for providing the historical background info about the site where you found this iron "ball." I say "ball" because in your 1st photo it looks nicely spherical, but the 3rd photo it looks distinctly egg-shaped... which would completely exclude it from being an Artillery ball.

Until you clear up that apparent discrepancy between the photos, I'll proceed as if it is actually a sphere. Thank you for the super-precise measurement of its weight... which is super-import for determining a ball's correct ID. But the diameter measurement is also crucially important, and it appears yours is inaccurate, because the ball still has a layer of rust-encrustation on it.

To accurately measure the actual diameter of the iron, you'll need to chip off the rust-encrustation from two spots on EXACTLY-OPPOSITE sides of the ball. Then put your Caliper's jaws on those two "naked" spots.

Then do the same thing, by making two more exactly-opposite naked spots in a different location from the first two. Comparing this second diameter-measurement with the first will tell us whether the ball is significantly out-of-round, or not. If those two measurements are not within two 1/100ths-of-an-inch, make a third set of naked spots for measuring. (I always measure a ball's diameter from 3 different directions.)

It is worth your time to do that, because your ENCRUSTED iron ball's diameter is just a little larger than one version of a Colonial-Era-to-early-1800s military cannonball. It is known as a 3-Pounder caliber ball, whose officially-prescribed diameter was 2.84-inches, and weight of 3.05 pounds. Read the 3-Pounder ball info in the chart at:​

http://www.civilwarartillery.com/shottables.htm

I'm hoping that your rust-encrusted ball's .18-inch larger diameter than a 3-Pounder cannonball can be explained by having .09-inch of rustcrust on each side of the ball. The rustcrust could also explain why your ball is about .08-pound (slightly more than 1 ounce) heavier than a 3-Pounder cannonball.

Because the small hole goes down into the ball at an angle instead of straight down, it is not a "mounting hole" (a hole for mounting the ball on a shaft). It could be a casting-flaw, which is seen occasionally on Colonial/Early-1800s artillery balls.

Sidenote:
The Ordnance Manual's "Shot Tables" size-charts (at the link above) show another artillery ball whose size & weight are very close to yours... a 32-Pounder caliber Grapeshot ball. But there seems to be no record of a 32-Pounder cannon ever being at Georgia's Fort Gaines.

Lastly:
People have asked me, why is super-precise measurement of a ball's diameter, down to 1/100ths-of-an-inch, so hugely important? Simple answer: If the key to your house's front door lock is even a few hundredths too big, it won't go into the lock. If it is even a few hundredths too small, it won't correctly "engage" the grooves inside the lock. Ensuring exactly-correct fit, down to hundredths-of-an-inch, is why an Artillery Ordnance Inspector precisely measured EVERY cannonball before it was issued to the troops.

How that applies to you:
The bore-diameter of a 3-Pounder caliber cannon was 2.90-inches. If your NON-ENCRUSTED ball's diameter is that size or larger, it wouldn't fit into the muzzle of a 3-Pounder cannon, and thus it is not a cannonball. ​

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Fyrffytr1 asked:
> If it is solid it wouldn't have a fuse would it?

The precisely measured diameter and weight of Wayfas4u's ball prove it is definitely a solid ball, not a hollow one. Of course, Solid-Shot balls do not have a fuze, because they have no internal cavity to hold the explosive powder-charge.

By the way, this ball's diameter-to-weight ratio also proves the (tilted) hole in it is far too small to hold an explosive charge... it's just a little casting-flaw hole.​

 

[wayfas4u]

Oh Wow thank you kind sir for your professional, well-worded and detailed response! You have really stimulated my thinking process! Looks like I have a bit of work to de-rust. Any advice on the proper way to approach it? Electrolysis? Sand blasting? A colonial era ball would be so nice if it is truthfully revealed.

 

[mirage83]

I'd go the electrolysis route. Let it run a week or so, change the water, let it run some more. Then if it's what we all hope a good waxing to prevent new rust.

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

No offense intended, but my preferred method of doing Electrolysis rust-removal & presrvation of excavated iron relics differs from your recommendation. I treat the iron relic with 36 hours of electrolysis at just 1 amp, which is gentler than higher amperage... and the 36-hour limit avoids "overcleaning."

As most folks who've done Electrolysis cleaning know, it doesn't quite remove ALL the rustcrust. (Especially in the groove above a cylindrical shell's ring-sabot, or in the "stepdown" at the edge of a raised band.) Then, after I've scrub-washed off any dust particles, and let the iron dry in a warm room for 24 hours, I apply 3 "light-to-moderate" coats of Satin-finish (not glossy) Polyurethane.

I dislike using wax (even microcrystalline wax) as a Sealant, because when any kind of wax gets warm it tends to "hold onto" airborne dust. Polyurethane dries to a hard coat, so when it gets dusty, you simply brush it off. But dust tends to cling to a waxy surface.