Copyright Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, Deerfield, MA

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Bullet

During the 1704 raid on Deerfield, Massachusetts, the John Sheldon house withstood the initial attempts by the attackers to gain entrance. Instead, they made a gash in the front door with a hatchet and fired randomly through it. One bullet hit Sheldon's wife Hannah in the throat and killed her. The bullet or musket ball seen here was found in one of the walls of the house. Bullets of the period were typically round balls cast from lead and gauged in size to easily fit down the barrel of the appropriate caliber musket. Black powder was poured down the barrel prior to insertion of the ball. It was ignited by a small charge of powder in the gun's pan that was, in turn, ignited by the matchlock or flintlock firing mechanism.

Date: 1704 
Topic: Military 
Materials: Lead
Dimensions: Diam: approx. .75 in. (1.9 cm.) 
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