Civil War Cannonball Kills Relic Collector

Aol, AP ^ | May 2,2008 | STEVE SZKOTAK,

[fishhound]

CHESTER, Va. (May 2) - Like many boys in the South, Sam White got hooked on the Civil War early, digging up rusting bullets and military buttons in the battle-scarred earth of his hometown As an adult, he crisscrossed the Virginia countryside in search of wartime relics -- weapons, battle flags, even artillery shells buried in the red clay. He sometimes put on diving gear to feel for treasures hidden in the black muck of river bottoms.

But in February, White's hobby cost him his life: A cannonball he was restoring exploded, killing him in his driveway.

More than 140 years after Lee surrendered to Grant, the cannonball was still powerful enough to send a chunk of shrapnel through the front porch of a house a quarter-mile from White's home in this leafy Richmond suburb.

White's death shook the close-knit fraternity of relic collectors and raised concerns about the dangers of other Civil War munitions that lay buried beneath old battlefields. Explosives experts said the fatal blast defied extraordinary odds.

"You can't drop these things on the ground and make them go off," said retired Col. John F. Biemeck, formerly of the Army Ordnance Corps.

[sionnsar]

Trying to find a civil war history ping list do you know who might have one?

stainlessbanner might know. I have forgotten who keeps the list of ping lists...

[fishhound]

FYI
As of April 2007
UPDATED MASTER List of FReeper PING LISTS; Vol. VIII - SPRING Edition!
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1811878/posts

[sionnsar]

Thank you!

[Inyo-Mono]

Have you tried a muzzle loading shotgun? I have one and it is a hoot have took some rabbits and a wild turkey with it.

Pull the trigger and Wait for the smoke to clear to see if you got it.

Yes, I used to shoot one, but these days I reload 16 ga. shotgun shells with black powder and use them in my antique outside hammer breach loading double.

[baa39]

May this good man rest in peace. Not to disparage these collectors, I see they do a great service in making people aware of history and preserving the relics, but technically, don’t any munitions found in old battlefields rightly belong not to the collector, but to the U.S. government?

[Antoninus]

BTW, the article mentions "rusty bullets"- Not possible.

I saw that. Who knew that lead rusted in Virginia?

[fishhound]

I don’t know.

[indcons]

Thanks for posting this detailed article, fishhound.

To all: please ping me to threads that are relevant to the MilHist list (and/or) please add the keyword "MilHist" to the appropriate thread. Thanks in advance.

Please FREEPMAIL indcons if you want on or off the "Military History (MilHist)" ping list.

[Smokin' Joe]

Some of the 30-40 Krag rounds were steel jacketed with a lead core. The only rusty bullets I know of...but they were well after the War Between the States.

The Krag Rifle (scroll down to the ammo section)

[SunkenCiv]

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