REVOLUTIONARY WAR / WAR OF 1812 IRON BAR SHOT (c. 1775-1815)

REVOLUTIONARY WAR / WAR OF 1812 IRON BAR SHOT (c. 1775-1815)

Hover to zoom

Image 1 Image 2 Image 3 Image 4

$1,850.00

Quantity Available: 1

Item Code: 1298-20

Shipping: Determined by Method & Location of buyer

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

Iron bar shot of the classic two-headed ("dumbbell") form: a pair of solid cast-iron spheres joined by a heavy central bar.

USE: Bar shot was first and foremost an anti-rigging round. In a naval action the object was less to sink an opponent than to cripple her — a ship stripped of her spars and rigging could no longer maneuver and could then be raked, run down, or boarded. Because the iron mass sits at both ends of a bar, the projectile tumbled end over end in flight, sweeping a far wider path than a single round ball and catching shrouds, stays, and yards, shearing lines and splintering spars where a solid ball might pass cleanly through. That same tumbling bled velocity and accuracy quickly, making it a close-action round fired at short range; against a crowded deck it doubled as a punishing anti-personnel charge. It was loaded into a smoothbore gun over a powder charge and wad much like round shot. It is distinguished from chain shot, in which the two balls are linked by chain, and from sliding (expanding) bar shot, in which the connecting bar telescopes to be rammed home compact and then opens out in flight.

MEASUREMENTS: 10 in. overall length; each sphere 2.75 in. in diameter.  Weight 5 lb. 10 oz.

CONDITION: Heavily oxidized throughout with a dark, encrusted iron surface, scattered pitting, and age cracking/delamination along the bar and at the lower sphere — all consistent with a long-recovered iron projectile. Solid and stable; displays well.

PROVENANCE: Recovered from a Champlain Valley campsite. The Lake Champlain corridor was a contested naval and amphibious highway through both the Revolution — Arnold's fleet at Valcour Island in 1776 — and the War of 1812, culminating in Macdonough's victory off Plattsburgh in 1814, a setting wholly consistent with a recovered example of this form.

REFERENCE: See Neumann & Kravic, Collector's Illustrated Encyclopedia of the American Revolution, fig. 20.  [ss][ph:L]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

THIS ITEM, AS WITH ALL OTHER ITEMS AVAILABLE ON OUR WEB SITE,

MAY BE PURCHASED THROUGH OUR LAYAWAY PROGRAM.

CLICK HERE FOR OUR POLICIES AND TERMS.

THANK YOU!

Inquire »

Inquire About REVOLUTIONARY WAR / WAR OF 1812 IRON BAR SHOT (c. 1775-1815)

should be empty

featured item

FINE ITALIAN SNAPHAUNCE BELT PISTOL CA. 1675

The snaphaunce is one of the earlier forms of flint and steel ignition and was introduced in the mid-16th century. It remained in use in Northern Italy into the mid-18th century giving it a particularly long period of use. Ornate pistols such as… (2026-657). Learn More »

Upcoming Events

27
Jun

June 27 - 28: 53rd Annual Gettysburg Civil War Collector's Show Learn More »

Instagram