Foto Friday --Decoys

[Blessmag]

 

[JOHN42768]

Ye old Quaker gun

 

[JD Mayo]

One of the famous civil war photos during the war.

 

[Lubliner]

Coloration is perfect!
Lubliner.

 

[lupaglupa]

It looks like a diorama

 

[Peter Stines]

Reminds me of "Prince John" Mcgruder and his wooden cannons. He almost fooled the yanks until one of his men picked up and moved one of the guns by himself. Can we say "OOPS"

 

[John S. Carter]

It looks like a diorama

So convincing that it even fooled this cannoneer ! YANKEES! How did the South loose the war again?

 

[67th Tigers]

Reminds me of "Prince John" Mcgruder and his wooden cannons. He almost fooled the yanks until one of his men picked up and moved one of the guns by himself. Can we say "OOPS"

There is no evidence of any quaker guns at Yorktown. There is a lot of evidence of a lot of real guns.

The quaker guns at Centreville (which this is on off) were a ruse to cover the removal of guns for use in the Potomac blockade. It was detected almost immediately.

 

[Saphroneth]

If I recall correctly, at Yorktown McClellan had some units (regiments or brigades) march along the line of the Warwick and had his engineers take note of where the guns were firing at them from, possibly because while you can fake a cannon you can't exactly fake an incoming cannonball...

 

[67th Tigers]

If I recall correctly, at Yorktown McClellan had some units (regiments or brigades) march along the line of the Warwick and had his engineers take note of where the guns were firing at them from, possibly because while you can fake a cannon you can't exactly fake an incoming cannonball...

Yes, the recce of 6th April had two groups; one marching left to right and the other right to left, go across the whole line trying to provoke the enemy.

 

[John S. Carter]

There is no evidence of any quaker guns at Yorktown. There is a lot of evidence of a lot of real guns.

The quaker guns at Centreville (which this is on off) were a ruse to cover the removal of guns for use in the Potomac blockade. It was detected almost immediately.

This soldier must not have been informed that this was real.Makes you wonder how the South loss the war!

 

[Saphroneth]

This soldier must not have been informed that this was real.Makes you wonder how the South loss the war!

It is actually an interesting question as to the source of the photo. It could well have been taken at Centreville either before or after the abandonment, and offhand I'd think it was more likely to have been taken after. (Since if taken before it would be evidence of a gun being fake, which would want to be limited.)

 

[Peter Stines]

He better be "keerful" or he might set his cannon on fire......!

 

[Peter Stines]

So convincing that it even fooled this cannoneer ! YANKEES! How did the South loose the war again?

Seems like I read somewhere that during the seige of Boone'sborough they made a FIRING wooden cannon. It lasted for only a few shots.

 

[Saphroneth]

Seems like I read somewhere that during the seige of Boone'sborough they made a FIRING wooden cannon. It lasted for only a few shots.

It's doable, though the performance suffers because you can't tolerate as high a bore pressure and it's much easier for it to suffer damage. But they're better than nothing.

 

[Peter Stines]

For what it's worth some reenactment groups in Europe use concrete barrels with a steel liner. They look good on the outside and for blanks it works. Casting or turning a bronze or iron tube is said to be extremely costly.

 

[Saphroneth]

For what it's worth some reenactment groups in Europe use concrete barrels with a steel liner. They look good on the outside and for blanks it works. Casting or turning a bronze or iron tube is said to be extremely costly.

There's a reason why it was a specialist industry, and why it took years to ramp up the arms industry in the actual Civil War; you really need mass production to make it cost effective.