Unexploded Civil War-era device found in Gettysburg National Military Park

George Stockburger
·2 min read

GETTYSBURG, Pa. (WHTM) – Gettysburg National Military Park announced the discovery a Civil War-era unexploded artillery shell on Wednesday, Feb. 8.

According to the park, the shell was found within the Little Round Top rehabilitation project area in the southwest corner of Little Round Top, the site of a Union victory over the Confederacy on July 2, 1863, amid the Battle of Gettysburg.

Officials with the park say the device dates to 1863. It weighs about 10 pounds, and measures about 7 inches long.

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The shell was handled on Wednesday by the 55th Ordnance Disposal Company team from Fort Belvoir, Virginia. The team gently washed off the shell and removed it from Little Round Top to be destroyed off-site.

Local roads were closed on Wednesday afternoon after the device’s discovery, though they have since reopened.

  • This artillery shell was found within the Little Round Top rehabilitation project area and dates from the Battle of Gettysburg, July 1-3, 1863. Courtesy of National Park Service, Gettysburg National Military Park.
    This artillery shell was found within the Little Round Top rehabilitation project area and dates from the Battle of Gettysburg, July 1-3, 1863. Courtesy of National Park Service, Gettysburg National Military Park.
  • This artillery shell was found within the Little Round Top rehabilitation project area and dates from the Battle of Gettysburg, July 1-3, 1863. Courtesy of National Park Service, Gettysburg National Military Park.
    This artillery shell was found within the Little Round Top rehabilitation project area and dates from the Battle of Gettysburg, July 1-3, 1863. Courtesy of National Park Service, Gettysburg National Military Park.
  • This artillery shell was found within the Little Round Top rehabilitation project area and dates from the Battle of Gettysburg, July 1-3, 1863. Courtesy of National Park Service, Gettysburg National Military Park.
    This artillery shell was found within the Little Round Top rehabilitation project area and dates from the Battle of Gettysburg, July 1-3, 1863. Courtesy of National Park Service, Gettysburg National Military Park.
  • This artillery shell was found within the Little Round Top rehabilitation project area and dates from the Battle of Gettysburg, July 1-3, 1863. Courtesy of National Park Service, Gettysburg National Military Park.
    This artillery shell was found within the Little Round Top rehabilitation project area and dates from the Battle of Gettysburg, July 1-3, 1863. Courtesy of National Park Service, Gettysburg National Military Park.

The park is almost seven months into a nearly two-year-long project to restore Little Round Top. Plans include replacing an overgrown walking path and restoring an area around the Little Round Top monument.

According to Gettysburg National Park, the Little Round Top rehabilitation project “will address overwhelmed parking areas, poor accessibility and related safety hazards, significant erosion, and degraded vegetation.”

All of Little Round Top and the 20th Maine monument have been closed since late July for the $13 million rehabilitation project.

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Gettysburg National Park also rehabilitated the popular Devil’s Den landmark with an increased trail surface, adding slip-resistant granite steps and greenspace. Devil’s Den had been closed from March through late September 2022 as part of the rehabilitation.

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