Howitzers tended to be shorter barreled and shorter ranged than field guns, but were useful in firing at high trajectories with lower powder charges. This is a nice example of a canister round for 12-pound howitzer assembled from excavated elements. Needless to say, there is not much left of a canister round when fired and even intact rounds discarded for some reason don’t last long in the ground. This one was assembled to show the actual contents of one of these rounds and the iron balls and plates are original Civil War recoveries. They show pitting overall, but have been put together as they were when inside the tinned-iron casing and really show what an enemy force would be confronted with.

The balls and upper and lower plates have been coated to prevent any further rusting or deterioration. Howitzers sometimes have a greater association among collectors with Confederate than Federal artillery, but this is suitable for a display of CS or US artillery ammunition. And, as we remarked with another, similar example, having the balls exposed to view is more telling than a plain tinned-iron cylinder giving no notion of the contents.  [sr]

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