Dismounting Guns

[JPK Huson 1863]

Love this because it's kinda a photographic manual of ' how it works '.

 

[drezac]

One thing to keep in mind is the type of artillery - Field or Siege/Heavy.

The photos with the sling carts are Siege or Heavy artillery. as a general rule, field guns were less than 3,000 lbs, siege/heaver 3,000 lbs. or more.
Heavy artillery would be the large guns at forts and garrisons that would be considered permanent. Siege were smaller guns ( but larger than field artillery) that would be placed in positions semi-permanently. Siege guns would be brought in by a "Siege train" ( but not a railroad train) Wagons with supplies, the guns carried on sling carriages, along with the large gun carriages. The carriages could be either large wheeled carriages or carriage like those used for permanent emplacements. The gun emplacements would be constructed, and the Guns mounted on the carriages. When done, the guns would be dismounted from the carriages and placed back on the sling carriages, the gun emplacements dismantled, and moved to the next location.

With Field Artillery, the manual contains the instructions on how to mount and dismount the gun. but for field artillery, this would only need to be done in the field if you were removing the gun to repair damage to the carriage or placing it on a new carriage. It was done completely by manpower - no tools or equipment to help. The cap squares were removed ( the piece on top of the trunion), the breech of gun raised, the the trail was picked up until the tube was resting on the muzzle, the carriage pulled back, then the gun laid down, vent up.

 

[DixieRifles]

The size of the gun gin wasn't so obvious in the first photo that was posted. But as you can see by the last couple of photos, the wheels on that gin is double the typical wheels used on the gun carriage.

 

[UCVRelics]

Here is a great photo that shows all the aspect of loading or unloading guns from a ships at Broadway landing Appomattox river. It took massive amounts of manpower to get these guns where they were needed.

 

[Cpl. Smith]

interesting! were these used to move the big rodman's as well?

 

[JOHN42768]

A lot of good info.

 

[TerryB]

Not every single gun - only the large-caliber siege and garrison guns that made up part of Port Hudson's armament. I worked on Last of the Mohicans as "artillery cordinator" and one day the head of the set design and construction crew asked me if anything had been left out; I told him there was no gun gin. Of course despite his study of period fortifications and artillery, like you he'd given no thought about just HOW those enormous ( and totally anachronistic ) guns would've been hauled around in the wilderness. ( In reality, they wouldn'tve been because cannon that size weren't used in North America! )

A gun gin ( short for engine, like in cotton gin ) is/was a block-and-tackle suspended from a tall tripod and used to mount the tube ( cannon barrel ) onto its carriage. Large siege and garrison pieces were NOT transported any real distance ON their carriages; instead, carriage, wheels, and tube were moved separatly, either dragged or slung under a cart like in this CDV photo, then assembled in place for service. To take it apart is to dismount it, regardless if done by its crew in order to move it to a new location or by enemy counter-battery fire like richard suggests above.

Next time I visited the set, I was happy to see not one but TWO gun gins, a rough-looking one inside the fort and a very nicely-finished one outside in the French trenches!

Edit: JPKH, I misread your original post - you are of course right that when they were originally assembled at the arsenal, each and every tube had to be manhandled onto its carriage, regardless of size; also, when in the field repairs had to be made!

That is some very good technical information. I learn something every time I'm here.

 

[rebelatsea]

They're amazing too! When first let off the leash on LoC ( meaning discovered their plethora of images from the war ), came across several of sling carts. Had no clue what on earth they were so of course asked here at CWT ( someone always has the answers ). Hang on, may have a few in this mess called ' files '.

View attachment 300829

Can anyone ID that weapon ? I know what I think it is but some one out will know for sure.

 

[byron ed]

As for light artillery, there was (and is for reenacting though few units do it) a standard drill for dismounting the tube from the carriage. It involves digging a fairly shallow hole in front of the piece, then pivoting the carriage forward on its axle, trail into the air (controlled by men and ropes), such that the muzzle of the tube drops into the hole dug for it. At that point, the weight of the tube is now independently supported in an upright position by the hole. The trunions can be freed from the cheeks of the carriage and the carriage rolled away. (to observe them, the iron attachment fittings on the cheeks are made for such a quick release, a clamp held down via slot/pin).

This was considered a field replacement procedure, should the cannon tube be hit and dented at the muzzle or cracked or broken off from the stress of firing (yikes!).

Remount drill was a reverse of the dismount drill.

 

[Mike Serpa]

View attachment 19738

Andy beat me to it, but here are a couple of photos I took on the set that show the British ( above ) and French gins in their positions at the right of each photo; they don't show up much in the movie, but I like to think they're my small contribution to the overall look.

View attachment 19739

Here's another much smaller one inside a blockhouse at Sutter's Fort in Sacramento, Calif. showing how they were used on smaller guns like this reproduction Napoleonic-era Russian howitizer. ( It also shows what the KNOB or cascabel at the breech-end of a cannon is there for! )

View attachment 19740

I haven't been to Sutter's Fort in decades! I should go again someday soon.