This original, Federal artillery projectile is a 2.9" Parrott shell specimen that was recovered from the David Plank Farm on Little Round Top sometime after the battle of Gettysburg. Converted and used as a farm weight, the Parrott shell features a hand-forged, wrought iron, 2½" high, angular loop that has been driven into the nose section. Used as a gate or door weight of sorts, the artifact was found, deactivated and most likely put to use at the Plank Farm. This Parrott shell, designed by Robert P. Parrott in August 1861, is a smoothside, cylindrical iron shell with an iron sabot ring and was used with the 10-pounder Parrott rifle of 2.9" caliber. Shell body measures 8.5" long, has a diameter of 2.86" and weighs almost 9 pounds. This Parrott example is in good condition and wears a rich, chocolate- brown patina over a lightly pockmarked, hard surface. This Union artillery artifact is a fine representative projectile from the heavy cannonade at Gettysburg and is identified in John Geiselman's collection by his museum listing.

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The Horse Soldier is pleased to offer a number of items from the John P. Geiselman collection, a collection that was on display for many years at the Geiselman Country Store Museum on Barlow - Two Taverns Road. Geiselman began his collecting as a child in the early 1920s, and during the pre-World II period had access to artifacts that had been purchased earlier at the estate sales of the Trostle, Rogers, Rose, Weikert, and Wentz farms - local properties that figured prominently in the battle and its aftermath. During this period he had access as well to the Hill , Plank, and Stewart collections, and was able to acquire other items that had been sold from turn-of-the-century relics establishments such as the Danner, Ziegler, and Oak Ridge Museums. Furthermore, Geiselman carefully documented most artifacts, and collectors perusing the list will be able to note, in many instances, not only the source of the relic and the date of its recovery, but also the part of the battlefield from which it came. In other words, his collection is the last major grouping of Gettysburg artifacts assembled and documented by a local resident.

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