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

Research Center: Artillery2221-Ball15in

Smoothbore artillery projectile, spherical ball, bursting shell, thick walled, three Navy watercap time fuzes , Rodman smoothbore gun, 15 in. Projectile was manufactured in the Federal arsenals for the 15 inch Rodman , the heaviest of the smoothbores, and was used as the main gun on the monitor class of ironclads. There were several of them built, these ships with their ironclad protection would move close to the target delivering these heavy balls to degrade the dug in defending fortifications. Fuze employed was the Federal Navy watercap fuze, "ORD. D (anchor) / (date)", there were three of them each having different burn times, Jones pg. 10. Projectile measures: diameter 14.85in., weighs about 330 pounds. Research Center: Artillery2221-Ball15in, Ref: Bell, Heavy Ordnance, pg. 88. Details click: http://relicman.com/artillery/Artillery2221-Ball15in.html.

A1078...Smoothbore artillery projectile, spherical ball, bursting shell, thick walled, three Navy watercap time fuzes , Rodman smoothbore gun, 15 in. Projectile was manufactured in the Federal arsenals for the 15 inch Rodman , the heaviest of the smoothbores, and was used as the main gun on the monitor class of ironclads. There were several of them built, these ships with their ironclad protection would move close to the target delivering these heavy balls to degrade the dug in defending fortifications. Fuze employed was the Federal Navy watercap fuze, "ORD. D (anchor) / (date)", there were three of them each having different burn times, Jones pg. 10. Projectile measures: diameter 14.85in., weighs about 330 pounds. Three fuzes were all recovered with this shell and were removed during restoration: "ORD. D (anchor) / 1863", lead safety removed, this fuze was made active but failed to detonate the shell, length not known, end is corroded. "ORD. D (anchor) / 1862", lead safety cap in place "2 / SEC" length 3.5 in. approx, end is corroded. "ORD. D (anchor) / 1862", lead safety cap in place "10 / SEC", length not known, end is corroded. Shane Neitzey did the restoration of this shell, metal is stable, all three fuzes were able to be recovered, removable fuzes expose now empty interior. Recovered from the marshes around Charleston, South Carolina, Morris Island, by Rick Burton. Fort Wagner would have been the target from sea attack, this projectile flew past the fort and landed in the marshes behind Morris Island about a mile past the target. Ref: Bell, Heavy Ordnance, pg. 88.

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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