With support from the University of Richmond

History News Network

History News Network puts current events into historical perspective. Subscribe to our newsletter for new perspectives on the ways history continues to resonate in the present. Explore our archive of thousands of original op-eds and curated stories from around the web. Join us to learn more about the past, now.

Live Civil War Shell Found in Wall

Construction workers have made an unusual find inside the wall of a Charles Town home: a live ten-pound Confederate artillery round.

American Public University System, which operates an online college primarily for the military, recently bought the home and construction crews found the ordnance while replacing siding and insulation. American Public facilities director Joseph Sladki says it was sitting on a sill plate.

Sladki says the round was given to the Jefferson County Museum, which plans to disarm it.

Jefferson County Historical Society board member Jim Glymph says the shell likely hit the house and stuck during a fight October 18, 1863, when Confederate Gen. John Imboden's artillery fired on the Jefferson County Courthouse.
Read entire article at http://www.whsv.com