13in Mortar - "Dictator" at Petersburg

Frederick14Va

Sergeant Major
Joined
Oct 14, 2013
Location
Virginia
The massive Model 1861 13 inch Siege-Sea Coast Mortar. The gun tube itself weighs over 17,000 pounds and could fire a 13 inch, near 200 pound shell nearly 2.5 miles.

This image reportedly taken in the summer of 1864 near Petersburg Va. The only such artillery piece of this size and type used there. Gen Butler conceived the idea of making use of this beast by mounting it on a specially designed and reinforced railroad car for this purpose. The Federals extended a curved r...ailroad spur line just for it, near their Battery #3. A detachment of Battery-G of the 1st Connecticut Artillery was designated to man it about July 8th 1864. Its primary objective was counter battery fire against a Confederate artillery battery located across the river that was playing havoc upon the Federal lines, referred to as the “Chesterfield Battery”. It was hidden behind a crest of a hill and direct fire on it wasn’t very effective. The mortar firing rather large projectiles at a very high angle proved to be better effective . It earned the nickname of both the “Petersburg Express” as well as its more familiar title of the “Dictator”.

On July 11th while firing its fifth round the railroad car carriage broke. Another car was sent and the damaged rail car was repaired, and firing resumed. After the debacle and failure to break the Confederate lines in the Battle of the Crater on July 30th, orders were received to remove all the heavy artillery and equipment’s out of Petersburg, pending an intended move of the army. The Dictator was hauled off to City Point after only having fired 45 shells out of it up to that time.

The army didn’t move out, and many of the heavy guns returned to the fortifications and trench lines around Petersburg. The Dictator returned back to its previous location about Aug 6th. Now manned by a detachment of Battery-I of the 1st Conn Artillery. Intermittingly engaged and firing an additional 173 rounds before it was taken out of service on Sept 30th, and sent off back to their base of operations at City Point (Hopewell Va) not to be utilized again. The Siege of Petersburg however would carry on for another six months till April 1865.

About 162 of the M1861 13in Mortars were made for both the Army and Navy, only about 27 are known to have survived.
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A different angle view below of the same. On July 20th the detachment was ordered to relocate their camp to near the gun, so this image would have been taken after that time. Also of note is the second rail car parked beside the previous one... that is now greatly reinforced, expanded, and cribbed up.
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I have a large colorized copy of picture #2 hanging on the wall of my "man room" with a 13" Mortar Ball below it and I believe that this picture symbolizes the rank and file of both armies in the Civil War. Just a bunch of tired, dirty men wanting to get their job done and go home.
 
Here I am with the Dictator on site last year.

Does anyone know if it is the exact same location?

I got interested in this same question in a previous thread and researched it a little bit. I decided that the pathway that runs behind the current location is likely the original location of the railroad that serviced it. The dugout pit that it currently sits in is probably a post-war creation since all of the wartime photos clearly show a firing platform located behind the hill, not dug into it. It is also interesting that the period accounts all talk about it firing from a special reinforced railroad car, and yet the photos clearly show it mounted on a permanent fixed platform with the railroad car only being used to transport supplies. I'm guessing that the discrepancy is explained by the op's account of the 1st railroad car breaking on the 5th shot, so it was likely replaced by the more structurally sound platform seen in the photographs. Here is the link to the previous thread:

http://civilwartalk.com/threads/the-dictator.122859/
 
According to the Artillery commander in charge of all the Heavy Artillery used at Petersburg... further confirmed by reports and writings of the detachment that served the piece.... The original railroad platform broke... they sent the second one... according to those.. the mortar was shifted over to the second car so the first one could be repaired and further shored up... then it was returned to the first platform and resumed action. In the third image above, I think the first car is still there, but the additional heavy cribbing and supports added in and expanded, obscure the view of it... We can see the second car which is more visible parked behind the first... The second car was used to move it back to City Point and then later returned using same.

The current location at Petersburg NPS is relatively in the same area... The current spot may or maynot be the exact location of where the cribbed up first car was sitting... but fairly close at least.... the terrain differed a bit along that path... as can be seen in this added image, which doesn't show a steep bank on the side of the tracks like the others

Here is another image of it sitting on one of the RR cars... not known if this is an earlier photo of when it was first placed there or on its transport car. The Army also used that same short spur line to deliver ammunition and supplies for it and as a drop off point for other nearby fortifications, which may be evidenced here as well in this image... can see the box cars with a foot board to it laying across the gap, and open doors...

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We'll just have to disagree about a railroad car being under those supports. I don't see it, and would argue that the supports that are visible preclude even the possibility that it is under there. Those are pretty heavy timbers that clearly extend the length of the platform imo.
 
I have to keep wondering about the recoil, with it being a mortar (optimum firing angle 45 degrees) I would think that most of the force had to be transferred downward; but still I would think that it would still go backwards-just how far and how fast? It had to have the ability to dissipate through the rolling motion of the car or else the mortar would do the traveling off of the car. Also, the track that this car was used on had to be curved so that the mortar could be aimed.
 
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We'll just have to disagree about a railroad car being under those supports. I don't see it, and would argue that the supports that are visible preclude even the possibility that it is under there. Those are pretty heavy timbers that clearly extend the length of the platform imo.

Just relaying what the actual soldiers wrote and reported that were actually there and served that piece.... In one of the other period accounts it mentions that they built up additional timber supports and cribbing around the existing repaired car to further stabilize it... with the surrounding cribbing as mentioned the existing car would be difficult to see or recognize within.

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Just relaying what the actual soldiers wrote and reported that were actually there and served that piece.... In one of the other period accounts it mentions that they built up additional timber supports and cribbing around the existing repaired car to further stabilize it... with the surrounding cribbing as mentioned the existing car would be difficult to see or recognize within.

View attachment 107166

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I have to keep wondering about the recoil, with it being a mortar (optimum firing angle 45 degrees) I would think that most of the force had to be transferred downward; but still I would think that it would still go backwards-just how far and how fast? It had to have the ability to dissipate through the rolling motion of the car or else the mortar would do the traveling off of the car. Also, the track that this car was used on had to be curved so that the mortar could be aimed.

The Artillery officers serving this piece reported that the recoil of the mortar upon the rail car platform was "less than two feet"...

The initial idea was to have it moved about on the curved track to be utilized and aimed against different targets... However majority of its use was for counter battery fire to silence the single Confederate battery across the river... This is what majority of its service was used for... so moving it along the track as initially designed was no longer necessary.. it sat in a simple static position thereafter.
 

That is fascinating, thank you for those excerpts! However, I will stick by my original assertion that there is no railroad car beneath the platform in the photographs, the beams preclude the possibility imo. (I suppose I should add that I have a degree in Mechanical Engineering, so it is an opinion based on solid experience.) There is also no evidence of any iron plating or iron tie rods in any of the photographs; the platform in the photograph simply does not match what is being described in the excerpt above. The existence of a permanent firing platform by the time the photos were taken does not mean that the records of railroad cars being used is incorrect, they aren't mutually exclusive propositions. In fact, a permanent firing platform that followed the use of railroad cars is consistent with your last post about a static position.
 
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The Dictator is our cover image for the 2017 Civil War In Color Calendar. You can find it here. If you are attending the CWT reunion at Gettysburg in September it is available at a reduced rate here.

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From what I have read the fate of the original "Dictator" is unknown. This may have been the same type of weapon, but not the specific one featured in the images on this thread.

The mortar currently on display at Petersburg NPS is not the original "Dictator"... Once the original was sent back to City Point its path and travels out from there remains sketchy and fragmented. Unfortunately most of the Ord returns and records do not include the listed weapons respective gun numbers, which would have greatly help identify a specific given gun. There is one on display at the Conn State house which is labeled as the original, but lots of debate and speculation upon that being the original gun... and some credible evidence would suggest it likely isnt.

Out of the reported 162 13in m1861 mortars reported to have been made, only about 27 are currently known to still exist. Petersburg had a bear of a time procuring one for the park. For many years they had a fake concrete one painted black... sitting there, so at least people could have a clue what one looked like and its size... Finally they procured one in a trade with another NPS site in SC...
 
The mortar currently on display at Petersburg NPS is not the original "Dictator"... Once the original was sent back to City Point its path and travels out from there remains sketchy and fragmented. Unfortunately most of the Ord returns and records do not include the listed weapons respective gun numbers, which would have greatly help identify a specific given gun. There is one on display at the Conn State house which is labeled as the original, but lots of debate and speculation upon that being the original gun... and some credible evidence would suggest it likely isnt.

Out of the reported 162 13in m1861 mortars reported to have been made, only about 27 are currently known to still exist. Petersburg had a bear of a time procuring one for the park. For many years they had a fake concrete one painted black... sitting there, so at least people could have a clue what one looked like and its size... Finally they procured one in a trade with another NPS site in SC...
There is one on the Battery in Charleston SC and one (I believe) on a college campus up North.
 
There is one on the Battery in Charleston SC and one (I believe) on a college campus up North.

There are a number of this size mortar that still exist, the question is are any of them "The Dictator". It was a named gun and had a specific serial number. From my understanding THE weapon in the image has been lost. See here for more information.
 
The NPS trail marker at the current site of The Dictator describes it as "Famous but militarily ineffective..."

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Ummm..., after further research, I am convinced that the current location of the Dictator is incorrect.

The first pieces of the puzzle are these tables from the official records that clearly state that the 13-in mortar was located near Battery No. 3. The fact that it is located near Battery No. 3 in 2 separate tables is pretty strong evidence to me that this is not a typo or any other type of error. Also, note that there were 30-pound Parrots and 8 in mortars near Battery No. 5, so we also know what was actually at that location.
Dictator 1.jpg

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Ok, so where was Battery No. 3 located? Here is a map of the batteries, Battery No. 3 is clearly located on the west side of the railroad in between the river and the railroad. Battery No. 5 is located east of the railroad near the location of the current NPS visitor's center.
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Where is the current NPS location for the Dictator? It is near Battery No. 5 on the east side of the railroad. Note that he NPS map of the battlefield locates the various batteries in the same locations as the map above, which puts Battery No. 3 west of the railroad which is the boundary for park service land.
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So what is currently at the location of Battery No. 3? It appears to be near where the Chesterfield Auto Parts store is, or a little south of it based on the locations of the creeks in the maps. You also can see a line in the field to the right of the auto parts store in this satellite view that is the remains of the old railroad spur used by the Dictator.
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Ironically the regular Google map view also clearly shows the old railroad spur even though it is no longer all there.
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I even have an idea of possibly how it ended up in the wrong place. Alexander Gardner's Sketchbook places it near Battery No. 5, where the 8 in mortars were actually located.
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Here is another document indicating that it was actually located near Battery No. 3, followed by another map placing Battery No. 3 on the west side of the railroad. The strange thing to me is that these battery numbers come from the original Confederate fortifications and it appears that the Union soldiers continued to use the same nomenclature. I have yet to find any maps that indicate the Union designations refer to anything other than the original Confederate battery locations. The Gardner Sketchbook also places Battery No. 5 near the Jordan house, which agrees with all of the maps. It seems he was referring to the same battery locations that the maps indicate, he just placed the Dictator near the wrong battery.
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Here is another document that places the Dictator near the Appomattox River Road, along with a map showing that the river road ran parallel to the river on the west side of the railroad tracks. If you go back up to the modern Google map that shows the spur line, you can see that modern road 645 takes the same path as the old river road. The spur line meets it at the Chesterfield auto parts store.
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A couple IDs in the first photo. 1st Connecticut Heavy Artillery - Up front: Col. H.L. Abbott, Mag. Gen. Henry J. Hunt
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IDs from "Campaign for Petersburg," Richard Wayne Lykes, 1970, Page 23
 
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