Lt.Arty The Athens Double Barrel Cannon

frontrank2

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In the town of Athens, Georgia sits a unique bit of artillery history. As the title implies it is a double barreled cannon! It was designed for warfare, but saw none. This was the brainchild of John Gilleland, a dentist, mechanic, and builder. He was able to raise enough money from the citizens of Athens to get the gun built for $350. Cast in one piece, the gun featured side-by-side bores, each a little over 3 inches in diameter and splayed slightly outward so the shots would diverge and stretch the chain taut. The two barrels have a divergence of 3 degrees, and the cannon was designed to shoot simultaneously two cannonballs connected by a chain to "mow down the enemy somewhat as a scythe cuts wheat."
Upon it's first test firing it was aimed at a target of two upright poles, uneven combustion of the powder and casting imperfections in the barrels gave the connected balls a spinning movement in an off-center direction, with witnesses reporting that on its first firing it "plowed up about an acre of ground, tore up a cornfield, mowed down saplings, and then the chain broke, the two balls going in different directions."
On the second attempt the chain shot across the horizon and into a thicket of pine. "[The] thicket of young pines at which it was aimed looked as if a narrow cyclone or a giant mowing machine had passed through", reported another witness.
With the third try the chain snapped immediately and one ball tore into a nearby cabin, knocking down its chimney, the other spun off erratically and struck a nearby cow, killing it instantly. Gilleland considered the test-firings a success. Gilleland tried to sell his idea to the Confederate Arsenal in Augusta, Georgia, but they deemed it unfit for service. He continued to try to promote his invention to other military leaders around Augusta, but failed to interest anyone. Finally his contraption was used as a signal gun in Athens to warn against advancing Federal soldiers.

800px-Doublebarreledcannonathensgeorgia-I.jpg


Doublebarreledcannonathensgeorgia-II.jpg
 
I presume that is the original field piece in your photos. Amazing. Actually, I was told about solid shot connected by chains in my boyhood. I can't remember the specifics now because...well....that was LONG time ago. It is possible that I was being told about this very weapon. Or, perhaps chained shot was not uncommon. You artillery experts out there can feel free to enlighten me and I'll appreciate it.
 
Chain and bar shot were used in naval battles during the Napoleonic wars to sever stays and ultimately bring down masts....maybe one of our CW naval experts could tell us whether it was still in use in the 1860's.
 
Chain and bar shot were used in naval battles during the Napoleonic wars to sever stays and ultimately bring down masts....maybe one of our CW naval experts could tell us whether it was still in use in the 1860's.
You beat me to it, but that's correct. The chained shot was fired from a regular cannon tube. I don't know if they were still being used by the Civil War, but I doubt it. From peidview.com,

"In artillery, a chain-shot is an obsolete type of naval ammunition formed of two sub-calibre balls, or half-balls, chained together. Bar shot is similar, but joined by a solid bar. They were used in naval warfare in the age of sailing ships and black powder cannons to shoot masts, or to cut the shrouds and any other rigging of a target ship.[1]

Chain shot was used by the defenders of Magdeburg in May 1631 as an anti-personnel load, which according to counselor Otto von Guericke was one reason for the extreme violence of the victorious attackers.[2]

When fired, after leaving the muzzle, the shot's components tumble in the air, and the connecting chain fully extends. In past use, as much as six feet of chain would sweep through the target. However, the tumbling made both bar and chain shot less accurate, so they were used at shorter ranges.[3]

Chain shot was normally not used as an anti-personnel load; this role was fulfilled more effectively and at lower cost by canister shot or grapeshot."

museum_chainshot.jpg

https://pediaview.com/openpedia/Chain-shot
 
It was a good idea, but the primary problem was simultaneous combustion of two charges. Maybe if there had been one chamber?
 
Posted this thread on the cannon a while back
http://civilwartalk.com/threads/double-barreled-cannon.79246/

Also there is a page on it here in CWTalk's CivilWarWiki
http://civilwarwiki.net/wiki/Athens_Double-Barrelled_Cannon

Further info on its use in the defense of Athens:
"Upon its return the gun was placed in front of the town hall to be used as a signal gun in case of attack.
There it remained until August 2, 1864, when it was hauled out of town to the hills by Barber Creek to meet the approach of Brig. Gen. George Stoneman and his Union troops.
The double barrel cannon was positioned on a ridge along with several other conventional cannons. Both barrels were loaded with canister shot. The homeguard units were heavily out numbered, but as the Union troops approached the Athens homeguard fired a four shell barrage including the double barrel cannon. Against such stiff resistance the Union troops withdrew."

From the other link posted by frontrank:
"James W. Camak claimed in an article in the Magazine of Antique Firearms, reprinted in the July 1915 Confederate Veteran, that the Cannon was used by Lumpkin's Artillery when they repelled Stoneman's Raiders at Barbers Creek on August 2, 1864. The cannon was loaded with canister. The Athens papers did not describe this action in any detail. They were going to press and a thousand murderous Yankees attempting to cross the Oconee did not warrant holding the presses.

Two other articles making this assertion have appeared in the Confederate Veteran, the latest by Donald B. Parr, Jr. in 1990. Parr contends that the Double Barrel Cannon was placed in the bottom tier of cannon and, following a four shell barrage, both barrels were discharged simultaneously dispersing the Yankees. The August 10, 1864, Southern Banner reported four shells being fired but made no mention of the Double Barrel Cannon or canister being used. The Banner also reported a Yankee Lieutenant killed and four men wounded. When the Yankees came to Athens in 1865 they took no chances and spiked the Cannon."
http://www.aboutnorthgeorgia.com/ang/Athen's_Double_Barrel_Cannon
 
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It has been years but when PBS did their, I believe, Shelle Foote civil war documentary, it was mentioned that the North tried to use a system of 2 cannon, which were eailsy 50 yards part, w/ a ball in each attached 2 a single chain. If the 2 cannons did not fire at the same millisecond, the results were worse for the north than the south. The concept was soon abandoned for this reason.
 
"[The] thicket of young pines at which it was aimed looked as if a narrow cyclone or a giant mowing machine had passed through", reported another witness.
With the third try the chain snapped immediately and one ball tore into a nearby cabin, knocking down its chimney, the other spun off erratically and struck a nearby cow, killing it instantly.
An unlucky cabin and a very unlucky cow.
 
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