This was the most
common 6-pounder (3.67-inch caliber) smoothbore projectile used by both Federal and
Confederate forces. According to Gibbon's The Artillerist's Manual, "...that
a 6 or 12-pound ball will go through six men at 800 yards' distance." Gibbon also
states that "...solid shot is of very little effect upon earthen parapets, unless it
passes through, in which case it soon knocks them down. At 600 yards, shot from field-guns
will penetrate from 5 to 6 1/2 feet into newly thrown-up earth." This pictured
specimen was recovered from the 1863 Siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi.
