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

Research Center: Artillery5114-Read

Rifled artillery projectile, Read design, Confederate manufacture, bursting shell, long pattern with smooth sides milled sleeve, pointed nose, thick copper ring sabot not milled and not pre-rifled, wood time fuze, Confederate 20 pounder rifle, 3.67in. Projectile was Confederate manufactured during the war. Read developed this copper sabot, it was more flexiblethan the earlier 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, a casting sprue on the nose, and the smooth sides were finished by turning on a lathe. The shell was lathe turned, a slightly deeper cut was made at the top and the bottom leaving the impression of a "sleeve" the depth and dimension will vary considerably and is likely the result of operator variation in the finishing process.Copper ring sabot is tapered at the top and seated in a deep groove well inside of the iron base, ring was cast thick, this model was not milled and not pre-rifled. 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 3.63in., length 10.25in., weight 16lbs. Research Center: Artillery5114-Read, Ref: Dickey & George, Field Artillery (1993 Edition), pg. 284. Details click: http://relicman.com/artillery/Artillery5114-Read.html.

A0088... Projectile measures: diameter 3.63in., length 10.25in., weight 16lbs. Sabot is fired and spread to a larger diameter during firing but was toothick to take the rifling. Wood time fuze is partial. Metalis solid. Projectile is disarmed, open fuze hole exposes empty interior. Recovered: Grand Gulf, Mississippi.

A2096... Projectile measures: diameter 3.63in., length 10.25in., weight 16lbs. Sabot is not fired or was too thick to take the rifling. Wood time fuze is missing. Metal is solid with areas of pitting. Projectile is disarmed,open fuze hole exposes empty interior. Recovered: Port Hudson, Louisiana.

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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