A Dangerous Doorstop

[redbob]

Someone recently brought into a relic dealer this 3.8" Percussion Fused James Shell that had been picked up shortly after the Battle of Stones River and had been used as a doorstop ever since. The dealer disarmed it and ignited some of the powder that came out of it and you see the results below. The moral of this story is never assume that a Civil War shell is harmless unless you know for a fact that it has been disarmed. Photos by Larry Hicklen

 

[Cpl. Smith]

interesting that the powder stayed dry for 150 years

 

[redbob]

interesting that the powder stayed dry for 150 years

It was evidently only exposed to the elements for a short time and the rest of the time it has been indoors. I have had them that had wet powder that once dried out was ready to go.

 

[JOHN42768]

Better safe then sorry

 

[UCVRelics]

I have disarmed many a shell and have seen 150 year old powder that came out of them looking crystallized and have always been told that when it does that it can become very unstable. Luckily I still have all my fingers and still disarm them when I find them (always underwater)

 

[redbob]

I have disarmed many a shell and have seen 150 year old powder that came out of them looking crystallized and have always been told that when it does that it can become very unstable. Luckily I still have all my fingers and still disarm then when I find them (always underwater)

Man, you must be able to hold your breath for a really long time... PS: I know, I'm just a smart aleck and that's the only way to do it, you and I both can speak of people that are no longer with us that did it other ways.

 

[Northern Light]

It would make a very nice doorstop, but yikes! My husband's final round when he retired from the Artillery is mercifully empty and all plolished up and inscribed. It is too light for a doorstop and too short for an umbrella stand, so it just sits on the floor, looking "shiny and purty"!

 

[redbob]

It would make a very nice doorstop, but yikes! My husband's final round when he retired from the Artillery is mercifully empty and all plolished up and inscribed. It is too light for a doorstop and too short for an umbrella stand, so it just sits on the floor, looking "shiny and purty"!

What type of round is it, you could pull the fuse and fill it with sand and that will add some weight. He is a lucky man, my last round was last seen headed toward Anniston, Alabama.

 

[Michael W.]

I like to take my newly acquired shells and throw them in a campfire and see what happens...

 

[redbob]

I like to take my newly acquired shells and throw them in a campfire and see what happens...

Like Dirty Harry said: Do you feel lucky?

 

[Lampasas Bill]

When I worked at the Missouri State Museum in Jefferson City, our offices were on the second floor of a historic hotel building. One afternoon I heard someone coming up the the wooden stairs: "Whump, shuffle-shuffle, Whump, shuffle-shuffle, Whump, etc. An elderly lady was dragging a heavily-weighted canvas bag from step to step. She explained that she had a cannon ball in the bag that her late husband had dug up in their garden. Their home was along the road where Union cavalry had skirmished with Sterling Price's army as it advanced toward the Missouri capital during his 1864 raid, an area in which missiles had been discovered in the past. It looked to be a 12pdr ball with a round, discolored spot on one side; my first thought was "oh my gosh, it's fused!" Fortunately it was not, but here the mystery starts: the round spot was about the size of a spherical case fuse hole, but the presumed hole was filled with lead. Why? Unfortunately we were unable to have it X-rayed or weighed--she just brought it there to show us. One possibility was that as Price prepared to march north from Arkansas, solid shot were desirable to add to his 12pdr howitzer limbers, which, if I am not mistaken, were normally supplied only with spherical case and canister. Perhaps spare spherical case rounds were filled with lead as an expedient. On the other hand, it could have been fired from a nearby Union fort. Any thoughts on a lead-plugged 12pdr round would be appreciated.

 

[redbob]

When I worked at the Missouri State Museum in Jefferson City, our offices were on the second floor of a historic hotel building. One afternoon I heard someone coming up the the wooden stairs: "Whump, shuffle-shuffle, Whump, shuffle-shuffle, Whump, etc. An elderly lady was dragging a heavily-weighted canvas bag from step to step. She explained that she had a cannon ball in the bag that her late husband had dug up in their garden. Their home was along the road where Union cavalry had skirmished with Sterling Price's army as it advanced toward the Missouri capital during his 1864 raid, an area in which missiles had been discovered in the past. It looked to be a 12pdr ball with a round, discolored spot on one side; my first thought was "oh my gosh, it's fused!" Fortunately it was not, but here the mystery starts: the round spot was about the size of a spherical case fuse hole, but the presumed hole was filled with lead. Why? Unfortunately we were unable to have it X-rayed or weighed--she just brought it there to show us. One possibility was that as Price prepared to march north from Arkansas, solid shot were desirable to add to his 12pdr howitzer limbers, which, if I am not mistaken, were normally supplied only with spherical case and canister. Perhaps spare spherical case rounds were filled with lead as an expedient. On the other hand, it could have been fired from a nearby Union fort. Any thoughts on a lead-plugged 12pdr round would be appreciated.

I have run across the same thing with a 4.5" Dyer Shell and the only explanation that I came up with was the same one that you have, that solid shot was needed more than an explosive round.

 

[John Wayne Brady]

In my experience the powder in percussion fused James rifle shells is pretty pretty much "hermetically sealed" by the fuze and is as good or better than in the 1860's. More than most other shells the powder inside percussion fused James shells is almost universally still "hot."

 

[Michael W.]

At Fort Sumter, one of the enclosed rooms in the brick casemate has a fireplace that was built into it, and there is a large crack that runs from the fireplace up the wall of the casemate. The NPS guide explained that the fort was still being used as a coastal fortification during WWII, and a couple of GI's stationed there at that time were snooping around and found one or several Civil War period cannonballs. Goofing off, they tossed one in in the fireplace, where there was an active fire, thinking it was "solid shot". Turns out it was not. The ball exploded, cracking the casemate and killing at least one of the GI's, possibly the other, I can't remember as that was many years ago. Has anyone else who has been to Fort Sumter ever heard this story?

 

[redbob]

At Fort Sumter, one of the enclosed rooms in the brick casemate has a fireplace that was built into it, and there is a large crack that runs from the fireplace up the wall of the casemate. The NPS guide explained that the fort was still being used as a coastal fortification during WWII, and a couple of GI's stationed there at that time were snooping around and found one or several Civil War period cannonballs. Goofing off, they tossed one in in the fireplace, where there was an active fire, thinking it was "solid shot". Turns out it was not. The ball exploded, cracking the casemate and killing at least one of the GI's, possibly the other, I can't remember as that was many years ago. Has anyone else who has been to Fort Sumter ever heard this story?

Not this story, but I have heard of balls being used as andirons.