Museum exhibit focuses on Civil War shells

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — An exhibit opening at the Charleston Museum focuses on shells and ammunition used during the Civil War. The display as part of the 150th anniversary commemoration of the war opens on Friday at the museum, which is the first in America. Historians say Charleston has been bombarded more than any other city in the Western Hemisphere. The exhibit features a number of revolutionary shells developed during the war such as rifled shells with timed fuses, metallic cartridges for small arms and river torpedoes designed to sink vessels. The exhibit, which continues through Sept. 10, also includes a rare shell designed to penetrate Union ironclad vessels. The war began almost 151 years ago with the Confederate bombardment of Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor. (Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)