ORIGINAL FULLY INTACT NON-EXCAVATED 6-POUND CANISTER ROUND

$3,100.00

Quantity Available: 1

Item Code: 1130-05

Shipping: Determined by Method & Location of buyer

To Order:
Call 717-334-0347,
Fax 717-334-5016, or E-mail

This is an original, non-excavated, complete, intact Civil War canister round for the 6-pounder gun. This was the standard field gun of U.S. forces in the Mexican War and saw use in the Civil War in Union artillery until largely replaced by the 12-pounder by 1863, but by some Confederate units until the end of the war, mostly the bronze 1835, 1838, 1839 and 1841 models with a bore size of 3.67 inches and maximum effective range a bit over 1,500 yards with solid shot.

Canister, of course, was intended for much closer work and was sometimes the last-ditch anti-personnel round for Civil War artillery. At a distance artillery crews would fire case-shot at infantry- explosive shells filled with shrapnel balls that if timed right would explode over the heads and somewhat in front of enemy infantry sending not only the shell fragments, but the balls also, down into their ranks. As distance closed to about 400 yards, the gun crews would switch to non-explosive canister like this: a tin can filled with iron balls, with iron top and bottom plates nailed to a wood sabot for attaching the propellant powder charge. Upon firing the cylinder would disintegrate with the balls effectively turning the gun into a giant shotgun.

The range would be short enough the gun could be fired point-blank, with no elevation, though a careful gunner might try for a grazing round, striking the ground about halfway to the target to ricochet up at the same angle, leaving no dead space where a ball might go over the head of an advancing infantryman. In desperate situations a crew might resort to loading one canister round on top of another to increase its lethality. The classic artillery monument at Gettysburg bears the inscription, “Double canister at ten yards,” reflecting the fighting at the height of Pickett’s Charge.

The condition is excellent. The seams are good and the tinned iron body shows as gray mixed with darker gray stains. The top plate shows thin dark and medium brown thin rust, but no holes or damage and the flanges are good. The wood sabot is very good as well, showing just light rubbing with no big chips. This round measures 3 ½ inches wide, and about 7 inches tall overall. The actual weight is about 7 pounds. This is an original, surplus Civil War round, not assembled from excavated parts (not that there is anything wrong with that since it shows the internal construction- and one of those would make a nice complement to this in a display.)

This is a very strong example of classic Civil War artillery round, frequently mentioned by veteran artillerymen as an indicator of how closely they were engaged, and by infantrymen as indication of how desperate and dangerous the fighting had become. [sr][ ph:L]

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