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Civil War cannonball falls out of tree in Kansas City

The cannonball was found at a house that was used as a hospital during the First Battle of Independence.

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A close-up shot of a Civil War cannon firing at a re-enactment

A worker in the US has found what is believed to be a Civil War cannonball lodged in a tree that he was hired to take down.

The small cannonball fell out as the worker was chopping the diseased tree on the grounds of the Overfelt-Johnston house in the Kansas City area, KMBC-TV reported.

The house was used as a hospital during the First Battle of Independence, Missouri, which was fought across the street in 1862.

The cannonball, like this one, was dislodged from a tree in Kansas City
The cannonball, like this one, was dislodged from a tree in Kansas City (Getty)

Fourteen people were killed and 18 wounded as nearly 800 mounted Confederates overpowered the 350 men of the town’s federal garrison.

Property owner Randall Pratt said a cannonball was also found when the property was restored in 1980. That cannonball, which had been shot into a wall, is in a county museum. Pratt plans to keep the latest find at the home.

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