I inherited this ball. My father told me it had been fired into a wall and later dug out and kept as a keepsake, which is why the ball is out of round (impact with the wall flattened it slightly). Unfortunately I don't remember where he said it had been recovered, which would have been a major clue in its identification.
Average diameter: 2.4"
Weight: 1.84 lbs +/- 0.03 lbs
The ball is evenly pitted all around and has no markings whatsoever. I first thought it might be a Revolutionary British ball similar to that found at Dunham's Bluff by the Francis Marion Trail Commission. Their ball is the same weight and diameter as mine but has a broad arrow mark which mine does not.
The civilwarartillery.com website gives specs for Civil War grape shot used in 18-pounders as 2.36"-2.40" diameter and 1.8 lbs, so perhaps that's what this is. The book "Civil War
Heavy Ordnance" by Jack Bell says the Union did not use 18-pounders in the War, but the Confederat States did. He shows a photo of a stand of 18-pounder Confederate grape shot, and gives specifications for the balls from the Confederate States Ordnance Manual requiring the balls to be 2.36"-2.40" diameter and average weight 1.8 lbs.
So my best guess at this point is that my ball is Confederate 18-pounder grape shot.
Thanks for any help.
Average diameter: 2.4"
Weight: 1.84 lbs +/- 0.03 lbs
The ball is evenly pitted all around and has no markings whatsoever. I first thought it might be a Revolutionary British ball similar to that found at Dunham's Bluff by the Francis Marion Trail Commission. Their ball is the same weight and diameter as mine but has a broad arrow mark which mine does not.
The civilwarartillery.com website gives specs for Civil War grape shot used in 18-pounders as 2.36"-2.40" diameter and 1.8 lbs, so perhaps that's what this is. The book "Civil War
Heavy Ordnance" by Jack Bell says the Union did not use 18-pounders in the War, but the Confederat States did. He shows a photo of a stand of 18-pounder Confederate grape shot, and gives specifications for the balls from the Confederate States Ordnance Manual requiring the balls to be 2.36"-2.40" diameter and average weight 1.8 lbs.
So my best guess at this point is that my ball is Confederate 18-pounder grape shot.
Thanks for any help.
Attachments
Last edited:
