Arms & Artillery - Terrible Tools of War

This forum contains profiles of different Small Arms & Artillery types used during the American Civil War.

Filter:

We need expert advice from you good folks. When digging a hole for a 6x6 post we found what could be a civil war cannon ball. Our community is called Military because the troops came through this area during the Civil War. We a live in the adjoining community once called Coral, south of Sumrall MS on Hwy 589, which still shows on some maps. I will post photos and any help appreciated. Deb Hazel
A 6.4" Anderson Rifle from Fort Powell, a surviving sister to Lady Polk & Belmont, located in downtown Mobile, Alabama - Images of this gun are FortWiki.com :CSA1stNat:The two most famous, and by far, the largest Confederate cannon at Columbus, Kentucky were the Lady Polk and the Belmont, 6.4 inch Anderson rifled columbiads made at the Tredegar Iron Works in Richmond, Virginia. Both were cast solid in the molds of huge Model 1861 10-inch smoothbore columbiad cannons, but bored and rifled as 6.4-inchers. The 10" Columbiad design was chosen with expectations that the thick walls of the barrel would provide sufficient strength for the guns to fire rifled projectiles. Both guns were a little over ten feet long, and weighed nearly 15,000...
A few years ago, I was fortunate enough to find these three original unidentified photographs of an old military cannon. Two of the images show the cannon on display, a war memorial perhaps, found somewhere in an unknown park in a little U.S. town. By the looks of the cars (and the truck seen in one photo), I assume that the pictures date back to the 1930's, or maybe early 40's. The first two images show a man and what are probably his four children posing with the cannon sometime before it was to be removed from its location. Sadly, it appears that the third photo shows the cannon being dragged off to be scrapped. I assume that based on the fact that the cannon barrel is being dragged, and not transported with any consideration of its...
General Civil War Artillery Artillery for the United States Land Service by United States Army Ordnance Dept, Alfred Mordecai, 1849. - High Resolution Plates from Artillery for the United States Land Service, located at the Library of Congress Shells and Shell-guns by John Adolphus Bernard Dahlgren, 1856. Facts as to Hooped Guns by Robert Parker Parrott, 1862. Ranges of Parrott Guns, and Notes for Practice by Robert Parker Parrott, 1863. Historical Sketch of the Organization, Administration, Matérial and Tactics of the Artillery, by William Edward Birkhimer, 1884. The Photographic History of the Civil War in Ten Volumes: Forts and Artillery, by Francis Trevelyan Miller & Robert Sampson Lanier, 1911 Round Shot and Rammers by...
Hello fellow CW passionistas. Need some help from y'all to identify this shell. Recently inexpensively purchased and has me a little perplexed. Weighs in at 17 pounds, 8.5 inches long, approx 3 inches wide with fuse (?) at the top. The taper at the rear of the shell is what has me confused. Does anyone know what type of shell this is and is it Civil War (if it's a shell at all)? Thank you in advance!
Hey all, Surprised nobody posted this yet but: The Billinghurst-Requa Battery Gun. It's basically a set of 25 ordinary muskets/rifles on a cannon set up, shown in the attached image. U. S. Ordnance General James W. Ripley wasn't really in favor of outside-government contracts, so he rebuffed the idea, and Billinghurst and Requa were forced to sell their guns individually to each department commander. (Fun fact, Requa was a dentist) At least five batteries of these were used by Gillmore against Fort Wagner, but the government only issued a contract for them in 1870, and they were forgotten. It's a pretty cool weapon, and more or less the only rapidfire (from a certain point of view) artillery piece to be used during the war. Pretty...
On the Deck of the USS Monitor, a XI-inch Dahlgren Shell Gun peeking out it's porthole. Hampton Roads, Virginia. (Library of Congress Photo, July 9, 1862).When John Ericsson designed the Monitor, he knew that a 15-inch Rodman existed, but that was an Army gun. He had hoped that a gun like that could go in his design. Unfortunately, the largest gun adopted by the Navy at that moment was the XI-inch Dahlgren Shell Guns, which is still really big, but not what he really wanted to install in his new creation. Dahlgren wasn't convinced that guns larger than 11 inches were safe, and in the confines of an armored turret, well, he had even more reservations about such big guns. So at his direction, Ericsson submitted his experimental plans...
At Gettysburg NBMP, by ©Michael Kendra, Sept 2006The 10 pdr. Parrott Rifle, invented by Robert Parker Parrott, was manufactured by the West Point Foundry in the North, and copies were made at several foundries in the South. The patented manufacturing process started with a cast iron barrel, which on it's own was too brittle to use as a cannon, and combined it with a large reinforcing band made of tougher wrought iron overlaid on the breech of the casting. By designing the cannon this way, the barrel was intended to be strong, light, cheap, and effective as a rifled cannon, a relatively new type of field artillery for the era. ARTILLERY PROFILE Models: 10-pdr. Parrott Rifle - Model of 1861, or Old Model Parrott, with a 2.9 inch bore...
:CSA1stNat: On April 9, 1861, Governor Francis Wilkinson Pickens wrote the Confederate Secretary of War a note about a recent addition to the ordnance available at Charleston: "…There has just arrived on the bar a fine rifled cannon from Liverpool, of the latest maker, an improvement upon Armstrong, of steel rolls or coils, with elevation of seven and one-half degrees to a mile. It throws a shell or twelve-pound shot with the accuracy of a dueling pistol, and only one and one-half pounds of powder. Such, they write me, is this gun, and I hope to have it in position to-night. We expect the attack about 6 o'clock in the morning, on account of the tide…." Just a few days later, on April 12, 1861, Confederate Artillery Batteries opened...
Type: Standard 3-inch Ordnance Rifle, Serial No. 100 Year of Manufacture: 1861See Full Artillery Profile West Point Catalog No.: 167 (162 in the 1898 Catalog) Foundry No.: 110 Tube Composition: Steel Bore Diameter: 3 inches Tube Weight: 815 lbs. Muzzle Markings: TTSL No. 100 PICo. 1861. 815 lbs. Inspected by: Theodore Thaddeus Sobieski Laidley and accepted for U.S. service on November 21, 1861 Carriage Type: No. 1 Field Carriage (900 lbs.), 57" wheels US Casting Foundry: Phoenix Iron Company, Phoenixville PA U.S. Government Purchase Price: $330.00 U.S. in 1861 Current Disposition: West Point Catalog Item #162. Mounted outside the North Wing of the Bartlett Hall Science Center's Entrance Doors. The doors are sometimes called the "Gun...
Selected United States Patents Ordnance & More Illustrations Provided Below ***THREAD UNDER CONSTRUCTION*** Page 1, Post 2 Thread ---Location---- U.S. Patent Number Date Patentee Item Patented Page 1, Post 2 5236 08/14/1847 Thomas J. Rodman Improvements in Casting Ordnance Page 1, Post 3 12574 03/20/1855 William M.B. Hartley Making Hollow Shot Page 1, Post 4 12795 05/01/1855 Eben Hoyt, Jr. Improved Projectile for Firearms Page 1, Post 5 12801 05/01/1855 Wilderich Jos. Von Kammerhueber Improvements in Projectiles Page 1, Post 6 12810 05/08/1855 Philip Bacon Improved Tape Blasting Fuse Page 1, Post 7 13138 06/26/1855 Abraham Powell, Jr. Improved Fuse-stock for Bomb-Shells Page 1, Post 8 13469 08/21/1855 Augustus...
LOC Photo, Identified as "Confederate gun "Whistling Dick", Vicksburg, Miss." Experts have since cast doubt on the LOC identification of the gun in this photo. The gun in the photo has been identified as a 32 lb. Navy gun. It's likely that no photos of the original Whistling Dick exist. ARTILLERY PROFILE Model: 1839 18-pdr. Iron Smoothbore; Breech-Banded and Rifled Bore Size: 5.29 inches before rifling Current Disposition: Unknown; rumored to be at the bottom of one of Vicksburg's waterways. NOTES ABOUT WHISTLING DICK The gun got it's name from the whistle it made every time it was shot; a shrill sound which could be heard above the boom of all other artillery pieces. One of the most famous cannons of the war was "Whistling...
While guns were intended to batter down the walls of a fortification, mortars were designed to fire explosive shells over the walls of the fortification, killing the garrison, forcing the garrison to stay in bombproof shelters, preventing the garrison from serving their guns and repairing damage caused by the bombardment. Mortars could also destroy structures inside the fortification such as barracks and kitchens. Heavier mortar shells could penetrate magazines and many bombproof shelters. Using a small powder charge, a mortar can throw large, hollow projectiles at high elevations, unlike other artillery pieces of the Civil War. For practical purposes the mortar is a smoothbore weapon. The 12 lb. and 24 lb. Coehorn Mortars The...
Doing a study on original lock chains, you begin to notice that there is some variation to the chains made during the period. Here is a study that includes detailed measurements and drawings provided with permission for use on CivilWarTalk by one of my friends, Michael Zablocky, and I've included a copy of the Mordecai Chain drawings from 1849 for comparison.... drawings are listed in order from oldest perceived example, to newest. Circa-1837 Field Carriage Lock Chain (Carriage No. 2) Drawings & Measurements by Michael Zablocky from an original example with folded link chain. Field Carriage Lock Chains (Measurements for Carriages No. 1 & 2) Alfred Mordecai Drawing from Artillery for the United States land service, as devised and...
As previously seen outside the Fredericksburg Area Museum Fredericksburg, Virginia, 2012. Damaged by a cannon shot from the U.S.S. Cumberland, this IX-inch Dahlgren is evidence of some of the very limited damage done to the C.S.S. Virginia by cannon fire from other ships or from shore based batteries. This gun was also aboard the Virginia during her March 9th, 1862 encounter with the U.S.S. Monitor, but as far as we know, it was not used and considered "disabled" for that famous engagement. ARTILLERY PROFILE Model: IX-inch Dahlgren Type: Muzzleloading Smoothbore Shell Gun In Service With: C.S.S. Virginia, Confederate States Navy Under the Command of: Lt. Hunter Davidson Invented By: John A. Dahlgren, USN Current Disposition: Mounted...
Gettysburg NMP, ©Michael Kendra, February 2011The James Rifle is an early rifled field gun. Desperate for ordnance at the wars beginning, the U.S. War Department ordered many examples early on, but by the summer of 1863, it was no longer widely used by Northern units. A notable exception was the 2nd Connecticut Battery, which was still equipped with them at Gettysburg. This class of James Rifles actually include 4 different gun types, and all fired elongated shells and were accurate up to 1,500 yards. Some larger Siege Guns were also rifled in the James method, but that's a story for a different article. ARTILLERY PROFILE Models: 14-pdr. James Rifle - Type I 14-pdr. James Rifle - Type II, & III Rifled 6 Pdr. Guns (Using the James...
Among the many notable manufacturing establishments in Pittsburgh that might be alluded to with propriety, there is one that has attained a world wide reputation for its success in casting Heavy Ordnance, viz the Fort PITT Works. This cannon foundry was first established during the war with Great Britain in the year 1814, by Joseph McClurg, who was at that time the owner of a foundry, which supplied the ordinary iron castings needed by the inhabitants of a small town. It was situated at the corner of Fifth and Smithfield streets, on the ground which is now occupied by the United States Custom House and Post Office. It had supplied Commodore Perry with the cannon balls and grape shot used by his fleet in the memorable battle on Lake...
ARTILLERY PROFILEGettysburg NMP ©Michael Kendra, Sept 2006. Type: Muzzleloading Rifled Gun In Service With: United States Army - Marked "U.S." State of New Jersey - Marked "N.J." Purpose: Counter-battery & Support the infantry and cavalry forces in the field Invented By: Samuel Reeves, with partners John Griffen, and Emile C. Geyelin; development began in August of 1855 Final Design Requirements by: United States Army Ordnance Board, meeting on July 20th, 1861 Capt. Alexander B. Dyer, president; Capt. Theodore T.S. Laidley, recorder; and Capt. Thomas J. Rodman, member. Patents: U.S. Patent No. 13,984 (J. Griffin) Issued on December 25, 1855 for Manufacture of Wrought Iron Cannon U.S. Patent No. 37,108 (S. J. Reeves) Issued on...
Battle of New Market Visitors Center, © Mike Kendra, 11/2013 The Williams Gun was a Confederate gun that was classified as a 1-lb cannon. It was designed by Capt. D.R. Williams, of Covington, Kentucky, who later served as an artillery captain with a battery of his design. It was a breech-loading, rapid-fire cannon that was operated by a hand-crank. The barrel was 4 feet long and 1.57-inch caliber. The hand crank opened the sliding breech which allowed the crew to load a round and cap the primer. As the crank was continued, it closed the breech and automatically released the hammer. The effective range was 800 yards but the maximum range was 2000 yards. ARTILLERY PROFILE Type: Breechloading Smoothbore Gun In Service With: C.S. Army...
The Widow Blakely, ©James N., 2013.:CSA1stNat: This 7.5-inch rifle was called the "Widow Blakely" because it was one of only two 7.5-inch Blakely Rifles of that type imported from England. It's mate was in service at Evansport, Virginia until it was captured by Union forces at Shipping Point on the Potomac River in March of 1862, making the gun in Vicksburg a "Widow". The Evansport Blakely can now be seen on display at the Washington Navy Yard, in Washington, DC. It's been a popularized myth that it's nickname was given because this gun was the only specimen of British Captain Theophilus Alexander Blakely's design in the works at Vicksburg. ARTILLERY PROFILE Model: British Naval 42-pdr. with 7 inch bore; reamed, banded & rifled to...
A Captured Siege Gun at Richmond, Virginia Siege, Garrison, & Naval Artillery Siege & Naval Artillery Pieces Bore diameter (inches) Material Length of tube (inches) Weight of tube (pounds) Weight of projectile (pounds) Weight of charge (pounds) Range at 5° elevation (yards) 4 1/2-inch Rifle 4.50 Iron 133.0 3,450 33.0 3.50 2,078 30-pdr Parrott Rifle 4.50 Iron 136.00 4,200 1 29.0 3.75 2,200 24-pdr Gun 5.82 Iron 124.00 6,240 24.4 6.00 1,901 18-pdr Gun 5.30 Iron 123.25 4,680 18.5 4.50 1,592 12-pdr Gun 4.62 Iron 116.00 3,120 12.3 4.00 1,834 8-inch Howitzer 8.00 Iron 61.50 2,614 1 50.5 4.00 1,241 8-inch Mortar 8.00 Iron 22.50 930 1 44.5 3.75 1 1,200 10-inch Mortar 10.00...
10 pdr. Parrott Rifles drilling at Ringgold, Georgia, 1864. SMOOTHBORE ARTILLERY Field Artillery Piece Bore diameter (inches) Material Length of tube (inches) Weight of tube (pounds) Weight of projectile (pounds) Weight of charge (pounds) Muzzle velocity (ft./sec.) Range at 5° elevation (yards) M1841 6-pdr. Gun . 3.67 Bronze 60.0 884 6.10 1.25 1,439 1,523 M1841 12-pdr. Gun . 4.62 Bronze 78.0 1,757 12.30 2.50 1,486 1,663 M1841 12-pdr. Howitzer 4.62 Bronze 53.0 788 * 8.90 1.00 1,054 1,072 M1841 24-pdr. Howitzer 5.82 Bronze 64.0 1,318 * 18.40 2.00 1,060 1,322 M1841 32-pdr. Howitzer 6.40 Bronze 75.0 1,920 * 25.60 2.50 1,100 1,504 M1841 12-pdr. Mountain Howitzer 4.62 Bronze 32.9 220...
Ball's Bluff Battlefield, VA, ©Mike Kendra, 2012The 12-pdr. Mountain Howitzer was a mountain gun used by the United States Army during the mid-Nineteenth Century, from 1837 to about 1870. It saw service during the Mexican–American War, the American Indian Wars, and during the American Civil War (primarily in the more rugged western theaters.) ARTILLERY PROFILE Model: 12-pdr. Mountain Howitzer Type: Lightweight and Highly Portable Smoothbore Howitzer In Service With: U.S. Army C.S. Army Purpose: Highly mobile and easy to transport artillery for use where typical field artillery wouldn't be practical Rarity: Common to Uncommon Special Notes: Referred to as a Model 1835 or a Model 1841 depending on the source, they were nicknamed...
Located at Fort Donelson, Stewart County, TN June 2010, ©Rusk County Avengers ARTILLERY PROFILE Model: Model 1841 12-pdr. "Heavy" Smoothbore Field Gun Type: Muzleloading Smoothbore Gun In Service With: United States Army (Pre-War) Confederate States Army Purpose: Support the infantry and cavalry forces in the field Invented By: U.S. Army Ordnance Board Rarity: Rare MANUFACTURING US Casting Foundries: N.P. Ames, Chicopee, Massachusetts Cyrus Alger & Company, Boston, Massachusetts CS Casting Foundry: Tredegar Iron Works, Richmond, Virginia Years of Manufacture: 1841-1861 Tube Composition: Bronze Variants: Some 12-pdr. Heavy Field Guns were rifled to extend their useful life at the beginning of the war, using 12 or 18 groove...
A frontal view, -by Bloodofox, Taken 2007 In 1862, a man named John Gilleland, from the little Georgia town of Athens, came up with this inventive, some would say crazy, idea for a double-barrel cannon. Gilleland, a local house builder and mechanic, a Jackson County dentist, a private in Mitchell’s Thunderbolts and an employee of Cook’s Armory, thought that a cannon such as this would serve the defenses of his community, and the needs of the Confederate Army, very well. It's the only known full size double-barrel cannon of its kind in the United States. ARTILLERY PROFILE Model: Gilleland's Double-Barrelled Cannon Type: Experimental Muzzleloading Double 6-pdr. Gun In Service With: Lumpkin’s Artillery (Unofficial Rumors) The Town of...
If you are looking for fire, brimstone, and chaos, like nothing has wrought over the battlefield before, you need to get yourself one of these: If you've been around Civil War artillery as long as I have, you probably have seen this cannon before. Athens Double-Barrelled Cannon ©Ed Jackson, Used with Permission It's the Civil War version to the Coach Gun, and you can try shooting it from the hip, but you'll probably kill everyone within shouting distance. Maybe that's a good thing, or maybe not. Here are a few snippets of it's history from my profile of it: Gilleland's idea was to connect two cannon balls with a long chain, and fire them simultaneously from this new double-barrel cannon, mowing down enemy lines with this wicked...
When the Civil War broke out in 1861, neither the North, nor the South was prepared to engage in a major war. Decades of relative peace had left limited stockpiles of small arms, the rifles and handguns carried by individual soldiers. As tens of thousands of men volunteered to fight alongside their friends and neighbors, those arms stockpiles were quickly exhausted. Purchasing agents for the Union and Confederacy began buying up every European arm they could find, and shipping them back to American ports. As a result, many volunteers during the first two years of the Civil War found themselves using a wide variety of long-arms, including antiquated weapons dating back to the War of 1812. Meanwhile, American gun manufacturers, Sharps...
Image Name / Type Mfr Date No. Mfr. Caliber 1841 U.S. Percussion Rifle "Mississippi" Single Shot Muzzle-loading Rifle 1841 to 1861 100,000 .54/.58 1842 U.S. Percussion Musket "Harper's Ferry Musket" Single Shot Muzzle-loading Smoothbore Musket 1844 to 1855 275,000 .69 Austrian Lorenz Rifle-Musket Single Shot Muzzle-loading Rifle Musket 1854 to 1861 Austrian Import 326,924 .54 1855 U.S. Percussion Rifle-Musket "Harper's Ferry Rifle" Single Shot Muzzle-loading Rifle Musket 1857 to 1861 60,000 .58 1861 Springfield Rifle-Musket Single Shot Muzzle-loading Rifle Musket 1861 to 1865 660,000 .58 1863 Springfield Rifle-Musket Single Shot Muzzle-loading Rifle Musket 1863 to 1865 700,000 .58 1853 Pattern Enfield...
Civil War Cannon-Balls and Cannon-Shells came in a large variety of sizes! Some were as small as a modern baseball, and some were much larger than a modern basketball! Confederate torpedoes, shot, and shells in front of the arsenal, Charleston, SC, 1865. Photo by Selmar Rush Seibert. -National Archives First it's important to note that smoothbore guns typically fired round balls, and rifled guns most frequently fired elongated shot, similar to the shape of bullets you would see in use today. Rifled shot was typically 2 to 4 times heavier than the equivalent Round Ball shot by bore size. HOW BIG WERE CIVIL WAR "CANNON BALLS"? To explain, we will use the size of the cannon's bore, which would be just slightly larger than the...
12-pdr. "Blakely Pattern" Rifle by Fawcett & Preston, Type 6, at the Old Cyclorama Building Gettysburg NMP, ©Mike Kendra, Sept 2002Smuggled into the South by way of blockade runners, the Confederacy purchased and imported many guns during the Civil War. Of these, Blakley's guns were the most common imported type of rifled artillery. Some were also captured by Union ships that managed to capture an unlucky cargo ship attempting to run the blockade. However, much of the documentation of the use and service history of Blakely rifles has been lost to history. In the 1960's, Warren Ripley assigned type numbers to all surviving Blakely rifles in order to simplify the classification and identification of these guns. His type numbers are still...
In Jackson County, a blast furnace was constructed in 1861. Saltpeter was made here in large caves during the war. An incident of interest relative to this county was that at the outbreak of the war, General John B Gordon was operating coal mines here. But he dropped the coal business at the first shot, raised a company called the Raccoon Roughs, which was enlisted in the Sixth Alabama, of which Gordon soon became colonel. Serving on General Gordon's staff was a son of Samuel G. Jones, now Judge Thomas G. Jones. In the county of Cherokee, which adjoins Calhoun, on the north there were three furnaces supplying iron to the Confederate government, the old Round Mountain furnace whose records were given in Moses Stroup's biography, the...
"No. 1" Field Carriage "No. 2" Field Carriage "No. 3" Field Carriage 1st & 2nd Model Prairie Carriages Carriage Weight 900 lbs. 1,125 lbs. 1,175 lbs. 363 lbs. Wheel Height 57" wheels 57" wheels 57" wheels 42" Wheels Distance between trunnion plates 9.6" 11.65" 12.15" 7.0" Height of trunnion axis above ground 43.1" 44.8" 45.2" 30.5" Trunnion Hole Diameter 3.7" 4.25" 4.65" 2.75" Track of Wheels 60" 60" 60" 42.5" Distance of Front of Wheels to End of Trail when gun is in Battery 116.6" 122.75" 122.75" 83.0" Length of Carriage, No Wheels 104.4" 111.4" 113.5" 68.0" Intended for use with these Barrels 6-pdr. Smoothbore Gun 12-pdr. Howitzer 10-pdr. Parrott Rifle 3-inch Ordnance Rifle 12-pdr. Napoleon Gun 24-pdr...
The "Dictator" on flatcar near Petersburg, Va. (Matthew Brady, 1864) -LOC Collection. Large Heavyweight Seacoast Mortars were typically used for defensive purposes at fixed locations, and in Siege operations, but rarely in other offensive operations. The large 13-inch Seacoast Mortar was the largest mortar available in Federal arsenals, the measurement in it's name describing the diameter of the gun bore. Major General Butler conceived the idea of an experiment, making use of a large mortar, to be mounted on a specially designed and reinforced railroad car for this purpose. The chosen mortar was cast at the Fort Pitt Foundry in 1862 by Mr. Charles Knapp, was a famous 13-inch Seacoast Mortar, and used for a short time in the summer and...
VMI Parade Grounds, Lexington, Va. ©James N, 2018. These four "cadet" 6-pounders were designed specially for the use of the students at the Virginia Military Institute. They were slightly lighter than the regulation M1841 6-pounder and were mounted on custom designed smaller carriages. ARTILLERY PROFILE Model: 6 pdr. Smoothbore "Cadet Guns" Type: Four Identical Lightweight Muzzleloading Smoothbore Guns In Service With: Pre-war and Post-war: Virginia Military Institute (V.M.I.) Civil War Years: 1st Rockbridge Artillery, Confederate States Army Under the Command of: Civil War Service: Captain William N. Pendleton Purpose: Training cadets in School of Artillery, without need of horses Current Disposition: On display at the Virginia...
Fredericksburg NMP, ©Mike Kendra, Sept 28, 2013Early in 1861, one of the very first 30-pdr. Parrott Rifles made at the West Point foundry was accepted for Federal Service, shipped to an Arsenal and mated to a Siege Carriage, and sent on to Northern Virginia, and prepared for service. Obviously the gun was designed for service within fortifications and wasn't intended for use in the field. However, this 30-pounder, nicknamed "Long Tom" by its crew, accompanied McDowell's army to Bull Run and would fire the first shot of the battle. The gun was also nicknamed "President Lincoln's baby maker." ARTILLERY PROFILE Type: 30 pdr. "Army" Parrott Rifle Registry No: - 2 Foundry No: - 293 Unit Assigned To: U.S. Army, Battery G, 1st U.S...
Fredericksburg NMP, ©Mike Kendra, Sept 28, 2013 The 30 pdr. Parrott saw service as early as the First Battle of Manassas. A Union 30 pdr. Parrott with Company G, 1st U.S. Artillery fired the opening shot of the battle. The gun was given the nickname "Long Tom" by it's loving crew. Due to the difficulties of moving such a large gun quickly, the gun position was overrun by Confederates. The gun served the South for the remainder of it's lifetime. ARTILLERY PROFILE Type: Rifled Siege Gun In Service With: U.S. Army C.S. Army (Copies & Captured Pieces) Purpose: Reducing Fortifications, Siege Operations Invented By: Robert Parker Parrott in 1861 Rarity (Field): Rare Rarity (Siege and Fortification): Common MANUFACTURING Captain Shaw...
Gun elevated to 35°, At the Arsenal, Washington, D.C. -Mathew Brady, 1862, Washington, D.C. Norman Wiard, a Canadian working for the United States invented several light artillery pieces which, although apparently excellent weapons, do not seem to have been very popular. Wiard advertised his weapons as being made of semi-steel in two calibers: a 6-pdr Rifle with a 2.6 inch bore and a 12-pdr smoothbore with a 4.62 inch bore. However, in practice, only rifled guns were ever sold. ARTILLERY PROFILE Type: Muzzleloading Rifled Field Guns In Service With: U.S. Army Purpose: Support the infantry and cavalry forces in the field Invented By: Norman Wiard Patent: None Found Rarity: Rare MANUFACTURING US Casting Foundry: A mystery yet to be...
Back
Top