Civil War Cannonball recovered on Hagerstown Pike, Antietam Battlefield

Being offered is a 6-pounder solid-shot cannonball. It has a 3 ½” diameter and weighs 5-pounds, 12-ounces. It was recovered many years ago along the Hagerstown Pike of the Antietam Battlefield.

The Hagerstown Pike was a critical location during the Battle of Antietam, serving as the main axis of advance for the Union I Corps, led by General Joseph Hooker, on the morning of September 17, 1862. Fighting occurred along the pike, particularly between the Cornfield and the Dunker Church, with some of the most intense and devastating clashes taking place near the road.

The sheer scale of the fighting along the pike was overwhelming, with Major Rufus Dawes of the Sixth Wisconsin Infantry describing the piles of dead as "surpassing anything on any other battlefield of my observation”.

The Battle of Antietam, also called the Battle of Sharpsburg, particularly in the Southern United States, took place on September 17, 1862, between Confederate General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia and Union Major General George B. McClellan's Army of the Potomac near Sharpsburg, Maryland, and Antietam Creek.

Part of the Maryland Campaign, it was the first field army–level engagement in the Eastern Theater of the Civil War to take place on Union soil. It remains the bloodiest day in American history, with a total of 22,727 dead, wounded, or missing on both sides. Although the Union Army suffered heavier casualties than the Confederates, the battle was a major turning point in the Union's favor.

This ball shows a rough surface as expected for being in the ground for well over 100 years. However, it is still very solid with no flaking or chipping, and it has been coated for preservation. In my book “Civil War Artillery – A Pictorial Introduction”, I discuss these cannonballs and Antietam in more detail (see pictures).