Federal

Hotchkiss

 

DIAMETER:  4.43 inches
GUN:  4.5-inch Siege Rifle
LENGTH:  9 1/2 inches
WEIGHT:  31 pounds 6 ounces
CONSTRUCTION:  Solid shot
SABOT:  Lead ring
FUZING:  None
Several Hotchkiss projectiles exactly like this pattern have been recovered from the West Point Proving Grounds, West Point, New York.  To date, this pattern hasn't been recovered from any Civil War battlefields.  One specimen was recovered from a house site near Belvedere Cove around 1890.  The unfired example pictured resides in the West Point Military Academy Museum.  There are three components that make up this projectile's construction:  a nose section, lead ring or band around the center, and a base cup that, when fired, would force the lead sabot into the grooves of the cannon's rifling.  The base is flat and there are three flame grooves.  Most likely this pattern was manufactured at the end or after the Civil War and wasn't intended for field artillery due to it's caliber.