Larger lead round ball?

[Duane Pringle]

No not anywhere near it.

 

[Duane Pringle]

But we have found some strang items in this camp like the slider for a britten shell but no other part of shell so far.

 

[Frederick14Va]

Im a bit skeptical of this being a canister ball. The size doesn't correlate with any of the typical field artillery.

Thinking out of the box a bit... there were some massive caliber sporting guns out there in the latter 18th C. and early 19th C. era... Also there were those known as Wall or Rampart Guns existing that many used very large calibers.. Not the first time that lead balls of this size have been excavated, but are pretty rare.

We have to remember that not everything found in a Civil War era site is Civil War era.. Activities frequently occurred over the same turf over the decades. It was not unusual for us in Virginia to find Rev War... War of 1812... and Civil War artifacts intermingled in the same areas...

 

[Duane Pringle]

I completely agree we have only found 3 of them so far I know this erea was not settled till 1830s and the nearest town was not developed till mid 1850s. I really dont know alot of the pre civil war history of this erea I do know there was a cabin near this site early 1840s. So bullet or cannister or some sort of case shot may remain a mystery.

 

[lelliott19]

Ok....sorry to derail the thread, but I just realized something......I always thought "case shot" and "canister" were the same thing. Maybe because I am female and have never really understood how cannon work - except for the obvious - big exploding things come out when they pull the string.

So I'm far from an artillery expert (or any other kind of expert) If someone could explain the difference between case shot and canister Id be most appreciative.

I probably need the "dumbed down" version of the explanation. Please and thank you in advance for whomever is kind enough to explain the difference to me.

 

[alan polk]

My avatar is a artillery shell (cut in half) to reveal the "case-shot" inside. They were lead balls like musket balls (generally). Case-shot was in an artillery shell.

Canister was not in a cannonball. Canister is in a tin can, like a coffee can, filled with large iron balls (generally). And used like a shotgun.

 

[lelliott19]

Thanks @alan polk
I started a new thread in an attempt to not completely derail @Duane Pringle 's thread.

If you could post this answer over there, Im afraid I have another question(s) https://civilwartalk.com/threads/case-shot-or-canister.142261/

Thanks again.
Laura

 

[speedenforcer]

With it being lead, it would more likly be from spherical case. Canister usually used iron balls. Spherical case used lead so that after it was filled with the balls and sulfer, they could drill a cavity in the center to hold the bursting charge.

I think it is too large to be from a case shot.

 

[drezac]

not sure why I did not think of this earlier.
From the ordnance Manual

for field artillery:

Spherical Case (all calibers): .69 lead balls

Canister:
12-pdr: 1.45" iron
6-pdr: 1.14" iron
Field Howitzer: 1.06 Iron
Mtn Howitzer: .69 lead musket balls

 

[drezac]

I did a little creative work with that photo - sized the image so the one on the left measured .69 with my calipers, then measured the one on the right. The larger ball on the right is 1.09"

 

[Duane Pringle]

We dug 2 more this last Saturday.