Cannon Balls

[Southern Breeze]

This was in the local paper today. I decided to post it because I'm sure there are collecters out there who have no idea Civil War era cannon balls can still explode. I've examined the ones I have and they're all solid shot.

Source- Daily Citizen News 7/25/06

Collector hurt when cannonball explodes
Kim Sloan
kimsloan@daltoncitizen.com

Lawrence Christopher, who has collected and sold Civil War artifacts for almost 25 years, was seriously injured Monday when a cannonball he was trying to defuse exploded, officials said.

Christopher was working in an outbuilding at his home at 4773 Tammy Drive in eastern Whitfield County when the explosion occurred, deputies said. He was airlifted to Erlanger Medical Center in Chattanooga where he was listed in critical condition Monday night.

Danny Higgins, who lives and works across the street, said he heard a loud explosion and saw a large piece of debris flying through the air. He ran to Christopher’s house with other neighbors.

“When I heard it, it didn’t dawn on me what had happened because we hear noise like that all the time around here,” Higgins said. “Everyone was trying to help him but you really couldn’t do nothing.”

Lt. Nancy Chadwick with the sheriff’s office said Christopher, known in some circles as the “Godfather of relics,” was drilling a hole in the cannonball to remove the gunpowder when the accident occurred.

Other explosive material was found at the home and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s bomb squad was called in Monday evening to determine if it should be removed or detonated.

Local Civil War historian Marvin Sowder said even though some cannonballs and other projectiles may be close to 150 years old, they can still be as unstable as the day they were made. He said he was not familiar with the process used to defuse a cannonball.

“I always thought they did it remotely,” Sowder said. “I wouldn’t want to be too close to one.”

Sowder said Christopher is very knowledgeable about Civil War artifacts and artillery. Christopher has a Web site where he lists artifacts for sale, www.cw1861.com. Known as “Lawrence of Dalton,” he is referred to on another dealer’s site as “the Godfather of relics.”

“I was just out there two weeks ago and he had got in some really, really big cannonballs about a foot in diameter,” Sowder said. “That’s his livelihood.”

Christopher has contributed several items to the Tunnel Hill Heritage Center, a museum that displays Civil War and railroad memorabilia. Recently, Christopher donated an old railroad emergency kit, Sowder said.

“He’s just a real good guy,” Sowder said.

[macwilkin]

I remember reading one time of two soldiers killed at a military base in the South during the First World War when the CW-era case shot they used as andirons in the fireplace exploded.

Of course, this is an almost regular occurance in Europe, with all of the unexploded ordinance lying around from the World Wars.

T.

[MacWage]

I remember that being especially bad in Berlin, based on the sheer volume dropped during WW2.

In the US, we are extra neglectful, because we are so unaware and unused to unexploded ordinance. Most here in the south would just see a Civil War or Revolutionary war/American War as just a round rock on the ground and wack it with a shovel or pick to dislodge and move it. They would NEVER expect that it might blow up. Most forget that there was ever any wars fought around here (though several armies marched right by where I live now or used to live. Just within a mile of me was the road between the fort at Ninty Six, South Carolina and Charlotte/King's Mountain. One of the local claims to fame is the turning back of Ferguson's reinforcements that should have helped him at King's Mountain. I've heard it claimed that it was his delay waiting for these very troops that led him to delay on King's Mountain and get trapped there. The Revolution is not one of my best areas of knowledge (the State of Georgia largely ignors the whole war part, because they surrendered so quickly), so someone may want to correct me if I'm wrong on Ferguson.

I'll pray for that man and his friends and family.