Vandenburgh Volley Gun Bullet

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Item: Confederate Vandenburgh Volley Gun Bullet.
Condition: Excellent. The bullet has an overall speckled grey-white patina.
Recovered: Unknown, however, according to Round Ball to Rimfire, Part Four by Dean Thomas, on page 248, "These projectiles have only been recovered from Fort Fisher and were thought to be "double-ended Whitworths." "
Approximate size: .446 inch. diameter x 1.40 inch. length.
Reference: M&M: 159, Thomas RBTR Part Four p.248 sp. 625
Comments:  According to the above mentioned reference book, pages 625-626, "Origen Vandenburgh of Syracuse, N. Y. was temporarily residing in London, England when he received English Patent No. 921 on April 13, 1860". After several years of experimenting with his weapon, Vandenburgh returned to the states in early 1864. Three field guns were offered to the US Ordnance Department and, after test trials held at the Washington Arsenal under the supervision of Major J. G. Benton, it was concluded, "that the "Volley Gun" in its present form is a very worthless weapon. Vandenburgh vehemently protested his rejection in a 24 page letter to Benton, but to no avail. The volley guns were sent back to England. Then occurred an interesting turn of events. The guns had been manufactured by Robinson & Cottam of London. Sometime in the Fall of 1864, the firm presented one of Vandenburgh's volley guns to Governor Zeb Vance of North Carolina. When Fort Fisher fell on February 15, 1865, Union General Henry L. Abbot reported the capture of 85 pieces of artillery - among which was one disabled "Volley Gun." Included in the additional images is an image of the example of the Vandenburgh volley gun bullet, found in above mentioned reference book, along with the entire story on Vandenburgh and his invention. Also included is an image of a Vandenburgh volley gun on display at the Tredegar Iron Works, Richmond, VA.  This Vandenburgh volley gun bullet will be an excellent addition to any excavated Civil War bullet or general relic collection.

Product Code:
PC115

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