Civil War Case Shot Ball?

[FrankieG.]

I found this yesterday evening at my parent's house in North Eastern Prince George County, VA. It was about 6 inches down, found using a Nautilus DMC IIB. Is this a case shot ball?

The only other Civil War item found on my parent's property was a minie ball which I found in 1993 when I was 12 years old. Every thing else I've found on the property has been 20th century garbage along with an early teens wheat cent, 1949 and 1953 wheat cents.

 

[FrankieG.]

Comparison between a lead case shot ball, and iron case shot ball.

 

[d-2]

It looks like one to me but the first 2 I found I thought were clappers out of cow bells and set 'em on a stump. Took me 3 weeks to find the stump again...d2

 

[FrankieG.]

If it is a case shot ball then that means there should be others in the immediate area, plus shell fragments. I've been using the Nautilus for almost a month, mostly on my parent's property so I tend to avoid the iron sounding targets which are numerous in the yard. This target sounded like a coin sized target which is why I dug it.

But if a case shot had burst in the area, my question is why? No battles took place here though Union soldiers were in the vicinity from 1864 to 1865. City Point is about three miles north east of the area, the Beef Steak Raid took place three miles to the south east, and Fort Powhatan is 5 miles to the south along the James River.

 

[olddigger]

It looks like a case ball. Relics can be found most anywhere in Prince George. I been hunting the Petersburg area for about 25 years. Where do you live. I live between Crater Road and Route 460 near the landfill. We were hunting in an area where there was no Civil War action and my buddy found a Virginia button about 3 weeks ago. So keep on digging.

 

[FrankieG.]

It looks like a case ball. Relics can be found most anywhere in Prince George. I been hunting the Petersburg area for about 25 years. Where do you live. I live between Crater Road and Route 460 near the landfill. We were hunting in an area where there was no Civil War action and my buddy found a Virginia button about 3 weeks ago. So keep on digging.

Hi olddigger, my parents live in the "new" Fountain Ridge off of Ruffin Rd. As for me, I'm from Richmond going to school at VCU.

I've recently picked up metal detecting again. I did it a little as a teenager using a Garrett Freedom Ace Plus. I didn't find a lot- two minie balls and a Union knapsack hook near City Point, a few wheat cents, a shoe buckle or clothing buckle in Hopewell. My father used to deliver mail in Hopewell so we hunted a few places we would get permission to search.

I'm waiting for the weather to cool- I have a handful of places to check on property owned by family friends. One place is off Nazomine Rd in Dinwiddie, another near Brandon Church in PG, an area near Merchants Hope Church, and an area in PG which had yielded Colonial era pipe fragments and pottery shards in the past.

 

[Anonymous]

Frankie, I suspect it is canister shot, although the South did use iron balls for case on occasion. Canister shot for the 3" rifled tube or 12 pounders amounted to a "beer can" full of iron shot. Very effective at moderate ranges. They will be scattered over a wide area, depending upon the range they traveled. Many times they would be fired into the ground in front of approaching Infantry or Cavalry, creating a devastating effect. Keep digging, David@Dixie

 

[olddigger]

There was Cavalry action in the Ruffin Rd area, especialy the closer you get to Sandy Ridge Rd and Route 10. Lots of relics have been found between route 10 and the river. There was also a Union Cavalry camp on Sandy Ridge Rd. Hope you luck and keep on digging. Frank

 

[GRAY GHOST]

hi frankie. it could easily be a piece of iron case shot. there may have been a camp nearby. artillery crews drilled all the time, just like the infantry did. since there was no big battle or skirmishes in your immediate area, that seems the most plausible answer.
your finding the minie balls is definite proof of activity. i think it would pay you well to search the area a little more thoroughly and start digging some of the "iffy" signals. as frank said, there were u.s.cavalry camps in the area. he knows the area well. searching farther away from the general area would probably produce some great finds. the range of civil war cannon was not that great, so i'm thinking there was an artillery position or two nearby.
if there's any high ground nearby, say within a half mile, that would be a great starting point to pinpoint the position. camps and artillery positions are well known to be on high ground near a good source of water. good luck, and let us know how you do! hh,

 

[FrankieG.]

Thanks for the great info guys.

Olddigger, you mentioned the cavalry camp on Sandy Ridge, is that to the south of Ruffin Rd or North heading toward 156? Info on exactly who and what was in the area during the Civil War seems hard to find. I suppose actually finding relics in an area is the only source of knowledge we have.

Gray Ghost, I did think of the possibility that maybe there was a small artillery range in the area. Last June I was checking my parent's back yard when I found a lead ring 3 inches in diameter. It was about 7" down and my first though is maybe it's a sabot to a shell (?). I looked around on the net and in Civil War projectiles by Mason and Mckee for lead sabot photos. Or it could be the end of a lead pipe, but it's about half and inch thick and has an irregular height of 1 to 1 1/2 inches. It has that white/tan patina you find on bullets. Right now I'm in LA, CA so when I get back I'll post some photos of it.

 

[FrankieG.]

Here's an 1863 dated map of the area plus I drew in what is now the subdivsion which was created in the early 1990's. The red dot is the area where my parents live.

The site was also occupied from the mid 20th Century through the mid 1980's and there was house on my parent's property and the neighbor to the left. So there is lots of trash in the back yard- beer cans, scrap iron, aluminum scraps, foil, you name it. I had given up on finding Civil War relics and now I just search for coins. I'm trying to find some silver and I'm sure there are a few on the property. I've been lucky with the Nautilus for the past month and was able to find 1949, 1953-D, 1960-D, 1981 Lincoln Cents, plus a 1973 quarter and an aluminum Sunoco token from 1968. I just need to find a few sliver coins. But who knows, there may be a few relics as indicated by the case shot ball. There's just so many trash targets I tend to avoid large, ferrous targets.

 

[olddigger]

Frankie, The Cavalry camp was between Ruffin Rd and 156. Haven't been there in years but I think it is closer to 156. I think there is a new subdivision there now. On the map you posted, the crossroads between your house and the Cocke house would be a great place to relic hunt. Also if you can find the site where the Cocke house was, it would be a good place. Just ask the Gray Ghost what can be found around old home sites. Keep on digging.

 

[FrankieG.]

Frankie, The Cavalry camp was between Ruffin Rd and 156. Haven't been there in years but I think it is closer to 156. I think there is a new subdivision there now. On the map you posted, the crossroads between your house and the Cocke house would be a great place to relic hunt. Also if you can find the site where the Cocke house was, it would be a good place. Just ask the Gray Ghost what can be found around old home sites. Keep on digging.

Yes I know the location of that subdivsion. My brother and I checked it out recently, no detecting, just to see how it's coming along. It' really expanded and we walked some of the freshly cleared areas. No surface finds of any kind, looks like they were leveling smalls hills and moving in fill dirt. I do know that there were Union fortifications near the area along 156, ending at Bailey's Creek on the Hopewell/ Prince George border.

About the crossroads of Sandy Ridge and Ruffin rd, that would be an interesting place to search. One corner is someone's yard, another is wooded, another has Lamas, or Alpacas fenced in, but the fourth corner is open pretty well, just need to ask the owner permission. I'm still waiting for the weather to cool.