Item Number: A01065

Item Title: 12pdr spherical shell from Battle of Arkansas Post

Price: $295

Shipping: Not included

Provenance: CS

Type: Spherical shell

Size: 12pdr

Sabot:

Fuse: Bormann time fuse (missing)

Book:

Location Recovered: Arkansas Post, AR

Description:Nice condition shell with an old tag ID'ing it to the Battle of Arkansas Post:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Arkansas_Post_(1863)

Also included is a small envelope that was inside with one lead case shot.

The ball is in nice condition but missing its fuse as stated on the tag. Most of the battlefield, including Fort Hindman itself, has been underwater since the '30s so this is a hard to recover item. Veryu few artillery projectiles come from Arkansas and so they are prized beyond belief.

The Battle of Arkansas Post is an extremely under-appreciated battle. The defeat cost the Confederacy fully one-fourth of its deployed force in Arkansas, the largest surrender of Rebel troops west of the Mississippi River prior to the final capitulation of the Confederates in 1865. Union forces suffered 1,061 casualties, with 134 killed; Confederate 4,900, almost all by surrender. Although Union losses were high and the victory did not contribute to the capture of Vicksburg, it did eliminate one more impediment to Union shipping on the Mississippi. Despite the victory, Grant was furious at McClernand's diversion from his overall campaign strategy, ordered him back to the Mississippi, disbanded the Army of the Mississippi, and assumed personal command of the Vicksburg Campaign. And we all know what happened from there...