Posted 7 years ago
hotairfan
(388 items)
A friend of mine had the hobby of treasure hunting with a metal detector. He and his wife spent their vacations and weekends going to sites that had a historical significance , and searching for relics with his metal collector.
After his wife passed away last year, he lost interest in his hobby and decided to part with some of his relics. He wanted me to have this shell fragment from the civil war battle in Gettysburg, PA.
In 1968, when this fragment was found, you could search the privately owned properties around the Gettysburg battlefield, as long as you had permission from the owner to do so.
Today, you cannot look for Gettysburg battle relics within 25 miles of the battlefield.
On the property called " Spangler's Woods " he dug up this part of an exploding shell, fired at the Confederate troops.
Spangler woods was along Seminary Ridge where the Confederate troops engaged the Union troops on Cemetery Ridge.
This is the location that Confederate General Picket made his famous charge that decided the Battle of Gettysburg.
My friend marked this shell fragment "CSA Gettysburg" because it was found in the Confederate lines. I believe it came from Cemetery Ridge, fired by the Union Artillery.
In looking in my books on Civil War Artillery, It looks like it came from a Parrot Gun. You can see the threaded remnents, where the fuse was screwed into the tip of the shell.
Not knowing enough, I can't tell if it was a timed fuse or an impact concussion fuse.
Probably a percussion fuse as the threads seem too deep for a Bormann fuse. Can you estimate the orig. diameter of the shell ?
I don't have enough material to be sure of the diameter bb2. I estimate the diameter to be 2 - 3/4 to 3 in.
It would be 3" probably. Parrot or Ordnance Rifle. All my books on C.W. artillery & projectiles are in SXM and probably won't see them for another 2-3 months.
Thanks bb2.... I know that you are much more knowledgeable on these matters. I can only take a wild stab at identifying it. It also has some features of a hoskiss projectile ... not much left for a good ID.