A hurricane unearthed cannonballs on Florida Panhandle beach. It looks like Confederates had stacked them, on what was then dry land

Shells were neatly stacked and have D-shaped tong holes (Gulf Islands National Seashore)

Federal archaeologists have found more evidence that scores of eroding cannonballs found in 2021 along a beach in the Florida Panhandle were Confederate, officials said.

The Picket recently asked Gulf Islands National Seashore for an update on the shells, which were in vicinity of the Civil War’s Fort McRee. The fort had 12 casemates and an associated water battery, which may be underwater today.

“The (mortar) rounds appeared to have been stacked and had corroded into a single mass at the time of their discovery,” said Mike Lockman, cultural resource program manager and archaeologist at the park, in an email. “The shells exhibited D-shaped tong holes on either side of the fuse plug, indicating that they were likely Confederate rounds (as Union mortar shells usually lacked this feature, per Bartleson 1972).”

The fuse specimens were wooden plugs with timed paper fuses. Also present were wood fragments with curved indentions that were most likely sabots, Lockman said.

When news of the August 2021 find came out, the park said 194 rounds were located. The more recent details list 53 8-inch mortars -- which were destroyed on site by experts from the Air Force’s Hurlburt Field -- because they were intact and observed to have fuses, Lockman said. (At right, shells lined up for demolition)

The Picket could not determine whether the 53 are a subset of the larger number.

Two months after the discovery, archaeologists from the National Park Service’s Southeast Archeological Service returned to Perdido Key to learn more about the artillery rounds, Lockman said. The Picket reached out to that Tallahassee-based office for comment, but has received no reply.

The exposed ordnance was discovered by Gulf Islands National Seashore staff after Category 4 Hurricane Ida pushed through in late August 2021. The artifacts were found in clusters and the area was closed for a time as a precaution.

Soldiers at Fort McRee, year unknown (Gulf Islands National Seashore)

It’s likely the cannonballs are associated with Fort McRee, which was built on a narrow barrier island separating Pensacola Bay and the Gulf of Mexico.

In November 1861, the garrison engaged in gunfire with nearby Union-held Fort Pickens and a couple warships -- and came up on the losing end. The heavily damaged brick fort, built on sand, was abandoned by May 1862, only to fall into further ruin over the years. (Fort Pickens was one of only four Southern forts to remain in Union control throughout the war.)

In 2022, the park said some of the cannonballs utilized Hotchkiss timed fuses. “Due to the threat to life and health associated with live munitions, the cannonballs had to be destroyed before much specific information could be recorded,” said public information officer Susan Teel.

(Gulf Islands National Seashore)

Asked whether the cannonballs were discarded by the garrison or had been stored there for possible future use, Teel said last year: “Without the ability to safely complete excavations, the purpose behind the location is not known at this time. The density and location within the vicinity of the fort is a factor which was considered during our analysis.”

It's possible that Federal occupiers of the abandoned fort stacked the Rebel shells and left them at some point. The ordnance each weighed between 25 and 35 pounds and are believed to be of the same type, officials have said.

Erosion regularly occurs on these barrier islands and park officials say the ordnance was likely placed in a spot that was inland at the time.

1928 view of battery on island. Fort McRee was built close by. (National Archives)

Park Superintendent Darrell Echols told WEAR-TV that the artifacts appeared to have been stockpiled and did not appear to have been fired upon the island. After the Picket posted its first article about the find on social media, readers commented they believe the ordnance was made for a 32-pounder cannon.

Inaccessible by road, McRee’s main visitors are sea birds, boaters and beachgoers who come to Gulf Islands National Seashore. The park is home to McRee, Pickens and Fort Barrancas, another Civil War outpost.

Lockman said it’s possible the artillery shells will be further investigated.

Hurricane Ida left a calling card at Pensacola Bay in Florida. 194 cannonballs were uncovered along beach near Civil War Fort McRee

Shells were found Sept. 3-5 and 21-23 (Gulf Islands National Seashore)

Fort McRee did not resemble most other coastal fortifications erected in the U.S. after the War of 1812. The fort was shaped somewhat like a wing or boomerang so that it could be squeezed onto a narrow barrier island separating Florida’s Pensacola Bay and the Gulf of Mexico.

McRee’s brief moment of fame – until last month – came in November 1861, when it was in Confederate hands during the Civil War. The garrison engaged in gunfire with nearby Union-held Fort Pickens and a couple warships -- and came up on the losing end. The heavily damaged brick fort, built on sand, was abandoned, only to fall into further ruin over the years.

Inaccessible by road, McRee’s main visitors are sea birds, boaters and beachgoers who come to Gulf Islands National Seashore. The park is home to McRee, Pickens and Fort Barrancas, another Civil War outpost.

Soldiers at Fort McRee, year unknown (Gulf Islands National Seashore)

Category 4 Hurricane Ida -- bringing heavy rain and wind -- paid its own visit in late August, and its impact left quite a surprise: Days later and over three weeks, park staff discovered 194 Civil War-era cannonballs, deposited in a couple clusters along the beach.

The shells weighed between 25 and 35 pounds and are believed to be of the same type, park public information officer Susan Teel told the Civil War Picket in an email. “They are hollow, potentially black powder filled cannonballs considered discarded military munitions.”

Experts from the Air Force’s Hurlburt Field (below) detonated the artillery shells on site, officials said.

“What’s unclear is whether they are Union or Confederate, whether they were associated with Fort McRee or another type of facility,” GUIS Superintendent Darrell Echols told TV station WKRG.

It appears the cannonballs had been discarded or buried; that may be determined in coming weeks during a cultural resource survey of the find. 

Erosion regularly occurs on these barrier islands and park officials say the ordnance was likely placed in a spot that was inland at the time. Echols told WEAR-TV the artifacts do not appear to have been fired upon the island.

The park has closed a portion of the beach on the Perdido Key Area’s southeastern end, at the Fort McRee site, and is monitoring it should more ordnance appear.

“Our goal is to ensure that the area is safe for the public and staff and that cultural resources are protected,” Teel said late last week. “In an abundance of caution, the park has closed the area surrounding where the cannonballs were located. This closure is signed and visitors walking or boating in this area are prohibited from entering. Staff will be monitoring and patrolling the area regularly.”

A park news release says it is illegal for the public to handle, deface or remove such artifacts.

Cannonballs likely were further inland during the Civil War (GUIS)

This is not the first time a storm uncovered Civil War munitions. For example, 2019’s Hurricane Dorian revealed two cannonballs on South Carolina’s Folly Beach.

In almost all cases, military or local emergency services employees destroy discovered ordnance because of the potential for them to explode. On some occasions, they are defused or found not to still contain harmful material.

Asked whether a discussion was held on whether the rounds could be saved, Teel wrote: “As a federal agency, we have arrangements with the military to detonate munitions or unexploded ordinance found in the park. Munitions have been found in national parks across the USA and the military has assisted the National Park Service to successfully mitigate the danger these munitions may pose to the public and staff.”

Teel said if someone comes across munitions, they should not disturb the items. They should leave the area and contact local emergency services, she said.

A Virginia relic collector died in 2008 when a cannonball he was restoring exploded.

(Wikipedia Commons)

McRee had 12 casemates and an associated water battery, which may be underwater today. Virtually nothing remains today, with the exception of part of the fort's foundation. (After the Picket posted this article on social media, a few readers commented they believe the ordnance was made for a 32-pounder cannon.)

A GUIS web page details its history and service. The federal government built the fort in the 1830s at part of defenses of Pensacola Bay and a naval yard. Interestingly, Fort Pickens was one of the few forts in the South that remained in Union hands throughout the Civil War.

McRee was seized by state militia in early 1861 and guns were mounted by Confederate troops. On Nov. 22, 1861, Pickens opened fire on shore batteries, the navy yard and McRee and Barrancas.

“Under heavy artillery fire, Fort McRee was exposed to severe bombardment at its front, flank, and rear,” the park service says. “Two Union warships, U.S.S. Niagara and U.S.S. Richmond joined the bombardment of Fort McRee. This massive artillery exchange shook houses ten miles away and concussion-stunned fish which floated to the surface of the bay.” Confederate guns were able to damage one of the Federal warships.

But damage to the fort and its vulnerability put it out of action for the next day.

Rebel forces abandoned the outpost by March 1862.

“The once imposing fortification had been reduced to a burned-out and fragmented brick shell. Essentially abandoned after the Civil War, the toll of warfare and of the elements continued to take Fort McRee into further ruin,” according to the website. “By the early 1900s, what little was left of this once imposing defensive structure was rapidly crumbling. Today, nothing visible remains of this Third System fortification, although later coastal defense structures built in the area are commonly referred to as old Fort McRee.”

A battery was built near the old fort about the time of the Spanish-American War and it had guns during World War II. It was deactivated shortly after the war ended.

Aerial view of a battery on island in 1928 (National Archives

The region during the Civil War (Wikipedia Commons)