This pattern has been mistakenly called the Preston projectile, after the name of
its manufacturer. Fawcett, Preston, and Company, of Liverpool, England, which under
Blakely's patent, produced 12-pounder (3.5-inch caliber) Blakely rifles in 1860-1861. This
projectile pattern was patented by Thoephilus Alexander Blakely, British patent #1,286,
dated May 22, 1863. This pictured example has a flat base and six vertical inclined
flanges to allow it to fit the Blakely rifle's saw-tooth rifling. The poor design of the
Britten fuze caused many shells to be rendered harmless upon firing. The majority of the
battlefield recovered 12-pounder (3.5-inch caliber) Blakely projectiles have come from the
1863 Siege of Port Hudson, Louisiana.
