Original Item: Only One Available. Very well done cutaway display made from a cannonball recovered from Glen Burnie, Maryland. This is a U.S. Shell used with the twelve pound Napoleon Artillery Piece. The shell is fitted with a Wright Fuze, which is still present.The Sectioned Shell comes with a display base with a tag indicating it was recovered from Glen Burnie, Maryland.

This shell originally would have been filled with case shot and black powder. The use of the Wright Fuse is interesting, as it was used very late during the Civil War, and very few are found during excavations.  The Wright fuse was an improvement over the widely used Bormann fuse. This new design operated very much like the Bormann but included longer burning times with an additional safety feature. This fuse could burn up to 12 seconds (the Bormann could only burn up to 5 seconds) and the threaded iron center plug allowed access to load or unload the powder charge without disturbing the fuse. This safety feature was included following an accident at the Washington Arsenal which cost several lives and did considerable property damage. A workman was trying to remove a Bormann fuse from a loaded shell by the violent use of a cold chisel and hammer.

In operation, the gunner simply punched a hole in the outer band of the fuse at the appropriate time mark.

This item was excavated so the iron surface is pitted. Lead/zinc fuse band shows ground action on exterior, so no numbers remain visible. However, the embedded powder train within the band remains evident in the cross-section. The hole that lead to the inner charge from the fuse is also visible on this specimen

This shell is a rare find and will be an excellent display piece or educational tool, as well as an excellent addition to any excavated Civil War artillery or general relic collection.