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

Research Center: Artillery5051-Read

Rifled artillery projectile, Read design, Confederate manufacture, bursting shell, short pattern with bourreleted rings, copper ring sabot cast thick and milled, copper time fuze, Confederate rifle, 3in. Projectile was Confederate manufactured during the war, employing Read's design. This pattern utilized two bourrelet rings, as a labor saving device, only the rings had to be accurately machined, the rest could be left rough. A lathe dimple in the base, and a casting sprue on the nose are usually prominent. Read developed this copperring sabot, it was more flexible than the earlier wrought iron sabot, sabot istapered at the top and seated in a deep groove well inside of the iron base,ring was cast thick, then milled to a thin edge at the bottom. Fuze employed was a Confederate copper time fuze, two spanner holes, Jones pg.41. Projectile measures: diameter 2.95in., length 7.25in. (excluding the fuze) unfired sabot, 7.0in. fired sabot, weight 7lbs. Research Center: Artillery5051-Read, Ref: Dickey & George, Field Artillery (1993 Edition), pg. 257. Details click: http://relicman.com/artillery/Artillery5051-Read.html.

A0083... Projectile measures: diameter 2.9in., length 7.25in. (excluding fuze), weight 7.5lbs. Copper sabot shows seven lands and grooves, fired from a Confederate rifle. Copper time fuze intact. Metal is solid. Projectile is disarmed by drill hole through the paper section of the time fuze. Recovered: Spotsylvania County, Virginia.

A1539... Projectile measures: diameter 2.95in., length 7.25in. (excluding the fuze) unfired sabot, 7.0in. fired sabot, weight 7lbs. Copper sabot intact, this example may not have been fired. Copper time fuze intact. Metal is solid. Projectile is disarmed by drill hole through the paper section of the time fuze. Recovered: Atlanta Georgia campaign.

A1540... Projectile measures: diameter 2.94in., length 7.0in. (excluding fuze), weight 7.6lb. Copper sabot shows seven lands and grooves, fired from a Confederate rifle. Copper time fuze intact, shows dings from impact. Metal is solid. Projectile is disarmed by drill hole through the paper section of the time fuze. Recovered: Atlanta Georgia campaign.

A2238... Projectile measures: diameter 2.95 in., length 7.25 in (excluding the fuze), weight 8 lbs. Copper sabot shows twelve lands and grooves, fired from a Confederate rifle. Copper time fuze intact. Metal is solid. Projectile is disarmed by drill hole through the paper section of the time fuze. Recovered: Richmond, Petersburg, Virginia campaign.

A2239... Projectile measures: diameter 2.95 in., length 7.25 in (excluding thefuze), weight 8 lbs. Copper sabot shows 12 lands and grooves, fired from aConfederate rifle. Copper time fuze intact. Metal is solid. Projectile is disarmed by drill hole through the paper section of the timefuze. Recovered: Richmond, Petersburg, Virginia campaign.

A2439... Projectile measures: diameter 2.95in., length 7.25in. (excluding the fuze),weight 7lbs. Copper sabot shows seven lands and grooves, firedfrom a Confederate rifle, fired sabot is intact with significant basechip but sabot was not thrown. Copper time fuze is intact. Metal is solid with light to moderatepitting. Projectile is disarmed by drill hole through the paper sectionof the time fuze. Recovered: shell was fired from Bloody Angle,Spotsylvania, Virginia, found on private property in 1977.

A2442... Projectile measures: diameter 2.95in., length 7.25in. (excluding the fuze),weight 7lbs. Copper sabot shows seven lands and grooves, firedfrom a Confederate rifle. Copper time fuze intact.Metal is solid with some pitting. Projectile is disarmed by drill hole through the paper section of the timefuze. Recovered: Virginia campaign.

A2452... Projectile measures: diameter 2.95in., length 6.75in. (excluding thefuze, fired sabot is compressed), weight 7lbs. Copper sabot shows sevenlands and grooves, fired from a Confederate rifle. Copper timefuze intact Metal is solid. Projectile is disarmed by drill holethrough the paper section of the time fuze. Recovered: Cold Harbor,Virginia.

A2480... Projectile measures: diameter 2.95in., length 7.0in. (excluding thefuze, fired sabot is compressed), weight 7lbs. Copper sabot shows sevenlands and grooves, fired from a Confederate rifle. Copper time fuzeintact. Metal is solid. Projectile is disarmed by drill holethrough the paper section of the time fuze. Recovered: North AnnaRiver, Virginia.

A2481... Projectile measures: diameter 2.95in., length 7.0in. (excluding the fuze,fired sabot is compressed), weight 7lbs. Copper sabot shows sevenlands and grooves, fired from a Confederate rifle.Copper time fuze intact. Metal is solid. Projectile isdisarmed bydrill hole through the paper section of the time fuze. Recovered: Yellow Tavern,Virginia (1864 battle Jeb Stuart was killed).

A2482... Projectile measures: diameter 2.95in., length 7.25in. (excluding thefuze, fired sabot is compressed), weight 7lbs. Copper sabot shows sevenlands and grooves, fired from a Confederate rifle. Copper time fuzeintact. Metal is solid,. Projectile is disarmed by drill holethrough the paper section of the time fuze. Recovered: RichmondPetersburg, Virginia campaign.

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.

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