French & Indian War artillery canister ball, recovered at Fort Presentation, NY

Being offered is a French & Indian War canister ball, measuring 1.20” and showing the casting seam. These balls would be part of a canister shell, which when fired were like a shotgun blast (see pictures). It is part of a cache of boxed dug artifacts that were identified and put into separate boxes 50+ years ago. They were recovered years ago at Fort Presentation, NY.

In 1749, the French Sulpician priest, Abbé Picquet, built a mission fort, which he named Fort de La Présentation (Fort of the Presentation). It was built at the confluence of the Oswegatchie River and the St Lawrence River in present day New York. The French wanted to strengthen their alliance with the powerful Iroquois, as well as convert them to Catholicism. With increasing tensions with Great Britain, they were concerned about their thinly populated Canadian colony.

After the British victories of 1760, the French ceded their Canadian territory to Great Britain. The British renamed it Fort Oswegatchie. It remained under their control until 1796, after Jay's Treaty, when redefinition of the northern boundary caused the land to be taken over by the United States. The first settlement under an American flag began that year.

This is a nice piece of Revolutionary War history and is ready to display. It comes in the acrylic display case pictured. With the 250th anniversary of the nation's founding this year, interest in the Revolutionary War and its relics are significantly increasing. This renewed enthusiasm is driving the demand for virtually all Revolutionary War artifacts, further contributing to their scarcity and rising prices.