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| Bomb squad members gingerly removed this round from the battlefield (NPS photos) |
National Park
Service archaeologists at the Civil War site northwest of Atlanta, meeting
the requirements that they record historic resources or properties during a project, got a reading from something nearly a foot below the surface.
Chief Ranger
Anthony P. Winegar dug and found an intact artillery shell, believed to be a
Parrott round, and within minutes called in the bomb squad from the Cobb County
Police Department. Technicians carefully finished digging out the shell and
took it away.
“This was found behind the Confederate line in the northern part of the
park,” Winegar told the Picket in an email Tuesday. “Without further evidence I
am hesitant to interpret the location, orientation, or status of the munition.
What is known is that it was likely percussion fused and still intact.”
Artillery played a major role in the fighting, according to the NPS. Sherman, eliminating the element of surprise, launched a barrage from below the mountain on June 27 before the assault.
It had little effect on the
Confederates above, who effectively used their guns to halt the subsequent Union attack.
Among the guns used at Kennesaw Mountain was the 10-pounder Parrott rifle, which had a range of nearly two miles (updated).
When asked how the round came to be in the location, Winegar
said: “I can only say that orientation of the artifact in situ would
indicate that it came from the Confederate line towards the Union line. Based
on the depth it is possible that it was fired and impacted, likely short of its
intended target, and did not detonate. That, however, is speculation.”
The Southeast Archeological Center of the National Park Service said it was conducting the survey for a new hiking trail with the help of four volunteers.
“There is an old ‘truism’ in archeology – the most exciting find is almost always on the last day,” the center said in a Thursday Facebook post. “And this project was no exception. On the last day the team found an intact 10 lb. Parrott shell! This shell had a percussion fuse that did not ignite when it hit the ground.”
Winegar says it is unusual to find unexploded ordnance (UXO) on the battlefield.
The ranger
said the artillery round found Feb. 24 will be “disrupted” – meaning it will be hit with a charge to render it safe. The park will
take custody of the remaining pieces.
“This is common practice involving potentially unstable
unexploded ordinance (UXO) that is not a rare item. Rarer pieces may
be treated differently so that the intact piece is not lost. This does not
appear to be a rare item.”
Cobb County police spokesperson Officer Shenise Barner said the ordnance was collected by the bomb squad for safe keeping.
Some on the Join Cobb Police Facebook page, which first posted news of the find, questioned why it is necessary to destroy or damage the item. "Absolute travesty to destroy this historical object. These are easy to make inert," wrote one person.
The page responded to such criticism: "The bomb squad stated that they would love nothing more than to preserve this piece of history, however there is no way to safely render it without counter charging it. They try to use the smallest charge appropriate. This charge is very small and will perforate the case. Unfortunately, even small amount of live explosives can set the whole shell off."
Winegar reminds people that metal detectors and the hunting of
artifacts are forbidden on federal land, including Kennesaw Mountain.
“My advice to the public is to
treat all UXO as potentially deadly. In short, leave it alone and ask for
experts to get involved quickly and early.”
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| Parrott guns were a mainstay in the war. Here, one at Gettysburg (Wikipedia) |
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| Another look at the shell found at Kennesaw Mountain (NPS) |
The 10 pound Parrott rifle had a maximum range of 2,00 yards. Well short of the 3 miles claimed in this article.
ReplyDeleteDeacon, for your consideration.
ReplyDeleteThere are many published period tables for range of ordinance. My favorite for the 10lb Parrott is a claim of over 7000 yards maximum range at 35 degrees elevation. Given that the purpose for the Parrott models was fast cheap production, there were modifications after initial testing in the format of a wrought steel sleeve over the breech to alleviate bursting at the point of highest pressure after ignition, the breach.
Given those early failures, and noted comments that excessive pressure moved the point of failure past the band, the standard charge was set at one pound to alleviate the problem. Not sure who was volunteering to fire test rounds at 35 degrees, as overcoming the increased resistance of gravity at that angle would have raised pressures considerably.
When I first came across that table, private Augustas Buell's letter home came to mind. The gist of the letter is summed up by the comment, there is no greater justification to desert than being assigned to a Parrott battery. Most Parrott batteries were effective after overcoming the initial design problems.
The majority of period testing reflected by published range tables are in the 5000+ yard range, a little over 3 miles. Effective range is another matter. Online access to period artillery manuals cover theory of firing. Of particular note, some period infantry manuals do not cover theory of fire as they reference the excellent resource available in the artilly manual. I am partial to the Hunt, French and Barry manual. Other serious students and hobbiests prefer Patton's, which has line drawings to illustrate the actions of school of the piece.
As to the comment in the article, these are easy to make inert, there are enough failures by people like that, that the default action is to damage or destroy. A well known hobbiest with around a 1000 rounds rendered inert did one too many as he was killed. It is possible to make them inert, not easy.
History is personal, we all own pieces of it. That is why we feel so strongly about it. Best wishes for all as you travel the pages and trails of history.