http://www.pantagraph.com/news/civil-war-cannonball-explodes-kills-relic-collector/article_86607e91-89df-5e6f-9229-02d450ab0195.html
Civil War cannonball explodes, kills relic collector

   - Steve Szkotak Associated Press
   - May 2, 2008

CHESTER, Va. - Like many boys in the South, Sam White got hooked on the
Civil War early, digging up rusting bullets and military buttons in the
battle-scarred earth of his hometown.

As an adult, he crisscrossed the Virginia countryside in search of wartime
relics - weapons, battle flags, even artillery shells buried in the red
clay. He sometimes put on diving gear to feel for treasures hidden in the
black muck of river bottoms.

But in February, White's hobby cost him his life: A cannonball he was
restoring exploded, killing him in his driveway.

More than 140 years after Lee surrendered to Grant, the cannonball was
still powerful enough to send a chunk of shrapnel through the front porch
of a house a quarter-mile from White's home in this leafy Richmond suburb.

White's death shook the close-knit fraternity of relic collectors and
raised concerns about the dangers of other Civil War munitions that lay
buried beneath old battlefields. Explosives experts said the fatal blast
defied extraordinary odds.

"You can't drop these things on the ground and make them go off," said
retired Col. John F. Biemeck, formerly of the Army Ordnance Corps.

White, 53, was one of thousands of hobbyists who comb former battlegrounds
for artifacts using metal detectors, pickaxes, shovels and trowels.

"There just aren't many areas in the South in which battlefields aren't
located. They're literally under your feet," said Harry Ridgeway, a former
relic hunter who has amassed a vast collection. "It's just a huge thrill to
pull even a mundane relic out of the ground."

After growing up in Petersburg, White went to college, served on his local
police force, then worked for 25 years as a deliveryman for UPS. He retired
in 1998 and devoted most of his time to relic hunting.

He was an avid reader, a Civil War raconteur and an amateur historian who
watched History Channel programs over and over, to the mild annoyance of
his wife.

"I used to laugh at him and say, 'Why do you watch this? You know how it
turned out. It's not going to be any different,"' Brenda White said.

She didn't share her husband's devotion, but she was understanding of his
interest.

"True relic hunters who have this passion, they don't live that way
vicariously, like if you were a sports fanatic," she said. "Finding a
treasure is their touchdown, even if it's two, three bullets."

Union and Confederate troops lobbed an estimated 1.5 million artillery
shells and cannonballs at each other from 1861 to 1865. As many as one in
five were duds.

Some of the weapons remain buried in the ground or river bottoms. In late
March, a 44-pound, 8-inch mortar shell was uncovered at Petersburg National
Battlefield, the site of an epic 292-day battle. The shell was taken to the
city landfill and detonated.

Black powder provided the destructive force for cannonballs and artillery
shells. The combination of sulfur, potassium nitrate and finely ground
charcoal requires a high temperature - 572 degrees Fahrenheit - and
friction to ignite.

White estimated he had worked on about 1,600 shells for collectors and
museums. On the day he died, he had 18 cannonballs lined up in his driveway
to restore.

White's efforts seldom raised safety concerns. His wife and son Travis
sometimes stood in the driveway as he worked.

"Sam knew his stuff, no doubt about it," said Jimmy Blankenship,
historian-curator at the Petersburg battleground. "He did know Civil War
ordnance."

An investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms will not be
complete until the end of May, but police who responded to the blast and
examined shrapnel concluded that it came from a Civil War explosive.

On Wed, Mar 15, 2017 at 10:56 AM, Chris Garst <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Good Morning all:
> In our collections we have a 6#  cannon ball that still has its fuse.  We
> suspect it is still filled with gunpowder also. It was recovered during a
> metal detector survey last fall and may date to the Civil War era.  We have
> been getting mixed messages regarding the safety of having such an item in
> our collection.  Does anyone know about the safety and stability of such an
> item?
> Thank you
> Chris Garst
> Kansas Historical Society
>



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*Jamestown Rediscovery Project*

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