Civil War Artillery Parrott “Half-Shell” recovered at White Oak Swamp Battlefield (SOLD)

This is another unique piece being offered, it is a Civil War Artillery “Half-Shell”. This is a technique that has been done for many years now, it allows for viewing what exactly was inside a Civil War shell. This particular example is a 10-pounder Parrott case-shot shell. It has a wrought iron sabot and takes a time fuse adapter. The full shell was recovered from the White Oak Swamp Battlefield in Virginia.

The Battle of White Oak Swamp took place on June 30, 1862, in Henrico County, Virginia, as part of the Seven Days Battles (Peninsula Campaign). As the Union Army of the Potomac retreated southeast toward the James River, its rearguard under Maj. Gen. William B. Franklin stopped Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's divisions at the White Oak Bridge crossing, resulting in an artillery duel, while the main Battle of Glendale raged two miles farther south around Frayser's Farm.

White Oak Swamp is generally considered to be part of the larger Glendale engagement. Because of this resistance from Brig. Gen. William B. Franklin's VI Corps, Jackson was prevented from joining the consolidated assault on the Union Army at Glendale that had been ordered by General Robert E. Lee, producing an inconclusive result, but one in which the Union Army avoided destruction and was able to assume a strong defensive position at Malvern Hill.

This shell reveals the inside that everyone looks for, having the case-shot balls in the bright yellow matrix. The remnants of the paper time fuse are still present, and it must've never ignited to start – it also has the nice offset powder canister too. In my book “Civil War Artillery – A Pictorial Introduction”, I show a Hotchkiss half-shell (see pictures). This is a very nice example being offered, and one of the few that have a recovery location.