Original Items: Only One Lot Available. Excavated at the site of the Siege of Port Hudson. These are a relic artifacts from the American Civil War that include Minié ball bullets many appear to be .58 caliber and vary in condition. Most are roughly solid examples, while the others are large fragments, flattened from impact or showing other deformities.Also included are cannon or field gun projectiles, pistol caliber projectiles and other bits from various period tools or equipment.

All historical artifacts are ground dug examples and their condition reflects as such.

Siege of Port Hudson
The siege of Port Hudson, Louisiana, (May 22 – July 9, 1863) was the final engagement in the Union campaign to recapture the Mississippi River in the American Civil War.

While Union General Ulysses Grant was besieging Vicksburg upriver, General Nathaniel Banks was ordered to capture the lower Mississippi Confederate stronghold of Port Hudson, in order to go to Grant's aid. When his assault failed, Banks settled into a 48-day siege, the longest in US military history up to that point. A second attack also failed, and it was only after the fall of Vicksburg that the Confederate commander, General Franklin Gardner surrendered the port. The Union gained control of the river and navigation from the Gulf of Mexico through the Deep South and to the river's upper reaches.

The Minié ball, or Minie ball, is a type of bullet that was used extensively during the American Civil War. The muzzle-loading rifle bullet was named after its codeveloper, Claude-Étienne Minié.

Although the Minié ball was conical in shape, it was commonly referred to as a “ball,” due to the round shape of the ammunition that had been used for centuries. Made of soft lead, it was slightly smaller than the intended gun bore, making it easy to load in combat. Designed with two to four grooves and a cone-shaped cavity, it was made to expand under the pressure to increase muzzle velocity. When fired, the expanding gas deformed the bullet and engaged the barrel’s rifling, providing spin for better accuracy and longer range.

Its design dramatically increased both range and accuracy, which has long been accepted as the reason for the high number of casualties in the Civil War. Some recent historians, however, question that because accuracy also depends on the soldier who pulls the trigger, and throughout the Civil War (when target practice was minimal), the combatants tended to aim too high.