Cannonball is an artillery shell in the shape of a cast iron ball. Cannonballs were used for firing from smooth-bore cannons to destroy enemy manpower, field and urban (fortress) structures and wooden ship hulls. The cannonballs varied in weight and size. The heavier the cannonball, the greater its destruction force is. The standard artillery weight in Russia named artillery pound was introduced by the General of the Artillery Count J. Bruce, it equaled to the weight of a cast-iron cannonball with a diameter of 2 inches or 51 mm, or 409.5 grams.

Cast iron was the common material for producing cannonballs. The fire-resistant properties of cast iron, that the hardened cannonballs had, increased the destructive force of the artillery. A cast iron ball was heated in a furnace and fired at a wooden target. Such cannonballs not only penetrated the barrier, but also set it on fire.