Exploding cannon ball fragment, with prominence? Found in Lunenburg.

Rean.c

Full Member
Dec 4, 2014
167
36
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
f7543b2f2984b89e7d15ba65f47babaf.jpg
fa7218f39fcccbca90db7149ec67f65b.jpg



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

No other details ? Lunenburg Mass ? Not any Civil War activity there that I'm aware of. Where was it found ? A quick guestimate of size going by the curvature of the fragment you're holding puts the size of the "cannonball" about equal to the size of a VW Beetle...
 

Upvote 0
Which Lunenburg? Nova Scotia/Canada, Massachusetts or Virginia?

77850066NPGrwT_ph.jpg

Dictator.jpg

"The Dictator" used in the siege of Petersburg, VA fired a 13" round ball and that was the largest that ever hit dirt in the U.S.

I think you might have a piece of a turpentine cauldron or steam boiler

2_img_2854.jpeg
44405711.jpg
 

Upvote 0
You didn't give us any size measurements, but comparing your exploded cannonball fragment with the width of your hand in the photo, it appears to be a fragment from a 12" or 13"-caliber Colonial Era mortar roundshell. It has to be from a mortarshell because there were no "long-gun" cannons of that caliber which got used in North America during the Colonial Era.

Your fragment appears to have a raised letter "A" marking on it. (It is not the British "Broad-Arrow" marking.) I am not as familiar with European cannonball markings as I am with American ones... but, assuming you found it in Canada instead of Massachusetts or Virginia, I think the raised "A" marking represents a French arsenal's foundry.
 

Upvote 0
All really good information, and I've found it in Nova Scotia. It's a inch and a half thick. And when I traced it all the way around it was exactly 12"


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Upvote 0
The big mystery is the A on it, and cannonball guy I thought it was a British A! I had no idea the French did so as well


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Upvote 0
I've found these all around the same area.
203f5206664902b4159da00d96d3d2d0.jpg



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Upvote 0

Top Member Reactions

Users who are viewing this thread

Latest Discussions

Back
Top