cannonballs....

[M ELEY]

Will M, I remember that great 'broad arrow' marked piece! I'm envious!
Rick, that is a great shell cannonball! It would be heavier if it were full of powder and small shot! I'm no expert on these and as these types have been around as early as the mid-17th up to the mid-19th and used throughout Europe and here in the U.S, someone more knowledgeable than me would have to wager an educated guess.

cel7, sorry for the bad news-

[Jim McDougall]

I haven't entered on this as I know little on ordnance and shot, but pretty fascinating discussion. I would have thought as Cel had suggested originally these might be weights for line etc.

Good notes on the nature of mill balls, and it seems there are likely a number of uses for these kinds of iron balls.

Amazing images of that cannon ball from French fort in Canada with the British broad arrow! I like the display with the vintage book in context!

Years ago I had an old cannon ball from War of 1812 I got in New Orleans. It was a smaller one but recall the puzzled reaction by security at the airport.
It sat on my desk for many years, until one day it literally disintegrated, rust corrosion from within.

[adrian]

Here's my entrant in the cannon ball division.
Roughly 5" in diameter, hollow, weighs about 8 pounds......Opinions?

It is most likely a Common Shell, however without knowing what country you acquired it in and without an accurate diameter dimension one can say little more.

[Rick]

I have a friend here in Massachusetts who has been a 'Yankee Horse Trader', restauranteur and collector of old stuff most of his life; we swap stuff often.
He was departing for Florida for the winter and told me to choose one from a pile he had in his backyard.
So I did.

Some were solid and some were like the example shown in my post. I also acquired a full-length Virginia Armory type 2 hussar's saber from him which is a pretty rare American sword.

[Jim McDougall]

Originally Posted by Rick

I have a friend here in Massachusetts who has been a 'Yankee Horse Trader', restauranteur and collector of old stuff most of his life; we swap stuff often.
He was departing for Florida for the winter and told me to choose one from a pile he had in his backyard.
So I did.

Some were solid and some were like the example shown in my post. I also acquired a full-length Virginia Armory type 2 hussar's saber from him which is a pretty rare American sword.

Auughhh!! Rick! I remember that Virginia Manufactory type 2!!!
AMAZING! and yeah, rare to say the least!
You should start a thread on that,

[Rick]

Originally Posted by Jim McDougall

Good notes on the nature of mill balls, and it seems there are likely a number of uses for these kinds of iron balls.

I seem to remember seeing 20 years ago a couple of these mill balls for auction on eBay purported to be wootz cakes.

[Jim McDougall]

Originally Posted by Rick

I seem to remember seeing 20 years ago a couple of these mill balls for auction on eBay purported to be wootz cakes.

The wootz cake mysteries, really brings back the old days

[M ELEY]

Here's a few from my collection. The large one is a 6 -pounder reportedly from the Charleston, SC area circa 1770's. The 6 pounders were used by both the Continentals and the Red Coats.

Also in the picture is my chainshot piece, which I had suggested these types posted by Cel7 might still be some sort of unusual shot. I have seen balls with the chain all the way through the ball and bolted to the other end. Likewise, there were early spike shot from the Elizabethan period with a round ball and spikes projecting through it front and back that combustable material could be wrapped around and set alight. This is just guesswork without provenance for any of the auction items presented by Cel7.

And, of course, I have two round stone balls presented to me as 'stone cannon balls' in this pic. Cannonballs made of stone did exist from around 1400 up to the English Civil War (mid-17th). They came in a variety of sizes much like cannon and musket shot of the same period. Stone balls were particularly effective on ships, as they could easily punch a hole through a rival vessel's hull, immediately shattering into a lagrage of deadly projectiles. Cheaper to use than iron at the time (and not requiring a forge to make!), they were time-consuming to create and became obsolete as ships' hulls became thicker into the late 17th c. Many stone balls are listed as 'cannonballs', but turn out to be decorative garden balls or Native American gaming balls, etc. (To dispel one rumor, there were never perfectly round 'mill balls' used to imitate these. Iron mill balls, on the other hand, do mimic real cannon balls). So...I'm not sure if I have the real deal or not. My two are hand-carved and very old. They do very much resemble specimens found off of County Antrim, Ireland, where the Spanish Armada broke up.

[M ELEY]

Here's an early grenado, perhaps, 1600's. It is roughly the size of a plum. Gilkerson, in Boarders Away II, says that these came in two sizes. Mine appears to be an 'Army' type, whereas naval grenados were larger, perhaps the size of a large orange. I know there are other shells with powder that were used like hand grenades, but the standard pattern 'easy to throw' types are the previously mentioned sizes. Mine has the distinction of still being filled to the rim with old congealed powder and shot (you can look down the hole and see it). As black powder can last for centuries, I keep this item in this highly protective plastic casing to shelter me if it explodes ()! Actually, it is just to keep it dry. It is stored in a shadowy corner of my cabinet and I've used melted candle wax to 'seal it' as I have every belief that it is still techniquely explosive. But I won't go throwing it in any campfires any time soon!

[M ELEY]

Here we have a 2 pounder cannonball, reportedly dug locally at the Yadkin River (near my home) where a skirmish during the Revolutionary War took place at the Battle of the Shallow Ford. The Americans liked these smaller ordenance as they could be fired from small cannons called 'grasshoppers' (as they jumped off the grass with firing!) that could be pulled behind a single draft horse to position it. Incidentally, 2 pounders were also used in swival guns placed on gunwales to rake enemy boats approaching and on wall swivels on forts. The Lewis and Clark expedition had a small swivel gun mounted on their front batteau as they made their way on their historic voyage.