Original Item: One-of-a-kind. This is a Confederate 12lb cannon ball with a Confederate 5 1/2 second Bormann fuze. We were told that this example was excavated near border of Grainger county in the state of Tennessee, in the town of Bean Station, but we have no way to verify this information. This was the location of the Battle of Bean’s Station, which took place on December 14, 1863. While it was a tactical victory for Confederate forces, it was strategically indecisive.
The ball itself measures approximately 4.5 inches in diameter with a 14 inch circumference. The numerical markings (1 to 5) on the fuze are all at least partially legible. Overall condition is very good with fantastic eye appeal!
The Bormann fuze is named after its inventor, Belgian Army Captain Charles G. Bormann. The Bormann time fuze was employed by the United Stated Ordnance Department as early as 1852. The time fuze is contained in a tin and lead disk. This disk has time markings indicated in seconds and quarter-seconds graduated up to 5 1/4 seconds. The artillerist used a metal punch to pierce the thin metal at the desired time marking. This exposed a section in the horseshoe-shaped horizontal mealed powder train, which is covered by a thin sheet of tin. When the cannon discharged, the flame from the explosion ignited this powder train. …
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