Soldier with Mortar Ball.

[relichound]

Also there is a name scratched on the back and the first name is Samuel and
the second begins with "B" but after that the letters are hard to read.

 

[Patrick H]

He's a determined, tough looking man. An interesting feature of this photo is that his belt buckle has been retouched to read "US"--probably at the same time the colors were tinted. I think I see two holes in the ball, too. I suppose one of these would be a fuse hole, but what is the other? Maybe the second, smaller hole isn't a hole at all. Maybe it's a dent or similar blemish on the ball. It looks sort of like a giant bowling ball sitting there....

 

[Mark F. Jenkins]

I feel like warning him not to trip over it on his way out... yeah, I think the "second hole" is a smudge or blemish of some kind.

 

[relichound]

It's a large mortar ball and there would have been a fuse hole in the center and two smaller
holes on either side for a tool to attach to it so it could be lifted by two soldiers. Only one
of those two smaller holes is visible.

 

[redbob]

It's a large mortar ball and there would have been a fuse hole in the center and two smaller
holes on either side for a tool to attach to it so it could be lifted by two soldiers. Only one
of those two smaller holes is visible.

They used an apparatus much like the old ice tongs on a pole. One man on either side and they would lift the ball up and place it fuse end out in the mortar.

 

[Patrick H]

That's pretty interesting. I guess I wasn't imagining that second hole after all. Oddly, I was wondering how these things were lifted. Never occurred to me they might have used tongs.

 

[redbob]

That's pretty interesting. I guess I wasn't imagining that second hole after all. Oddly, I was wondering how these things were lifted. Never occurred to me they might have used tongs.

There were three principal sizes of siege mortars (besides Coehorns) used in the Civil War, 8"(44# ball),10"(88#ball) and 13"(197#ball). All used explosive balls or case shot and the ball pictured appears to be a 10" ball.

 

[relichound]

I used to collect Civil War artillery projectiles in a serious way. I bought one once for my
collection that looked very similar to the one in this photo, but I was later told
by another collector that it was not a mortar ball, but a projectile for a piece
of siege artillery, like in a permanent fort, and the way this was known was
by the width of the iron in the fuse hole. It needed to be a certain width(strength)
for a mortar and another for a large siege gun. I still collect, but not artillery projectiles!
Began collecting when I was 13, and still do. Items generally have gone up a great deal, and
I wish I could go back to those early days and buy up CW items cheaply!

 

[Cumpston1862]

Tongs in action...not recommended for salad

 

[Mark F. Jenkins]

I always wondered about those things. Is it merely hand strength keeping a grip on those tongs, or were they sprung in some way to make the clamp easier?

ETA... not sure I worded that clearly. How much "closing-scissor-force" was necessary on the part of the handler to make sure the tongs didn't open and whomp a heavy object onto the top of the handler's foot?

 

[Cumpston1862]

I always wondered about those things. Is it merely hand strength keeping a grip on those tongs, or were they sprung in some way to make the clamp easier?

ETA... not sure I worded that clearly. How much "closing-scissor-force" was necessary on the part of the handler to make sure the tongs didn't open and whomp a heavy object onto the top of the handler's foot?

Mark-

I am unsure. One of the heavy artillery guys is going to need to chime in on those kind of details. I did find this link for you though.

http://www.civilwarartillery.com/

 

[Mark F. Jenkins]

Aha... I think this image says it all:

Gravity itself forces the tongs into place. Clever.

 

[redbob]

Aha... I think this image says it all:

Gravity itself forces the tongs into place. Clever.

You would insert a stout pole through the ring so that two men could carry the ball between them and for whatever reason the tong holes were also called lifting ears.

 

[Frederick14Va]

Couple additional pics of shells with lifting tong/ear indentions

Another photo of their use.

Have also noted that some of the large caliber shot also had small holes on equal opposite sides apparently for use in assisting movement or loading... differing from those above which normally are found on the tops on each side of the fuse hole. I have three original 9inch shot that were found close together than all have this feature same as these do in this period image.

 

[reading48]

Good pictures C1862 and F14Va

 

[Patrick H]

You've got it, Mark. The weight of the ball and the pivot of the tongs keep the ball secured (at least most of the time). I wouldn't have known this until it was first mentioned in this thread. However, I've seen ice carried this way and I've seen hay bales being hoisted into a barn loft essentially the same way--and I've seen them come loose too! (Picture a guy in the loft door yelling and a second guy down below, bailing out over the side of the hay wagon!)
I imagine there were some mortar men with broken toes at one time or another.