Mortar or mortar shell, that is the question.

[Cannoneer]

I ran across this tv news clip dating from Feb. the other day, and the reporter (and accompanying article) keeps referring to loaded mortars, but I think that common sense should  lead to the conclusion that they actually mean live shells. The anchorman at the beginning of the clip does say a "live mortar round" was found by the authorities.

http://www.wtvr.com/wtvr-civil-war-relic-found-at-home-in-petersburg-live-round-found-on-the-porch-of-home-20110210,0,5206733.story

[subdjoe]

Give them some credit....at least they weren't saying "assault mortar."

[Double D]

or high power mortars....

[Cannoneer]

I've got the feeling that the guy that "recovered" those CW relics isn't going to be laughing again anytime soon; this is a publication from the NPS: "Not all artifacts in private hands got there legally. Many were looted from parks, battlefields, and other historic sites. For looters who are caught, penalties are stiff. Under the Archaeological Resources Protection Act (ARPA), removing or showing intent to remove artifacts nets a first offender a fine of up to $20,000 and up to two years in prison. A second offense is punishable by a fine of up to $100,000 and up to five years in prison. Simply possessing a metal detector on federal property means a $50 fine. Subject to congressional consent, a new sentencing guideline that increases the penalties for cultural heritage resource violations goes into effect November 1, 2002."

[guardsgunner]

I would think that most of the recovered shells in collections have been there longer than any laws to prevent looters from letting the stuff just rot away in the ground. Besides these days; the bomb squads just strap some c4 to the side of all projectils to see if they are safe. Amazingly enough,they all explode.
Bob

[bluelake]

I would think that most of the recovered shells in collections have been there longer than any laws to prevent looters from letting the stuff just rot away in the ground. Besides these days; the bomb squads just strap some c4 to the side of all projectils to see if they are safe. Amazingly enough,they all explode.
Bob

A decade ago, while visiting the historical center on Ganghwa Island here in Korea (it's now gone, but a new history musem has been built--I just visited there yesterday), I was looking through the artillery and projectiles on display.  One piece caught my eye--a U.S. 12-pdr. shell with an intact Bormann fuze; the tag for it read that it was Korean.  I snickered and called my friend who is a colonel at the Korea Military Academy; I told him that there was a live shell in the exhibit and he called the center's director who, from what I heard, couldn't sleep all night.  The next day, Korean army ordnance people came and removed all projectiles from the center, including solid shot   I didn't know they would act so quickly.  I never heard whatever happened to the shell, but I'm guessing they also strapped it with C4.  It's too bad, as it certainly came to Korea in 1871 as part of the US Navy military action.  My guess is that it was used against one of the fortresses in place of solid shot by the Dahlgren howitzers, which is why the fuze was not punctured. 

I took a couple of pics.

[Artilleryman]

It could have been a dropped round that was left behind.

[bluelake]

It could have been a dropped round that was left behind.

It's possible, and I thought about that years ago, but a couple things made me think otherwise.  One is that the artillery officers' reports from that action were very detailed on expended rounds; however, that's not to say that one of them couldn't have bent the truth in his report regarding how the round was expended.  Also, as it was evidently found in the vicinity of one of the fortresses, and what I later learned about naval ground force artillery not having solid shot and, thus, substituting shell when needing to breech walls, it made sense.  One other possibility I thought of some time ago was that someone, in the heat of battle, just forgot to poke the fuze, but that seems unlikely.  Probably, we will never know, as the shell is evidently gone for good, as are all the witnesses from 1871...

[Cannoneer]

The first time I came across these strict laws and stiff sentences being applied to pilferers from national lands and monuments was when Double D was researching the river gunboat Cairo's armament. When I first read this link I couldn't believe that that poor mope could possibly face a two year prison sentence for stealing a piece of original wood from the USS Cairo, but after doing some reading about just how wide spread a problem this type of thing is, I began to understand the NPS officials point of view on the matter. I think that they felt like they had to go to extreme measures to try and get a handle on this kind of relic theft.
http://www.civilwarnews.com/archive/articles/cairo_ballam.htm

National Parks Magazine, March-April 1998: Read pp. 28-33
http://books.google.com/books?id=AYyqe06fpS0C&pg=PA28&lpg=PA28&dq=National+Park+Service+laws+on+stealing+from+government+land&source=bl&ots=2PXWhcEy4U&sig=GVMMz123h4C5kBrdXLZokDTak0U&hl=en&ei=Ky3OTaWfAsGtgQetyr3CDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBoQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=National%20Park%20Service%20laws%20on%20stealing%20from%20government%20land&f=false

[GGaskill]

While in no way do I condone theft of relics, in the city of New York, you can be a woman and murder your baby and claim to be under the influence of PMS and they will give you only a one year sentence.

Both are wrong in my opinion.

[bluelake]

Stealing relics, or parts of, is wrong.  As was mentioned in the article, "The damage he did cannot be undone," Zeman said. "I've said this before, but any time you have an incident like this, it's like tearing a page out of a history book. This is a cultural resource and it can't be replaced. This piece of history is gone and no one will again be able to view that piece in its original state again." 

In a similar, but slightly different circumstance, is the destruction of history by development, whether in the U.S. or any other country.  In some cases, history prevails, such as in WalMart giving up on its plan to put a store in the Battle of the Wilderness area, but in other cases, it fails.  Here in Korea, where I've lived for the past twenty-two years (first came here twenty-seven years ago), I have been working to have some historic land surveyed.  It is where the US forces traveled up Ganghwa Island (west of Seoul) in 1871--the first US military action in Korea.  The line of march the US took is now quickly falling to the backhoe and bulldozer; if one looks at a GoogleEarth satellite image in 2003 and now, the destruction is horrendous.  I have made it my personal mission to collect and record as much physical evidence as I can before it's all gone (I estimate no more than about five years).  Surveyors' markers are all over the place, so it's only a matter of time. 

I painstakingly record everything I find, including taking GPS readings and pictures (showing a scale and directional marker).  I just finished writing an academic research journal article on my quest to pinpoint the line of march; it will, hopefully, come out this fall.  Among the items I've recovered are 12-pdr. shell fragments, spherical case fragments, canister shot, canister plate fragment, .45 cal. matchlock musket balls (Korean), .50-45 Remington rolling block brass (and even a couple .50-45 misfires), .50 cal. and .58 cal. bullets.  They all add to the historic record, but would otherwise have been scooped up by excavating equipment.  I hope my article leads to a full-scale land survey of the area.

Attached are a few of the items I've located.

[Cannoneer]

While in no way do I condone theft of relics, in the city of New York, you can be a woman and murder your baby and claim to be under the influence of PMS and they will give you only a one year sentence.

Both are wrong in my opinion.

We're on the same wavelength.



bluelake,
Considering the time that you've spent there, I will defer to your judgement on the general opinions held by contemporary Korean authorities about the importance of their history. Do you think the apathy being shown in this instance might be because the "punitive expedition" undertaken by U.S. forces in Korea at that time doesn't exactly throw a good light on their country in that period? Are they enthusiastic about archaeological explorations concerning other incidents in their country's history?

[bluelake]

bluelake,
Considering the time that you've spent there, I will defer to your judgement on the general opinions held by contemporary Korean authorities about the importance of their history. Do you think the apathy being shown in this instance might be because the "punitive expedition" undertaken by U.S. forces in Korea at that time doesn't exactly throw a good light on their country in that period? Are they enthusiastic about archaeological explorations concerning other incidents in their country's history?

Actually, it really isn't apathy, but just that most people don't realize the areas are historic.  Even people who live in the area that was a central point have no idea what happened literally in their backyards.  I met with the oldest resident of the village (late 80s) and he was quite surprised to find out about it.  While the event was a painful one to the Koreans, they are still quite interested in it; I have given many lectures on it around the country.  As a matter of fact, I will be giving a lecture in a couple of weeks to cadets at the Korea Military Academy.

When scholars here know of the historic significance of an area, they generally put a lot of effort into studying it.  Generally, buildings cannot be built until an area is given the green light by the local cultural bureau, but in areas that have no recorded historical activity in Korean records (like the "line of march" area), it doesn't take much to get clearance.  My problem currently is that I haven't reached the ears of the right people yet.  I have been working my way up the ladder, but have yet to connect with the correct people.  However, this afternoon I was out walking and talking with a Korean prof friend of mine who is also on my university museum's board; he recommended who I need to talk with, so I hope that will pan out.  The problem right now is time--if action isn't taken soon, the history will be gone.