Ridgeway Civil War Research Center, A virtual examination of artifacts of the American Civil War
	Civil War Artillery
	by Harry Ridgeway

Research Center: Artillery1141-Ball6pdr

Smoothbore artillery projectile, spherical ball, bursting shell, polygonal cavity pentagonal pattern, wood time fuze, smoothbore 6 pounder, 3.67in. Projectile was intended for the smoothbore 6 pounder which had been the primary field howitzer in use before the Civil War but was outclassed by the new 12 pounders generally available. This pattern polygonal cavity is Confederate wartime manufacture.. By segmenting the interior into polygonal forms, points of weakness would facilitate more uniform fragmentation. This pattern was cast using the five sided pentagonal shape, ( Dickey & George Fig C-3 pg. 526) . Often the core would drift off center during casting, the resultant off-center cavity would tend to negate the benefits of the segmented interior. Fuze employed was a wood time fuze, Jones Fuzes pg. 2, fuze hole is smooth and tapered, the simple to make fuze could easily be hammered into place. Projectile measures: diameter 3.58in., weight 4lbs. Research Center: Artillery1141-Ball6pdr, Ref: Dickey & George, Field Artillery (1993 Edition), pg. 30. Details click: http://relicman.com/artillery/Artillery1141-Ball6pdr.html.

A2144...Smoothbore artillery projectile, spherical ball, bursting shell, polygonal cavity pentagonal pattern, wood time fuze, smoothbore 6 pounder, 3.67in. Projectile was intended for the smoothbore 6 pounder which had been the primary field howitzer in use before the Civil War but was outclassed by the new 12 pounders generally available. This pattern polygonal cavity is Confederate wartime manufacture.. By segmenting the interior into polygonal forms, points of weakness would facilitate more uniform fragmentation. This pattern was cast using the five sided pentagonal shape, ( Dickey & George Fig C-3 pg. 526) . Often the core would drift off center during casting, the resultant off-center cavity would tend to negate the benefits of the segmented interior. Fuze employed was a wood time fuze, Jones Fuzes pg. 2, fuze hole is smooth and tapered, the simple to make fuze could easily be hammered into place. Projectile measures: diameter 3.58in., weight 4lbs. Wood fuze missing, cut shell shows segmented interior. Projectile is disarmed, cut shell exposes interior. Recovered: not known. Ref: Dickey & George, Field Artillery (1993 Edition), pg. 30.

This is the "Ridgeway Civil War Research Center", a research tool for educational purposes only, and is provided at no cost to the reader. Some of the relics listed are retained in the author's collection, most reside in other collections and are not owned by the author. None of the items listed in this section are for sale, please refer to relicman.com sales listings for items offered for sale. This is a work in progress, I list items as I get to them, there are many patterns that are not listed yet, this list will be regularly updated as I get pictures and descriptions for more items. I will also correct mistakes, so if you see any please tell me. All items listed are believed to be authentic to the Civil War or as otherwise described. This information is available for research purposes, pictures may be used by permission only.
All excavated artifacts have been recovered from private property with owner's permission.
All projectiles listed have been disarmed.

Most information on this page is from:
Field Artillery Projectiles of the American Civil War, 1993 Edition. by Thomas S. Dickey and Peter C. George.
Civil War Heavy Explosive Ordnance, A Guide to Large Artillery Prjectiles, Torpedoes, and Mines, by Jack Bell.
Artillery Fuses of the Civil War, by Charles H. Jones.
Pictures are by the author, unless otherwise indicated.

Ridgeway Civil War Research Center, A virtual examination of artifacts of the American Civil War. Artillery Research center, artillery, click: http://relicman.com/artillery/Artillery0000-Index.html. Research center, artillery, click: http://relicman.com/artillery/Artillery0000-Index.html.

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