{"product_id":"original-u-s-civil-war-federal-inert-12-pdr-cannonball-for-use-with-a-bormann-timed-fuse-ground-dug-at-campbell-s-station","title":"Original U.S. Civil War Federal INERT 12 Pdr Cannonball For Use With a Bormann Timed Fuse - Ground Dug at Campbell’s Station","description":"\u003cp\u003eOriginal Item: Only One Available. This is a lovely example of a ground dug Federal 12pdr cannonball that would have been used with the Bormann time fuse during the American Civil War. This cannonball is completely inert and is without any explosive content and is in compliance under the current BATF guidelines on inert ordnance. \u003cstrong\u003eNot Available For Export.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCivil War cannonball built to fit a smooth bore cannon and with remnants of thread to insert a  ''Bormann Time Fuze''. This cannonball, a 12-pound Shrapnel Shell, had a distance of about 1,200 feet and was used by the Union army throughout the Civil War. The fuze, invented around 1852, would cause a timed burst of the lead balls after the cannon was fired, unleashing the shrapnel contained within the shell. Cannonball weighs approximately 12 pounds and has a 4.5'' diameter and 14.25'' circumference. This example was ground dug at Campbell’s Station in Farragut, Tennessee. This was what we were told, and we have no physical provenance to back this up.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Bormann fuse 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 had 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. It would burn in a uniform rate in both directions, but one end would terminate in a dead-end just beyond the 5 1\/4 second mark (Confederate copies are 5 1\/2 seconds).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe other end would continue to burn past the zero-mark, where it would travel through a channel to a small powder booster or magazine. This powder then exploded, sending the flame through a hole in the fuze underplug to the powder chamber of the projectile. The purpose of the brass or iron fuze underplug was to form a solid base of support for the soft metal fuze, which could have easily been damaged during firing.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe \u003cstrong\u003eBattle of Campbell's Station\u003c\/strong\u003e (November 16, 1863) saw Confederate forces under Lieutenant General James Longstreet attack Union troops led by Major General Ambrose Burnside at Campbell's Station (now Farragut), Knox County, Tennessee, during the Knoxville Campaign of the American Civil War. Longstreet hoped to crush the Union Army of the Ohio forces before they could retreat to Knoxville. During the fighting, the Confederates forced the Union troops to fall back from five separate positions. However, the final result was that Burnside's troops conducted a successful fighting withdrawal.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLongstreet's two infantry divisions, supported by 5,000 cavalry, were detached from General Braxton Bragg's army with the goal of defeating Burnside's forces and recapturing Knoxville. The only reasonable way to accomplish this was to overwhelm the Union troops before they could take refuge behind the defenses of Knoxville. The failure to trap Burnside at Campbell's Station meant that Longstreet was compelled to besiege Union forces within Knoxville. Ultimately, the Siege of Knoxville failed when major Union forces were sent to relieve Burnside and Longstreet was forced to retreat northeast toward Virginia.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Original Items","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42005688025157,"sku":"ONSV24DHC053","price":395.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1524\/1342\/files\/ONSV24DHC053__01.jpg?v=1726876004","url":"https:\/\/www.ima-usa.com\/products\/original-u-s-civil-war-federal-inert-12-pdr-cannonball-for-use-with-a-bormann-timed-fuse-ground-dug-at-campbell-s-station","provider":"International Military Antiques","version":"1.0","type":"link"}