The yellowish tinge to the iron balls of this canister round fired by 12-pounder Napoleon cannon is from the sawdust they were packed in. You can see at a glance how badly a body could be torn by these things moving at high velocity. The 13th Regiment encountered canister at Malvern Hill, Sharpsburg, Gettysburg, Knoxville, the Wilderness and others.

Years after the war Private Judge E. Woodruff, a onetime lieutenant of the Winston Guards, told Confederate Veteran magazine that the canister at Gettysburg, particularly from the federal guns at the Peach Orchard, was so thick “It seemed as if you could hold up your hat and catch it full of grapeshot.”