Canister Shot - Artillery's deadliest Ammunition

Today I have an interested post for any civil war enthusiast out there. Yesterday I received a ball (which is just 1 piece) that came out of a Canister Shot that was fired out of a 12 pound Napoleon field artilley cannon.

from left: .44 cal revolver bullet, .58 caliber minie ball, 1-3/8 canister shot ball

Field artillery in the American Civil War refers to the important artillery weapons, equipment, and practices used by the Artillery branch to support the infantry and cavalry forces in the field. It does not include siege artillery, use of artillery in fixed fortifications, or coastal or naval artillery. Nor does it include smaller, specialized artillery termed as infantry guns. (Info from Wikipedia)

dug artifact

Canister Shot

Canister shot was the deadliest type of ammunition, consisting of a thin metal container loaded with layers of lead or iron balls packed in sawdust. Upon exiting the muzzle, the container disintegrated, and the balls fanned out as the equivalent of a shotgun blast. The effective range of canister was only 400 yards (370 m), but within that range dozens of enemy infantrymen could be mowed down. Even more devastating was "double canister", generally used only in dire circumstances at extremely close range, where two containers of balls were fired simultaneously.

Now I need to mention that this 1 ball I received was fired in a reenactment so it is not authentic but a reproduction. I was also fortunate to get pictures of the cannon and crew that fired this particular shell

you can see from this picture he is holding a canister shot shell

sighting in and preparing to shoot

12 pound Napoleon in action

This 1 ball from a canister shot shell (even though it's a repro) is still a fine piece to add to my collection.