Petersburg, Va. Railroad gun and crew

tmh10

Major
Joined
Mar 2, 2012
Location
Pipestem,WV
01368v.jpg


  • Title: [Petersburg, Va. Railroad gun and crew]
  • Date Created/Published: [Between 1864 and 1865]
  • Medium: 1 negative (2 plates) : glass, stereograph, wet collodion.
  • Summary: Photo shows Robert E. Lee's railroad battery. (Source: David H. Schneider, "Lee's Armored Car," Civil War Times, Feb. 2011.) Photograph from the main eastern theater of war, the siege of Petersburg, June 1864-April 1865.
  • Reproduction Number: LC-DIG-cwpb-01368 (digital file from original neg. of left half) LC-DIG-cwpb-01367 (digital file from original neg. of right half) LC-B8171-1171 (b&w film copy neg.)
  • Rights Advisory: No known restrictions on publication.
  • Call Number: LC-B811- 1171 [P&P] LOT 4166-E (corresponding print)
 
IMG_5198.jpg


The gun was fitted on on carriage and slide like those in forts (even with the ability to traverse a few degrees, as Bernie interpreted it), so it may have been possible to lock the car down with the brakes. I believe the rifle fired a 32 lb. projectile.
 
This is John M Brooke's "dry land Merrimac" It was a rifled and banded 32pdr (6.4). There is good reason to believe Brooke had designed a much larger versions for the 7" . Whether constructed I don't know.
The recoil should be taken up in part by the gun carriage, but I'm sure the wagon would have moved against it's screw brake even so. You could lay a curved track and aim the gun by moving back and forth round it.
 
On June 4, 1864, Bragg ordered a steamer to fetch Capt. (Lieutenant) Barry, who had commanded the gun in 1862 at Savage Station, and a detachment of artillerymen to serve the piece. Bragg was at Drewry's Bluff, so it is likely he wanted to use the gun, on the Richmond & Petersburg RR, against Butler. There is an indication 2 days later that the gun was in operation.

If anyone knows of any other documentation on the use of this gun, please let me know.

Dave
 
Nice thread. The Civil War was a proving ground for many weapons that would be seen in future wars. This is a good demonstration of using technology to overcome limiting factors (ie. the lack of mobility of large seize guns).
 
Possibly .I have never seen any reference to a steam powered protected vehicle proposal with reference to the ACW,
which I find a bit strange bearing mind all the other inventions and ideas that were put about.
If you had to construct a tank using 1862 technology, I think this is what you'd come up with. All it's missing is the all terrain ability.
 

Bernard is the foremost Civil War modeler in the hobby, having "inherited" that mantle from E. P. Alexander. Had the pleasure of spending some time with him during a Railroad Prototype Modelers conference several years ago in Cocoa Beach, FL.
 
Possibly .I have never seen any reference to a steam powered protected vehicle proposal with reference to the ACW, which I find a bit strange bearing mind all the other inventions and ideas that were put about.

Winans developed a "steam gun," but that was used to fire the projectile, rather than propulsion of the vehicle.

1280px-Frank_Leslie%27s_Illustrated_Newspaper_-_1861-05-18_-_p1_-_Winans_Steam_Gun.png
 
Winans developed a "steam gun," but that was used to fire the projectile, rather than propulsion of the vehicle.

1280px-Frank_Leslie%27s_Illustrated_Newspaper_-_1861-05-18_-_p1_-_Winans_Steam_Gun.png
It amazes me how long it took for someone to hook a steam engine to an axle that didn't require tracks. I guess weight reduction and pneumatic tires were a huge requirement. Along with better roads... Those news reels of Germans getting stuck in Russian mud holes during Operation Barbarossa are pretty ominous.
 
It amazes me how long it took for someone to hook a steam engine to an axle that didn't require tracks. I guess weight reduction and pneumatic tires were a huge requirement. Along with better roads... Those news reels of Germans getting stuck in Russian mud holes during Operation Barbarossa are pretty ominous.

There are reports of non-tracked steam vehicles existing as early as 1769.
 
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