Confederate Virginia style Read Shell with bullet holes, dug at Winchester

This is another interesting piece being offered, it is a Virginia style, Civil War Confederate Artillery Read shell – they are called Virginia because most recoveries are in Virginia. This is a percussion shell and was fired from either an Ordnance Rifle or a Parrott Gun. The cylindrical shell would have taken a copper fuse adapter but was probably blown out when fired.

The iron body would have had a copper sabot, which was blown off when fired; there is a bourrelet band near the top portion. The protruding piece of iron on top is known as a “Lathe Dog”. This small spur was used to turn the shell in the lathe during manufacturing for the final finishing of the iron. It was recovered years ago from the Winchester Virginia battlefield.

As you can see, this shell has two very pronounced bullet holes in it. The original digger owned numerous acres in Winchester, and most of the property experienced a great deal of fighting. Among the relics he found were many artillery shells, in fact he was known for using some for target practice. This is one of them and has two holes from his high-powered rifle. This shell was a “ground-burst”, you can see a chunk missing at the base and a crack. It will stand upright, but barely, I put a small block to keep it steady, or could just be displayed laying on its side.

It has been cleaned and deactivated. In my book “Civil War Artillery – A Pictorial Introduction”, I discuss and show examples of this shell (see pictures). This original Confederate shell with the bullet holes makes a great conversation piece – you pretty much know that you have the only one like it.