Section of a Confederate Read Shell, fired at Gettysburg July 3rd (ON HOLD,M)

This is another nice piece coming out of the large Gettysburg collection I acquired.  It is a section of a Confederate 3-inch Read shell measuring 4” x 1  These shells were one of the earliest models of Virginia-made bourreleted Reads produced for CS 3” Ordnance Rifles, and the raised top band still remains on this fragment (see complete example).

At the Battle of Gettysburg, Union forces fired over 33,000 artillery rounds, while Confederate forces fired about 22,000, totaling around 55,000 artillery shells, with the vast majority concentrated in the massive bombardment before Pickett's Charge on July 3rd. This fragment is marked “Fired 7/3 / Gettysburg”, indicating it was probably fired on July 3^rd.

In my books “Civil War Artillery – A Pictorial Introduction” and “Battle of Gettysburg – The Relics, Artifacts & Souvenirs”, I show similar pieces that were recovered at Gettysburg (see pictures). It comes in the acrylic display case pictured. A Certificate of Authenticity will be provided with this relic. This is an interesting relic and would go great in any Gettysburg or Civil War collection.