# Help ID this pyramid of cannonballs **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 26, 2015, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-id-this-pyramid-of-cannonballs/713725 "2015-02-26T22:42:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2015, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-id-this-pyramid-of-cannonballs/713725/1 "2015-02-26T22:42:48Z")
[http://s290.photobucket.com/user/legendcity/media/SA8\_zpstjjmnyv0.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0](http://s290.photobucket.com/user/legendcity/media/SA8_zpstjjmnyv0.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0) This photo shows someone I believe to be a relative. I’m curious to see if anyone knows where this was taken and what it is? This shot was taken pre-1920 if that helps narrow it down. Looks to be a civil war monument? Thanks in advance. Edit: I don’t know why, but the host site made it much lighter than it is. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2015, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-id-this-pyramid-of-cannonballs/713725/2 "2015-02-26T22:52:55Z")
Shiloh National Military Park in Shiloh, TN? ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2015, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-id-this-pyramid-of-cannonballs/713725/3 "2015-02-26T23:08:06Z")
Looks like CrafterMan got it in about 10 minutes. It’s 15 layers of balls, not many of those around. What an awesome resource this place can be! 😃 Thank You CM ---
**Author:** ![yoyodyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a9a28c/32.png) [@yoyodyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yoyodyne)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2015, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-id-this-pyramid-of-cannonballs/713725/4 "2015-02-26T23:11:35Z")
I think [this](http://teva.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p15138coll4/id/305) is a possibility ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2015, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-id-this-pyramid-of-cannonballs/713725/5 "2015-02-26T23:26:19Z")
Not so fast, here is [another 15 layer stack](http://realhonestmom.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/img_20140219_092441_4941.jpg), at the Assault on Cotton Gin Park in Franklin, TN. The concrete base looks much more similar. ---
**Author:** ![yoyodyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a9a28c/32.png) [@yoyodyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yoyodyne)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2015, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-id-this-pyramid-of-cannonballs/713725/6 "2015-02-26T23:36:18Z")
The base he’s sitting on looks taller than that. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2015, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-id-this-pyramid-of-cannonballs/713725/7 "2015-02-26T23:40:28Z")
It isn’t the last suggestion. The bottom layer of the target photo is buried halfway in the concrete. The stack at Cotton Gin isn’t. Neither is the one in Chattanooga. The photo looks a lot more like the Lytle Monument at Chickamauga. ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2015, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-id-this-pyramid-of-cannonballs/713725/8 "2015-02-26T23:43:25Z")
Hmmm, I still like the first choice. Seems like the base is very cubic. Facebook post: [Lytle Monument Restoration... - Lytle Monument Restoration](https://www.facebook.com/165487766798240/photos/pb.165487766798240.-2207520000.1424994091./165497300130620/?type=3&theater) [http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20130906/PC1610/130909653](http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20130906/PC1610/130909653) ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-id-this-pyramid-of-cannonballs/713725/9 "2015-02-27T15:40:21Z")
There were around eight of these monuments built to honor fallen Civil War leaders. The Chickamauga appears to me to be a _three sided_ structure. The OP photo seems to support this in my opinion. He seems to be sitting in full sun, on a side that does not have a plaque. Possible clue. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-id-this-pyramid-of-cannonballs/713725/10 "2015-02-27T21:21:33Z")
Also, the balls look like they are stuck in whitish mortar rather than stacked. You can see the mortar between the balls, and it does not look like the balls are too far apart, don’t actually touch to support each other. that should be another clue to narrow it down. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2015, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-id-this-pyramid-of-cannonballs/713725/11 "2015-02-28T00:52:07Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > Also, the balls look like they are stuck in whitish mortar rather than stacked. You can see the mortar between the balls, and it does not look like the balls are too far apart, don’t actually touch to support each other. that should be another clue to narrow it down. Wouldn’t any cannonball-pyramid have to have the balls ‘stuck’ together somehow? Being round, balls won’t stack like that. Will they? ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2015, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-id-this-pyramid-of-cannonballs/713725/12 "2015-02-28T00:57:48Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > Wouldn’t any cannonball-pyramid have to have the balls ‘stuck’ together somehow? Being round, balls won’t stack like that. Will they? So long as the bottom layer is constrained, like billiard balls in a rack, they will. ---
**Author:** ![CraterLayer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/87869e/32.png) [@CraterLayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CraterLayer)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2015, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-id-this-pyramid-of-cannonballs/713725/13 "2015-02-28T03:35:04Z")
I at first thought that the balls were mortared together, but at closer look (and moving my screen) it is obvious that the balls are sitting on shelves for each layer, with small indentations holding the balls. The lines of the next shelves up are apparent behind the balls. Plus, is that a Boy Scout uniform? ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2015, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-id-this-pyramid-of-cannonballs/713725/14 "2015-02-28T04:03:50Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > So long as the bottom layer is constrained, like billiard balls in a rack, they will. Yeah, but it would be a little dangerous to have a pile of cannonballs stored this way. If any ball is disturbed the whole thing would come down! ---
**Author:** ![DataX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@DataX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DataX)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2015, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-id-this-pyramid-of-cannonballs/713725/15 "2015-02-28T04:17:19Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > Yeah, but it would be a little dangerous to have a pile of cannonballs stored this way. If any ball is disturbed the whole thing would come down! Other than the top one - Ike thinking they’d have to be disturbed a lot. And it looks like they aren’t doing it that way anymore (as people were taking them) and they were using them for other monuments and projects (sad). If anyone else is comparing pictures - make sure you note that monument has been redone - so looking at the last two links by campp - they aren’t the same setup - so looks like you’d need to compare pics that aren’t recent. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2015, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-id-this-pyramid-of-cannonballs/713725/16 "2015-02-28T05:36:49Z")
> [@CraterLayer](#): > > Plus, is that a Boy Scout uniform? It looks like an early 20th century US Army uniform complete with campaign hat. But the contrast is so poor you can’t see much detail. ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2015, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-id-this-pyramid-of-cannonballs/713725/17 "2015-02-28T14:24:03Z")
I thought it was a uniform also. WWI probably. Here’s a slightly better version: [Photobucket | Make your memories fun!](http://s290.photobucket.com/user/legendcity/media/849cd565-a617-4e53-b26c-9d461e4a3ca5_zpsnqylauj5.jpg.html?state=copy&sp=false) ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2015, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-id-this-pyramid-of-cannonballs/713725/18 "2015-03-01T01:18:24Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > It looks like an early 20th century US Army uniform complete with campaign hat. But the contrast is so poor you can’t see much detail. > [@campp](#): > > I thought it was a uniform also. WWI probably. > > Here’s a slightly better version: [Photo Storage](http://s290.photobucket.com/user/legendcity/media/849cd565-a617-4e53-b26c-9d461e4a3ca5_zpsnqylauj5.jpg.html?state=copy&sp=false) Hat is certainly WWI, not WWII. ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-id-this-pyramid-of-cannonballs/713725/19 "2015-03-04T16:18:14Z")
Additional question: Would a Navy man have such an outfit and hat, or was that just the army? One relative was army, one was navy, not sure which relative this guy is (yet). ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-id-this-pyramid-of-cannonballs/713725/20 "2015-03-04T16:52:35Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > Wouldn’t any cannonball-pyramid have to have the balls ‘stuck’ together somehow? Being round, balls won’t stack like that. Will they? > [@CraterLayer](#): > > I at first thought that the balls were mortared together, but at closer look (and moving my screen) it is obvious that the balls are sitting on shelves for each layer, with small indentations holding the balls. The lines of the next shelves up are apparent behind the balls. > Plus, is that a Boy Scout uniform? If the balls are stacked and then fixed (cement is probably cheaper than interior balls) then it will look different than if the balls are stuck on “shelves” As I said, it sort of looks like the balls are not touching, they are stuck in grooves or shelves, as opposed to some other linked examples where it looks like they stacked and then “glued”.