civil war trench

[mtholen]

I have found a few of these recently in a civil war trench. It is a wire that is all curled up or twisted at the end. Found about four of these

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

A History of Mining on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska - Grab it through Amazon!

[mtholen]

More pictures

 

[truckinbutch]

Was it a cannon emplacement ? I'm wondering if it might have been part of a friction fuse .

 

[XLTer]

Your good truckinbutch

I had to look it up to see what a friction fuse was .

Equipment, Guns & Ammo

 

[truckinbutch]

Your good truckinbutch

I had to look it up to see what a friction fuse was .

Equipment, Guns & Ammo

Don't start pattin me on the back just yet . It was only a wag . If the cannonball
expert chimes in and agrees then I'll feel like I paid a little attention to him when he spoke .

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

A cannon's friction primer does have a wire, but it is a much shorter and smaller wire than what's in Mtholen's photos. (Also, one end of a friction primer's wire is serrated ...and the wire's body is multi-twisted, quite tightly -- see the photo, below.)

I do not recognize Mtholen's wires as being artillery related. There's none like them shown in any diagrams in civil war era artillery manuals. Also, I don't recognize them as any kind (or part of) a civil war Military relic.

Since I can't see "obvious" rust showing on them in the photos, I assume the wires are not made of iron. If so, are they copper wire, or are they brass wire?

What they remind me of is pieces of cut-up wire fence. But that can't be right if they're not iron wire.

 

[BosnMate]

Was it a cannon emplacement ? I'm wondering if it might have been part of a friction fuse .

That was my first thought also, the wire that was pulled through the friction fuse to ignite it? However, on the original fuse I own, there is a loop in the wire and the lanyard had an S hook on the end to fit into the loop, so I don't know. Hope cannonballguy answers this post. he answered the post while I was writing this one, so thanks Cannonballguy.

 

[mtholen]

The trench is coming off of a battery and a redan (not really quite sure what that is), and leads to a creek. They are all found rusted, but i soaked that one in vinegar to see what it is. The wire diameter is smaller than a coat hanger

 

[mtholen]

Here are some photos of the other ones that haven't been in vinegar

 

[tennessee digger]

I'm afraid that they are common pieces of fence wire in my opinion. Tennessee digger

 

[skeeterd]

I have spent a good part of my life building fence. The pieces in the last pictures you posted are definatly from fencing. Commonly called "field fence" or "woven wire". Hope this helps.

 

[mtholen]

Thanks for your help everyone! One if these days, i will find something i can tie to the CW. Does anyone know when folding pocket knives came to be?

 

[kuger]

Thanks for your help everyone! One if these days, i will find something i can tie to the CW. Does anyone know when folding pocket knives came to be?

,,,pre CW.....heck they had folding bowie's!!!