Rebellion Record: a Diary of American Events: Poetry and Incidents., Volume 2.
Frank Moore, Ed.

The rebels' bombs.--A correspondent of the Troy (N. Y.) Times says:--“ Among the instruments of death fired at our forces from the enemy's rifled cannon at the battle of Great Bethel, was a large percussion shell of a new pattern, which failed to explode, and was borne from the field by our forces as a trophy of war. It was kept for some time at Camp Hamilton, and finally sent as a present to Wm. E. Hagan, of this city. Its outside appearance has already been described in the papers. Of course, it was supposed to be filled with combustibles, and spectators gazed on it with that kind of awe inspired by chained tigers, or high-pressure steam-engines.

But it was determined to solve the mystery, and the shell was sent to the United States Arsenal, for the purpose of having a hari kari Japanese process performed upon it, and thus ascertain the contents, just as we open a book for the same purpose. The arsenal employees approached the dangerous plaything with some trepidation, and performed the unscrewing of the percussion tip with fear and trembling. Carefully they proceeded, and slowly the outer wrappers of the missile came off. And then came a surprise, and then ensued a laugh. The dangerous shell that was to have burst with such terrible effect, was found to be filled with rice. There was a sufficiency of the Southern staple in the shell to furnish seed for a plantation. If all the other shells thrown by the valiant Confederate forces are filled with a similarly harmless ‘explosive,’ they will not do much execution, except on a direct fire. Our soldiers should be informed of this discovery.

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