Original U.S. Civil War Confederate States Bormann "Replacement" Fused Iron Side Loader 12lb Cannon Ball

Original Item: One-of-a-kind. This smoothbore projectile has a Bormann replacement fuze plug and an iron side-loader plug. The Confederates discontinued the use of the Bormann fuze by 1863 and replaced it with an oversized copper fuze plug which screwed into the existing underplug threads. In an attempt to conserve lead, iron was used in the manufacture of the side-loading plug. The Bormann replacement fuze plug is also found in a 6-pounder (3.67-inch caliber) and 24-pounder (5.82-inch caliber). This example has a note that likely originally mentioned where the cannonball was found, but it has since become too worn and dirty to read.

SPECIFICATIONS:
DIAMETER: 4.50 inches
GUN: 12-pounder smoothbore, 4.62-inch caliber
WEIGHT: 9 pounds 10 ounces (approximate)
CONSTRUCTION: Case shot
SABOT: Wooden sabot (missing)
FUZING: Copper Bormann replacement fuze plug, paper time fuze

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. 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). The other end would continue to burn past the zero-mark, where it would travel through a channel (1) 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.

Aside from the expected oxidation and pitting, this is a very nice example. Comes ready for further research and display.