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

Research Center: Artillery5039-Read

Rifled artillery projectile, Read design, Confederate manufacture, bursting shell, long pattern with smooth sides and milled sleeve, lead plug side loader, wrought iron sabot, rifling is not precast, copper time fuze, Confederate rifle, 2.9in. Projectile was Confederate manufactured, this is a late war "side loader". Read and Parrott collaborated before the war to develop a projectile employing the wrought iron sabot. A smooth sided long shell was produced by both sides, this Confederate version is distinguished by a lathe dimple in the base, and a casting sprue on the nose. The shell was lathe turned, a weak bourrelet ring is left at the top and the bottom. The wrought iron sabot on this model was cast much thinner than earlier versions, consequently the rifling on this sabot was not precast. This pattern employed a side plug as a way to load iron balls into the shell. Conventional case shot shells were usually filled with soft matrix and lead balls, an auger would be used to drill through the lead balls and the matrix to create a void for the powder train. Because of a shortage of lead, theConfederates substituted iron balls. To drill through a mixture of matrixand iron balls would be difficult, so a sizing rod would be inserted through thefuze hole to reserve a void for the powder, the iron balls and matrix would beloaded through a side hole, once loaded the side hole would be plugged, thesizing rod would be removed, and the powder train would be filled. Fuze employed was a Confederate copper timefuze, two spanner holes, Jones pg. 41. Projectile measures: diameter 2.86in., length 8.4in. (excluding fuze), weight 10.3lb. Research Center: Artillery5039-Read, Ref: Dickey & George, Field Artillery (1993 Edition), pg. 248. Details click: http://relicman.com/artillery/Artillery5039-Read.html.

A1420... Projectile measures: diameter 2.86in., length 8.4in. (excluding fuze), weight 10.3lb. Wrought iron sabot is un-fired. Metal is solid, nose shows a smallcrack probably water damage, lead side plug intact, iron sabot intact, coppertime fuze intact.Projectile is disarmed by drill hole through the paper section of the time fuze.Recovered: Battle of Wilderness, Virginia, by Bill Ritenour. Ridgeway collection, Old Court House Civil War Museum, Winchester, Virginia.

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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