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

Research Center: Artillery1252-Ball12pdr

Smoothbore artillery projectile, spherical ball, bursting shell, "common" (standard), wood time fuze with 1.125in. opening, 12 pounder, 4.62in., with wood sabot. Projectile was intended for the smoothbore 12 pounder. Fuze employed was a wood time fuze, fuze hole is smooth and tapered, the simple to make fuze could easily be hammered into place, Jones Fuzes pg. 2. Those with small openings, .875in., were generally manufactured before the war for the 12 pounder Coehorn Mortar. Those with larger opening, 1.125in. may have been intended for the longer range Napoleons, however it appears that the size distinction of the opening was of little concern and both sizes were manufactured and extensively used through out the war, principal use was southern. There are also thickness differences in the casting, and this many have been designed for "case shot" versus "common", however these shells are seldom found packed with case shot, so the presumption is that the use was "common", standard bursting charge without case shot balls, regardless of thickness of the casting. Perhaps southerners felt they could not spare the balls. The balls used in the Napoleons would have started out with a wood sabot and straps, the wood sabot was designed to position the ball in the bore with a flat surface to propel it, then the straps would break and the ball would fly freely. Few are recovered with the sabot, all fired examples would have been seperated from the sabot on firing, and the wood generally will not survive the environment for 100+ years. Projectile measures: diameter 4.52in., weight 8lbs., empty approximately. Research Center: Artillery1252-Ball12pdr, Ref: Dickey & George, Field Artillery (1993 Edition), pg. 30. Details click: http://relicman.com/artillery/Artillery1252-Ball12pdr.html.

A1778...Smoothbore artillery projectile, spherical ball, bursting shell, "common" (standard), wood time fuze with 1.125in. opening, 12 pounder, 4.62in., with wood sabot. Projectile was intended for the smoothbore 12 pounder. Fuze employed was a wood time fuze, fuze hole is smooth and tapered, the simple to make fuze could easily be hammered into place, Jones Fuzes pg. 2. Those with small openings, .875in., were generally manufactured before the war for the 12 pounder Coehorn Mortar. Those with larger opening, 1.125in. may have been intended for the longer range Napoleons, however it appears that the size distinction of the opening was of little concern and both sizes were manufactured and extensively used through out the war, principal use was southern. There are also thickness differences in the casting, and this many have been designed for "case shot" versus "common", however these shells are seldom found packed with case shot, so the presumption is that the use was "common", standard bursting charge without case shot balls, regardless of thickness of the casting. Perhaps southerners felt they could not spare the balls. The balls used in the Napoleons would have started out with a wood sabot and straps, the wood sabot was designed to position the ball in the bore with a flat surface to propel it, then the straps would break and the ball would fly freely. Few are recovered with the sabot, all fired examples would have been seperated from the sabot on firing, and the wood generally will not survive the environment for 100+ years. Projectile measures: diameter 4.52in., weight 8lbs., empty approximately. Original wood sabot partially intact and original wood fuze is removable. Projectile is disarmed, open fuze hole exposes empty interior. Recovered: Milledgeville, Georgia river cache. Ref: Dickey & George, Field Artillery (1993 Edition), pg. 30.

A2765...Smoothbore artillery projectile, spherical ball, bursting shell, "common" (standard), wood time fuze with 1.125in. opening, 12 pounder, 4.62in., with wood sabot. Projectile was intended for the smoothbore 12 pounder. Fuze employed was a wood time fuze, fuze hole is smooth and tapered, the simple to make fuze could easily be hammered into place, Jones Fuzes pg. 2. Those with small openings, .875in., were generally manufactured before the war for the 12 pounder Coehorn Mortar. Those with larger opening, 1.125in. may have been intended for the longer range Napoleons, however it appears that the size distinction of the opening was of little concern and both sizes were manufactured and extensively used through out the war, principal use was southern. There are also thickness differences in the casting, and this many have been designed for "case shot" versus "common", however these shells are seldom found packed with case shot, so the presumption is that the use was "common", standard bursting charge without case shot balls, regardless of thickness of the casting. Perhaps southerners felt they could not spare the balls. The balls used in the Napoleons would have started out with a wood sabot and straps, the wood sabot was designed to position the ball in the bore with a flat surface to propel it, then the straps would break and the ball would fly freely. Few are recovered with the sabot, all fired examples would have been seperated from the sabot on firing, and the wood generally will not survive the environment for 100+ years. Projectile measures: diameter 4.52in., weight 8 lbs. Metal solid with some pitting, wood fuze missing, part of original wood sabot remains, remnants of straps visible. Projectile is disarmed, open fuze hole exposes empty interior. Recovered: Milledgeville, Georgia river cache. 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.

and now a word from our sponsor.....

Civil War Relicman, Harry Ridgeway, Civil War artillery, Relicman sales catalog. Click here: http://relicman.com/artillery/RelicmanSalesArtillery1.html. Artillery for sale: http://relicman.com/artillery/RelicmanSalesArtillery1.html.