A modest wood frame houses a curious and powerful relic- an actual bullet that took the life of a Civil War officer. The small, wire-mounted lead ball secures inside the frame a handwritten Civil War-period ink note which reads: 
 
 "Ball that Killed Captain Charles A. Tennant Co. D. 16th C. V., Wounded at 
 Providence Church Road V.A. May 3rd, Died May 24th 1863."
 
 Captain Charles A. Tennant, a 22-year-old clerk from Hartford, enlisted as a 2nd Lieutenant in the 16th Connecticut Infantry in August of 1862. Just three weeks later - and only a day after the regiment loaded their muskets for the first time -  Tennant and his comrades would find themselves in the thick of the action at the battle of Antietam. The regiment crossed the creek below Burnside’s infamous bridge and immediately found themselves pinned down on the adjacent hillside. The green troops were badly battered from almost all angles, and when it was all over Tennant was promoted on the field to Captain. 
 
 After next seeing action at Fredericksburg, the “hard luck” 16th was transferred to the Department of Virginia, ostensibly to serve on garrison duty in coastal Virginia. It was here in May 1863 that they participated in an action to attempt to dislodge Confederate General James Longstreet’s 20,000 troops from Suffolk. Tennant was mortally wounded in his right thigh during that fight, which is remembered today as the Battle of Providence Church Road. Tennant lingered for a few weeks before dying of the effects of his wound at Fortress Monroe, VA on May 24th. 
 
 Adding to the intrigue of this relic is accompanying provenance which states that the fateful ball that killed Captain Tennant was on display at a Connecticut G.A.R. hall, and that it had been “collected” by another Captain (at the time) from the 16th Connecticut, Henry Pasco. Pasco became one of a staggering 437 men from the regiment captured at Plymouth, North Carolina in 1864. He eventually escaped from a Columbia, South Carolina prison and went on to survive the war. 
 
 There are few Civil War relics more scarce or powerful than bullets that struck and killed soldiers. This is one of them. Condition of the frame is fine, and appears to be untouched since the time it was put together.
 
 [Civil War, Union, Confederate]