Maryland resident given a live cannonball found near Monocacy battlefield calls the bomb squad

Cannonball before its disposal (Maryland State Fire Marshal)

A live Civil War cannonball found near Maryland’s Monocacy battlefield was disposed of after a homeowner who was given the ordnance became alarmed and called authorities.

The office of the Maryland State Fire Marshal on Tuesday said it got the call a day earlier from a homeowner in Jefferson in Frederick County.

The homeowner was given the cannonball by a family member who had found it near the site of the 1864 battle. Another family member told the resident that it could be live. Bomb technicians determined the fuse was intact, removed the artifact and conducted an emergency disposal, officials said.

“As proven today, the finding of military ordnance from the Civil War is not uncommon in Maryland, and these devices pose the same threat as the day they were initially manufactured,” the office said in a Facebook post.

Oliver Alkire, senior deputy state fire marshal, told the Frederick-News Post that the homeowner’s relative was using a metal detector near Monocacy National Battlefield, which does not permit them. No charges are expected, because the cannonball was found outside the park.

The cannonball was at the home for several months, Alkire told the newspaper, which indicated the round was blown up. "It would have caused significant damage" if it went off.

“If you should uncover or are unsure if an unidentified object may be military ordnance, be safe rather than sorry. Stay away and call 911,” said State Fire Marshal Brian S. Geraci.  “Marylanders need to be mindful that military ordnance, even vintage artifacts from previous conflicts, have the potential to explode.”

The fire marshal’s office did not specify what kind of shell was found. Some on social media lamented that the shell had not been defused by authorities and saved, but others said it may have been unstable and there are plenty of safe shells housed in museums and historic sites.