Original Item: Only One Available. This is a lovely U.S. Civil War Confederate sold shot iron cannonball, measuring approximately 5.7" in diameter. This would indicate that it is a 24lb. size, for the Confederate 24-pounder smoothbore, 5.82-inch caliber cannon. Union forces did not use any solid shot in their 24-pounder cannons, just shells and case shot, so this must be Confederate in origin.

Like many of the civil war artifacts available today, it was dug up from a battlefield area, more than a century after the war ended. This particular example was excavated in the area of Spotsylvania County and Fredericksburg, Virginia, where the battle of Fredericksburg took place December 11–15, 1862.

The cannon ball somewhat rusted, with the usual scaling and pitting scars seen on excavated ordnance. This has resulted in it being slightly larger than spec, as the rust scaling expands in size compared to the cast iron it is made of. It's definitely a nice looking example, with a great patina!

A great piece of U.S. Civil War militaria, ready to display!

Specifications:
DIAMETER: 5.63 inches
GUN: 24-pounder smoothbore, 5.82-inch caliber
WEIGHT: 24 pounds
CONSTRUCTION: Solid shot
SABOT: Wooden cup (missing)
FUZING: None

The Battle of Fredericksburg was fought December 11–15, 1862, in and around Fredericksburg, Virginia, in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. The combat, between the Union Army of the Potomac commanded by Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside and the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia under Gen. Robert E. Lee, included futile frontal attacks by the Union Army on December 13 against entrenched Confederate defenders along the Sunken Wall on the heights behind the city. It is remembered as one of the most one-sided battles of the war, with Union casualties more than twice as heavy as those suffered by the Confederates. A visitor to the battlefield described the battle to U.S. President Abraham Lincoln as a "butchery".

Burnside's plan was to cross the Rappahannock River at Fredericksburg in mid-November and race to the Confederate capital of Richmond before Lee's army could stop him. Bureaucratic delays prevented Burnside from receiving the necessary pontoon bridges in time and Lee moved his army to block the crossings. When the Union army was finally able to build its bridges and cross under fire, direct combat within the city resulted on December 11–12. Union troops prepared to assault Confederate defensive positions south of the city and on a strongly fortified ridge just west of the city known as Marye's Heights.

On December 13, the Left Grand Division of Maj. Gen. William B. Franklin was able to pierce the first defensive line of Confederate Lt. Gen. Stonewall Jackson to the south, but was finally repulsed. Burnside ordered the Right and Center Grand Divisions of Maj. Gens. Edwin V. Sumner and Joseph Hooker to launch multiple frontal assaults against Lt. Gen. James Longstreet's position on Marye's Heights – all were repulsed with heavy losses. On December 15, Burnside withdrew his army, ending another failed Union campaign in the Eastern Theater.