Help with cannonball fragment ID!

Locke

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Hey folks,

Finally got my electrolysis tank working and got a around to cleaning a cannonball (I assume) fragment found near the battle of Fredericksburg. I’m trying to determine which projectile it came from.
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The measurements are;
Overall 2.5 by 1.8

Shell thickness measured at various spots (which proved harder then I though due to the curvature);
.859, .824, .819, .810, .845

Thanks for any input in advance!
 

Nice!!!! Congrats!!!!
 

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I lived in Fredericksburg VA and dug for civil war relics there from 1978 to 1985. Plus, as you know, my specialty area of relic study is civil war artillery projectiles. So, I can tell you with certainty that the cannonball fragment you dug at Fredericksburg is from a Confederate 24-Pounder caliber (5.82-inch) "Common Shell."
Reasons:
1 - the precisely measured thickness (thanks for doing that with calipers) of the shellwall matches the civil war Ordnance Department specifications for 24-pdr. "Common" roundshells. (The name "Common" meant ordinary, containing only gunpowder. The Case-Shot version of roundshells had a thinner shellwall, because it contained dozens of lead or iron antipersonnel balls in addition to the explosive powder.
2- Only the Confederates has 24-Pounder cannons at Fredericksburg.

Bonus:
At Fredericksburg, those 24-Pounder cannons were in Woolfolk's Virginia Battery, whose nickname was the "Ashland Artillery"... so, you now know "who" fired the shell your fragment came from.
 

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I lived in Fredericksburg VA and dug for civil war relics there from 1978 to 1985. Plus, as you know, my specialty area of relic study is civil war artillery projectiles. So, I can tell you with certainty that the cannonball fragment you dug at Fredericksburg is from a Confederate 24-Pounder caliber (5.82-inch) "Common Shell."
Reasons:
1 - the precisely measured thickness (thanks for doing that with calipers) of the shellwall matches the civil war Ordnance Department specifications for 24-pdr. "Common" roundshells. (The name "Common" meant ordinary, containing only gunpowder. The Case-Shot version of roundshells had a thinner shellwall, because it contained dozens of lead or iron antipersonnel balls in addition to the explosive powder.
2- Only the Confederates has 24-Pounder cannons at Fredericksburg.

Bonus:
At Fredericksburg, those 24-Pounder cannons were in Woolfolk's Virginia Battery, whose nickname was the "Ashland Artillery"... so, you now know "who" fired the shell your fragment came from.

Sir, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again...you are a wealth of knowledge and a huge contribution to this forum. Thank you for your insight and ever detailed responses! Hats off.
 

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