RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — The National Park Service says a cannonball found at a Richmond battlefield might have been used by Confederate soldiers as an improvised grenade.
The 12-pound cannonball had an intact fuse. It was discovered on Monday in the moat of a Confederate fortification known as Fort Gilmer at Richmond National Battlefield Park. Park staff members were clearing the site in preparation for an interpretive tour of Fort Gilmer.
The park service says Confederates at Fort Gilmer rolled improvised hand grenades down the side of the fort against Union soldiers during the Battle of Fort Harrison in September 1864.
The Henrico County Bomb Disposal Team removed the cannonball and destroyed it at the county’s firing range.
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
