Colonial Era Artillery

 

Round shot, solid shot, small shot, grape shot, swivel shot, canister shot, cannonballs and so on and so on and so on. So many names, variations and types of round projectiles used during The American Revolutionary War to inflict harm to property and person.

I'll keep the subject matter of this post limited to 18th century solid shot, swivel shot and case/grape shot. I'll post at a later time in regards to musket balls and pistol balls, as they are a whole other matter which merits discussion. Here we go with some definitions and a few examples from my personal collection.

Dating back to the 15th century, initially made of stone then cast iron, cannonballs were first utilized by the French as a means to level castle walls. By the time of the American Revolution, cast iron solid shot were in standardized sizes with their calibers based on the weight of the shot ranging from less than a pound up to fifty pounds.

Anatomy of an Iron Solid Shot Ball 

Cannon balls and the smaller varieties utilized in canister/case and grape shot are cast using two attached symmetrical molds made of sand by closing the molds together and pouring molten iron into the molds via a small hole called the filler hole. 

 

Canister, Case & Grape Shot

These are sometimes referred to as "scatter" projectiles. Case/Canister shot is simply a small metal cylinder (usually iron coated with tin) filled with the requisite number of small iron or lead balls, then sealed at he bottom with a wooded disk. Grape shot has a wooden base with iron balls stacked on the base, then encased in a fabric bag and wrapped with twine to keep it all held together. Grape shot was utilized to travel a further distance than canister/case shot.

Grape Shot & canister shot examples

Example of an iron grape shot ball. Excavated near the site of The Battle of Brandywine (September 11, 1777). Note the small casting sprue on the left.

Swivel Shot

The smallest non-canister/case or grape shot canon projectiles were "two pounders" fired from a small canon mounted on a stand or fork called a swivel gun . The stand would allow the gun to turn easily for flexibility in aiming at targets. Swivel guns were used both on land and from ships.

Here are 3 examples of ~1.5 inch iron swivel shot dug on private land near the York River close to The Battle/Siege of Yorktown (September 29 - October 19, 1781) site.

Solid Shot

Solid shot or cast iron cannonballs fired from smoothbore, muzzle-loaded guns made of bronze or cast iron, were meant to be fired at a flat angle and skip or bounce along it's path until coming into contact with enemy troops. Smaller solid shot such as the 4-pounders and below were utilized against enemy infantry, whereas larger shot such as 12 to 18-pounders were typically utilized for land to ship warfare.  

Here is a really nice example of a 4 lb. British solid shot (cannonball) with very nice surfaces, a prominent casting sprue (the lump in the middle of the lettering in the first photo), as well as a visible casting seam. This example was excavated in the 1950's at Fort Ticonderoga, NY. This item was formerly in the well known author and collector, George Neumann's collection.

Another example of a 4 lb. British solid shot (cannonball) found along the banks of the York river near the The Battle/Siege of Yorktown (September 29 - October 19, 1781) site. Possible remnants of a British broad arrow mark on the ball (where the chunk of iron is missing).

Hopefully you enjoyed the brief overview of the different types of solid shot, as well as the pics from my collection.