Identify the Fuse on this Parrot Shell? Also, why was it where I found it?

[Basla]

I found an unexploded Parrott Shell in a stream bed in Windy Run Park in Arlington, VA on Mother's Day last weekend. I took it home with me, looked up info on it on the internet, and contacted the Park Manager the next day to hand it over to him. He was really excited about it and emailed me later saying he thought it may have a tice fuse, which is very rare. An expert had not confirmed that though. I've seen one picture of a tice fuse and it is similar, but doesn't look like an exact match to me. Anyway, he's sending pics of the shell around to experts from the NPS, Manassas Battlefield, etc. to see if he can learn any info from them. In the mean time, I'm dying of curiosity and wanted to see if any of you may be able to give me any info about it?

Useful info:

• I found it in a stream bed (not submerged)
• The area where I found it is close to Fort Strong, Fort C.F. Smith (the Park Manager said at about 1/2 mile away it's too close to have been fired from there though), and is just over the river from DC.
• It's about 9 inches by 3 inches
• I didn't weigh it, but the Park Manager said it's a "10 Pounder Parrot Shell"

The Park Manager said it's very mysterious because apparently you can tell from the bottom of the shell that it has been fired, yet there weren't any battles close by. He said that while the area is close to several forts, they should have only been firing test shots, not live ones. Was it shot from one of the area forts anyway? Was it transported there from somewhere else? Also, he and the other folks he's showed it to thus far had not been aware that there were shells with the fuse off-center like the one I found. Anyway, I am SUPER curious! Does anyone have any ideas about it? If you know anything about the components of the shell or why it was where I found it please let me know.

 

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[DCMatt]

Cool! That park is less than a mile from my office.

It is probably coincidental, but Battery Parrot was directly across the river from that park. Do some research to find what types of guns were there.

You might also want to see if anyone was farming the land after the war. Exposed in the creek seems unlikely for a fired shell. Perhaps it was buried in a nearby field and removed to the creek by a farmer after he found it while plowing.

There are guys on this board who are experts in these types of things. I'm sure someone will chime in with an opinion or two.

Very interesting find!

DCMatt

 

[Basla]

Good tips, DCMatt!

Perhaps it was buried in a nearby field and removed to the creek by a farmer after he found it while plowing.
DCMatt

I think you may be right right- much of the area around here was farmland for a long time.

I did a quick search for Battery Parrot and found a brief mention of it on Wikipedia. The Wikipedia entry also talks about other local forts, the types of weapons used, and the ranges of the weapons. This seems like a great starting point for my research. Thanks!

 

[Edmundruffin]

I can't tell from the sabot if it was fired. Are rifling marks present? I have held several Parrot shells, that fuse is new to me. If no one knows send those pictures to a friend of mine, he is the expert in all things Civil War.

http://www.shilohrelics.com/

 

[aquachigger]

Dude... I don't think that is a Tice fuse, nor am I sure it's even Civil War era. If it is post Civil War, it could be very dangerous. It is certainly an explosive shell. I hope Cannonballguy chimes in. He is THE expert. Meanwhine, don't be surprised it the bomb squad shows up at your door since "the man" knows what you have. They do love to get press. It is a cool find and with the cracks, probably not dangerous at all.

 

[Basla]

I can't tell from the sabot if it was fired. Are rifling marks present? I have held several Parrot shells, that fuse is new to me. If no one knows send those pictures to a friend of mine, he is the expert in all things Civil War.

Shiloh Civil War Relics*Main

Hmmm... I didn't know about "rifling marks" so I didn't look for them. I don't see any on my photos, but the metal is pretty corroded.

Thanks for the link to your friend's site. If no one on here has any definitive answers I'll get in touch with him.

 

[Basla]

Dude... I don't think that is a Tice fuse, nor am I sure it's even Civil War era. If it is post Civil War, it could be very dangerous. It is certainly an explosive shell. I hope Cannonballguy chimes in. He is THE expert. Meanwhine, don't be surprised it the bomb squad shows up at your door since "the man" knows what you have. They do love to get press. It is a cool find and with the cracks, probably not dangerous at all.

Yeah, it didn't completely match the one photo I saw of a Tice fuse, so I'm inclined to agree with you there. Good to hear that it's probably not dangerous, too.

I already turned it over to the park where I found it, so no worries about "the man" coming to my door . I did keep it in my place for one night since I found it on a Sunday, and that gave me time to do enough research to know that if I turned it over to the fire department/police they'd blow it up, and any potential historical info it could yield would be lost. The Park Manager seems really interested in it and says he'd like to preserve it if at all possible, but the final verdict will depend on what the experts he's checking with now say about it. If they do end up having to blow it up, at least at this point they've taken plenty of photos and measurements of it and they've geopositioned the spot where I found it.

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

The shell is definitely a civil war era Parrott shell, named for its inventor, Robert P. Parrott of New York. Mr. Parrott was also an inventor of Rifled cannons. Your shell was manufactured for use ONLY in Parrott's "10-Pounder" caliber cannons -- whose bore-diameter from 1860 to February 1864 was 2.9-inches, and after that date was 3.0-inches.

Your photos show the brass ring-sabot on your shell's base has rifling-marks, which were made by the cannon barrel's rifling-grooves when the shell was fired.

The first combat-used version of Parrott's projectiles had an iron ring-sabot. The earliest "in the field" use of his brass ring-sabot projectiles (the version you found) was in Spring 1863.

Now, about your shell's fuze:
In my nearly 40 years of closely studying civil war artillery projectiles and fuzes I've never before seen one exactly like it. Also, there is no fuze like it in any of the books on civil war artillery fuzes. Thus I am 100%-certain that it is an Experimental fuze ...and your shell was fired as a test of that fuze. (You said you found it in the Arlington VA area, and no civil war combat happened in the Arlington area in 1863-1865 ...just artillery practice and Test-Range firing.)

Being a previously unknown Experimental type of civil war artillery fuze, it is of major interest to scholars of that subject. But you said you "contacted the Park Manager the next day to hand it over to him." If he still has your shell, that is VERY unfortunate for us civil war artillery scholars, because Aquachigger is correct... the typical protocol (rules) for Park personnel is to call in an Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit for immediate destruction of the object.

If you did not find the shell on Government-owned land, the government has no claim of ownership on your shell. Your newest post says the Park Manager still has it, and he is having it investigated. I would have urged you to IMMEDIATELY go get it back from him, but it may now be too late for that.

Civil war artillery shells sometimes still contain "good" powder, but excavated ones will NOT explode from merely being dropped. I can put you in contact with a Professional who will remove the powder. We civil war artillery scholars very much want to learn more about your shell's mysterious Experimental fuze -- which cannot happen if it gets destroyed by the government authorities. Please send me a Private message with your phone number.

 

[DCMatt]

If they decide to blow it up, ask if you can be there. Many years ago my brother had a cluster bomblet he used for a paperweight on his office desk. One day someone asked if it was inert. He didn't know for sure so they suggested he make a phone call to authorites. Within minutes sirens were arriving at the door and the building was being evacuated. They could NOT determine if the bomb was live so they decided to blow it up. They let him push the button to detonate the charge. He said it was cool.

DCMatt

 

[Basla]

If they decide to blow it up, ask if you can be there. Many years ago my brother had a cluster bomblet he used for a paperweight on his office desk. One day someone asked if it was inert. He didn't know for sure so they suggested he make a phone call to authorites. Within minutes sirens were arriving at the door and the building was being evacuated. They could NOT determine if the bomb was live so they decided to blow it up. They let him push the button to detonate the charge. He said it was cool.

DCMatt

Wow! Exciting day at the office!

I reeeeeeeaaaaallly hope they don't blow it up, especially after hearing from TheCannonballGuy. I'm so thrilled about this shell, whatever it is, and hope they're able to preserve it and study it!

 

[duggap]

All may not be lost. During the organized Murfreesboro, Tn hunt for the part service, a rare confederate shell was found and the Gov't antied up the fee to have it disarmed by one of the local boys. That was after much pleading by the relic hunters.

 

[Basla]

All may not be lost. During the organized Murfreesboro, Tn hunt for the part service, a rare confederate shell was found and the Gov't antied up the fee to have it disarmed by one of the local boys. That was after much pleading by the relic hunters.

That's good to hear! I hope that's what they do in this case! I think the Park Manager would really like to keep it for the park if it's possible. Hopefully he and the other powers that be will decide they can have someone disarm it.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

I would contact CannonBallGuy like he suggests, he knows his stuff.

 

[Basla]

I would contact CannonBallGuy like he suggests, he knows his stuff.

Done. He gave me some great guidance.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Couldnt it have just landed in the creek and never exploded?

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

BigCypressHunter, according to Basla, it was found about two-tenths of a mile from the Potomac River. Because it is a common variety of civil war shell, but contains a previously unknown Experimental fuze, I believe it was fired from the north bank of the river to the south bank, in a Test Range scenario. It is known that civil war artillerymen liked to conduct projectile and fuze performance tests over a large body of water, because if the projectile malfunctioned, the failure would be obvious, due to the big splash when the errant projectile struck the water short of the target on the shore. If the projectile flew properly but overshot the target, due to traveling at about 600 miles per hour it could easily ricochet along the ground for the distance of two-tenths of a mile.

That theory is logical, but it may not be the answer to how Basla's fired civil war shell came to be where it was found. However, the shell is definitely an 1863 version of Parrott shell, and there was no artillery combat-firing in the Arlington area during 1863-to-1865. So, in view of the facts stated above, and the presence of an Experimental fuze in it, the most logical answer is a Test Range scenario.

 

[NOLA_Ken]

Basla....While I am by no means an expert on CW era munitions (my knowledge is WW1 and later) I can say that from what I have read here CannonballGuy is the go to guy for munitions of that era. If he says that he has never seen that fuze I feel it is important to document it, and to be sure it is not destroyed. I hope you will take this to mean that what you have could be a very important part of the historical record, and try to make sure it is properly disarmed and documented for study rather than just blown up on a range and lost forever. You said you already turned it in to a park manager, and that's fine but you need to follow up on it and make sure that it properly conserved instead of just destroyed. It sounds like you have a one of a kind, and once in a lifetime find here, and you need to make sure that it is known to those who study these things.....As I said my knowledge is WW1 and newer but without the history of the evolution of these munitions there are many holes to be filled.... As the finder you need to be sure the historical record is filled in with your find.

 

[DCMatt]

Basla,

If you need help or support with the situation, I'm in the neighborhood. I agree with the others. This piece needs to be saved and studied. You can PM me with contact info.

DCMatt

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Believe me, guys, Basla very much wants the shell to be preserved and studied. I've now sent an email to the Park Manager, offering my assistance. Fortunately, he is an Arlington County park manager, not a Federal Govenment employee, and thus he seems to have more "leeway" about what to do with the shell than US National Park personnel do. Basla says the Arlington County Park Manager wants the shell to be professionally "inerted" and studied. My email message to him offered to help that to happen, because I've done it several times in the past for the US National Park Service. Basla and I are hoping he doesn't get overruled by the "Higher-Ups." We will keep you posted on developments.

 

[Basla]

Believe me, guys, Basla very much wants the shell to be preserved and studied. I've now sent an email to the Park Manager, offering my assistance. Fortunately, he is an Arlington County park manager, not a Federal Govenment employee, and thus he seems to have more "leeway" about what to do with the shell than US National Park personnel do. Basla says the Arlington County Park Manager wants the shell to be professionally "inerted" and studied. My email message to him offered to help that to happen, because I've done it several times in the past for the US National Park Service. Basla and I are hoping he doesn't get overruled by the "Higher-Ups." We will keep you posted on developments.

Yes, what he said!

I'm very glad to have TheCannonBallGuy assisting here. Thank you! And thanks as well to everyone else who has chimed in.