18th Century Lead Musket Ball (Archaeological Find)

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The light color of this musket ball is due to a natural buildup of lead carbonates, sulfides and oxides over time, which helps confirm its age and material composition.
Continental soldiers were housed at Harvard during the Revolutionary War while classes were relocated to Concord. Dorms, academic buildings, and even canvas tents in the Yard served as makeshift barracks.
These Redcoat reenactors hold reproductions of the “Brown Bess” flintlock musket, the most common British weapon. Revolutionaries also used flintlock muskets made in small Colonial factories or stolen from the British.

Title:

18th Century Lead Musket Ball

Subject:

June 15, 1775

Dearest Temperance,

I cannot write much but I endeavor to give you a glimpse of what life is like in Cambridge. As the General’s secretary, my bed is in one of the rooming halls, but many of the enlisted men sleep outside in tents where I often hear them laughing and singing into the night. They have started to construct a blockade to the east of camp in case of an ambush, though we have scarce seen a Redcoat since arriving. There have been whispers of an ammunition shortage so the General ordered the removal of all the doorknobs and hinges to be melted into musket balls. There are rumors the roof of the College hall is next. It is my responsibility to keep a careful record of all camp supplies so I spent several hours this morning sorting the ammunition. While I was in the tent I heard a shot and ran outside to find two soldiers competing to see who could fire his musket the fastest. The General halved their rations for the week and told all assembled they could expect the same if they were caught wasting supplies. I will have Ezekiel deliver this letter when he rides into town tomorrow with the General’s correspondence. Please do not hasten a reply; your acceptance of this humble rumination is all the acknowledgement I need.

Yours,
Elias

Source:

Burke, Kathryn. "Letters of the Revolutionary War." Smithsonian National Postal Museum, 2017. https://postalmuseum.si.edu/letterwriting/lw02.html

Hume, Ivor. A Guide to Artifacts of Colonial America. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1969.

Ireland, Corydon. "Harvard's year of exile." Harvard Gazette, 2011. http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2011/10/harvards-year-of-exile/

O'Rourke, Brigid. "Harvard honors its military past with tour." Harvard Gazette, 2015. http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2015/12/harvard-honors-its-military-past-with-tour/

Sivilich, Daniel. "How to Identify Revolutionary War Musket Balls." Sciencing, 2017. http://sciencing.com/identify-revolutionary-war-musket-balls-7633630.html

Sydney Living Museums. "How musket balls are made." Youtube, 2014. https://youtu.be/iz3NZ6dL-e0

Object Name:

Lead Shot

Peabody Number:

2016.29.564

Intrasite:

H942, Level 4

Depth:

Level 4, 70-80cm

Class 1:

Metal

Class 2:

Arms

Class 3:

Ammunition

Quantity:

1

Height (cm):

NA

Width (cm):

NA

Depth/Thickness (cm):

0.9cm

Collection:

2017 Assignment 3

Tags:

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