Relic consists of most of the base cup of a 3.00 inch Hotchkiss shell. Faintly visible on the bottom is the engraved patent information “HOTCHKISS PAT. OCT. 9, 1855.”

Shell surface is very clean. Underside has a small museum number in black ink on a white background. The exterior face has a small, old paper label that reads “.02.”

With the item is the old paper label that was displayed with the relic in the museum. It reads “PIECE OF SHELL FROM BATTLE OF BULL RUN.” Label meas. approx. 3.75 x 2.75 inches and is in excellent condition.

The origins of the Civil War Library and Museum date back to 1865 just after the Civil War ended when veteran officers of the United States Army, Navy, and Marine Corps gathered in Philadelphia to form the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States ("MOLLUS") as the first chartered Civil War institution in America.

In 1888, the organization incorporated as the War Library and Museum to preserve its members’ military and personal items in perpetuity.

Over the course of time, The Civil War Library & Museum was renamed twice including as the Civil War and Underground Railroad Museum of Philadelphia and most recently as the Civil War Museum of Philadelphia. On August 2, 2008, the Civil War and Underground Railroad Museum of Philadelphia permanently closed its Museum at 1805 Pine Street in anticipation of moving to The First Bank of the United States building on 3rd Street between Chestnut and Walnut Streets. That move never took place and ultimately the Civil War Museum's vast collection was entrusted to the stewardship of the Gettysburg Foundation and the National Constitution Center.

The Civil War Museum of Philadelphia, owned what many believed to be the largest inventory of Union Army materials outside of government stewardship. The Civil War Museum had a priceless collection of treasures that included 7,000 original photographs, a library of approximately 13,000 volumes, and over 2,900 artifacts that included firearms, edged weapons, uniforms, paintings, accouterments, flags, and other artifacts related to the "War of the Rebellion."

The Civil War Museum of Philadelphia served as the oldest chartered Civil War institution in the country, and its Museum on Pine Street previously offered three floors of exhibits from 1922-2008.  [ad]

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