Lead

1964 · ref. 14072 — 1964. Collection of Civil War era lead case shot balls and fragments associated with Fort Huger Virginia documents the artillery defenses established along the James River to impede Union movement toward Richmond. Fort Huger stood on Harden's Bluff also known as Hardy's Bluff directly across the James River from Newport News. Along with nearby Fort Boykin the fort formed part of the Confederate effort to protect the river approach to the capital. Collection consists of lead case shot balls and associated fragments from the Civil War era. Case shot ammunition was designed to disperse multiple projectiles when fired and the surviving lead balls and fragments preserve physical evidence of the artillery materiel associated with the defenses at Fort Huger. The fort was an earthwork installation positioned on the bluff overlooking the James River and was named for Confederate Major General Benjamin Huger. Fort Huger's position on the James placed it within the military geography of the approaches to Richmond where Confederate fortifications sought to prevent Federal naval forces from advancing upriver. These recovered ammunition components provide material evidence connected with that defensive landscape and the artillery technology employed during the conflict. A group of Civil War ordnance relics directly associated with the Confederate defenses of the James River and Fort Huger. unknown books