Civil War 12-pounder Cannon ball (SOLD)

This is another nice piece being offered, it is a Civil War 12-pounder cannon ball. This is the most common solid shot projectile of any caliber used during the Civil War by both the Federal and Confederate forces. The ball would be secured to a wooden cup sabot by two crossed iron straps nailed to the wooden cup (see example). The cartridge bag or powder bag was tied to the groove cut into the base of the sabot. After attachment of the powder charge, the round was referred to as fixed ammunition. The 12-pounder Napoleon smoothbore cannon (see pictures) firing a 12-pound solid shot with 2.5 pounds of service charge at five degrees elevation had a range of 1,680 yards.

The ball is in excellent condition with no real chipping or flaking – typical of early recoveries from Civil War battlefields. I go into more detail about these type of artillery rounds in my book “Civil War Artillery – A Pictorial Introduction”.