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The Artilleryman | Spring 2017 | Vol. 38, No. 2
CONTENTS
6
GREEK FIRE INCENDIARY SHELLS AGAINST CHARLESTON Incendiary projectiles explained in detail. By Col. John Biemeck (Ret.).
14
THE FORT BRANCH CANNON
22
ARTILLERY PROJECTILES DOCUMENTED IN THE OFFICIAL MILITARY ATLAS OF THE CIVIL WAR
The recovery of the Fort Branch, N.C. cannon. By Lawrence E. Babits, Greg Stratton and Peter Norris.
.Gen. Henry Abbot’s work identified in the Atlas correctly. By Jack Bell.
34
CIVIL WAR CANNON OF LOWELL, MASSACHUSETTS
38
WHAT HAZARDS DO BLACK POWDER PROJECTILES POSE?
40
WHERE WAS THE GROWLER?
50
THE 16-INCH/50 CALIBER RIFLE
56
ARMSTRONG’S GUNS GUARD FALLEN FEDERAL SOLDIERS
63
THE ARTILLERIST BOOKSHELF
64
CLASSIFIED ADS
GAR mounted IX-inch Dahlgren shell guns guarding Veterans. By Mike Kelley.
Black powder projectiles explained in detail. By Col. John Biemeck (Ret.).
An unsolved mystery of a IX-inch Dahlgren gun in Atlanta. By Stephen Davis. The Biggest Guns in the West! By Justin M. Ruhge. Captured 12-pounder Armstrong rifles unique history. By Ron Bupp.
Book review of Guns Afloat: U.S. Army Riverine Artillery in Vietnam. By John M. Carrio. Reviewed by Peter A. Frandsen.
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Consultants:
Lawrence Babits, Ph.D, Thomas Bailey, Craig D. Bell, Jack Bell, Jim Bender, Col. John Biemeck (Ret.), Stephen Davis, Ph.D., Leonard Draper, Glenn Dutton, David Gotter, Butch & Anita Holcombe, Les Jensen, Gordon L. Jones, Ph.D., Mike Kent, Lewis Leigh Jr., William E. Lockridge, Donald Lutz, John Morris, Michael J. O’Donnell, Hayes Otoupalik, Bernie Paulson, Bruce Paulson, Lawrence E. Pawl, M.D., Craig Swain, Matthew Switlik, Bill Tracy and Mike Ward.
Black Powder Explosive Ordnance Assistance Colonel John Biemeck, Ret.
Black Powder Explosive Ordnance Assistance (Identification, threat assessment, handling, storage, technical and deactivation assistance) for Government, State and Municipal Agencies. Contact Colonel John Biemeck, Ordnance Corps, U.S. Army (Retired), 804-224-5800 or cell 804-3660562. This service is offered as a courtesy to government agencies by The Artilleryman in an effort to preserve antique explosive black powder projectiles for future generations. Printed proudly and responsibly in the United States of America. All rights reserved under International and PanAmerican Copyright Conventions. No part of this magazine may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review. The information contained herein is for the general history and background of our readers and The Artilleryman assumes no liability for loading or shooting data which may be published in this magazine. The circumstances surrounding the loading and discharge of firearms mentioned are beyond our control and are unique to the particular instance being described. We hereby disclaim any responsibility for persons attempting to duplicate loading data or shooting conditions referenced herein and specifically recommend against relying solely on this material. Readers are cautioned that black powder varies according to grain size, type, date of manufacture and supplier, and that firing of antique or replica ordnance should not be undertaken without adequate training and experience in procedures and loads. Articles, Photographs and Image Submittals: The Author(s), Photographer(s) will indemnify the Publisher against any loss, injury, or damage (including any legal costs or expenses and any compensation costs and disbursements paid by the Publisher) occasioned to the Publisher in connection with or in consequence or any breach of the Author’s warranties and which the Publisher is not able to recover.
Founding Publisher: C. Peter Jorgensen Publisher: Jack W. Melton Jr. Editor: Larry Babits Book Reviews: Peter A. Frandsen Advertising: mail@ArtillerymanMagazine.com Webmaster: Carson Jenkins Jr. Graphic Designer: Squeegie Studios InDesign Guru: Neil Stewart
Contact Information: Historical Publications LLC The Artilleryman 520 Folly Road, Suite P-379 Charleston, SC 29412 800-777-1862 Email: mail@artillerymanmagazine.com Website: ArtillerymanMagazine.com Hours 9-5 EDT, Monday-Thursday The Artilleryman Magazine (ISSN: 088404747) Copyright © 2017 by Historical Publications LLC is published quarterly by Historical Publications LLC, 520 Folly Road, Suite P-379, Charleston, SC 29412. Quarterly. Business and Editorial Offices: 520 Folly Road, Suite P-379, Charleston, SC 29412, Accounting and Circulation Offices: Historical Publications LLC, 520 Folly Road, Suite P-379, Charleston, SC 29412. Call 800-777-1862 to subscribe. Application to mail at Periodicals postage prices at Charleston, SC and additional mailing offices (if applicable). POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Historical Publications LLC. 520 Folly Road, Suite P-379, Charleston, SC 29412. Contributions of editorial material and photographs are welcomed at the above address.
Subscription rates: $34.95 for a one-year subscription and $64.95 for a two-year in U.S. International individually priced. U.S. bank checks or credit cards accepted. About the Cover: 15-inch Rodman smoothbore gun defending Fort McHenry in Baltimore Harbor. Photograph by Jack W. Melton Jr. ArtillerymanMagazine.com
| Vol. 38, No. 2
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Jack W. Melton Jr. Publisher
The Artilleryman Magazine is now 64 full pages of color starting with this issue. That is one additional magazine page equivalent per year. The subscription cost has increased to $34.95 for a one-year subscription and $64.95 for a two-year subscription in the United States. We are always looking for articles that appeal to both beginner enthusiasts as well as to the advanced artillerist. Please submit text in Word format and high resolution (300 dpi) photographs/images. If your images are small enough to send via email, please do so. Otherwise, send them using www.wetransfer.com or another large file delivery service. We will be attending the upcoming Baltimore Antique Arms Show, the Ohio Civil War Show and the Gettysburg Civil War Show. If you will be attending any one of these shows, please stop by our table and say hello. If you have suggestions, please email us at mail@artillerymanmagazine.com or call us at 800-777-1862. Your comments, concerns and compliments are always welcome. We welcome Larry Babits as the editor for The Artilleryman Magazine. We welcome his experience, knowledge of the subject, enthusiasm and editing skills. Larry has considerable experience in military and maritime archaeology. After earning degrees at the University of Maryland (BA, MA) and Brown University (Ph.D.), he taught 4
The Artilleryman
at Washington and Lee University, Armstrong State College, and East Carolina University. He retired as Director, Program in Maritime Studies, East Carolina University in 2012. Babits has been a military reenactor since 1961 with “service” as a sailor or infantryman in periods as diverse as 1585 and the Vietnam War, but primarily as a “rear rank private” in
the Revolutionary and Civil War First Maryland Regiment. He has shot competitively with crossbows, matchlocks, flintlocks, percussion and cartridge weapons. He also served as a crewman on the U.S. Brig Niagara from 1996 to 2004. From June 17, 1963 until June 16, 1966, Babits served in the U.S. Army’s 1st Battalion, 21st Infantry (Gimlets)
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during a tour of duty in Munich and Berlin. After completing service as a Sergeant E-5, he went “on the road,” traveling between England and Afghanistan on the local economy. He was the McCann-Taggert Lecturer for the American Institute of Archaeology in 1995 and was named a George Washington Distinguished Professor of Larry Babits History, North Carolina Society of the Editor Cincinnati (2000) and Fellow, Company of Military Historians (2007). His publications include over 100 book reviews, papers, and the reports, “Fort Dobbs on the Carolina Frontier” and “Archaeological Investigations at Causton’s Bluff, Chatham County, and Georgia.” His books include “Long, obstinate and Bloody” The Battle of Guilford Courthouse (co-authored with Joshua Howard), Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2009; Fields of Conflict: Battlefield Archaeology from Sparta to the Korean War (co-edited with Douglas D. Scott and Charles Haecker), Potomac Press, 2006; A Devil of a Whipping - The Battle of Cowpens. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1998 and Maritime Archaeology - A Guide to Theoretical and Substantive Contributions (co-edited with Hans Van Tilburg). New York: Plenum Press, 1998.
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FOR SALE
Interesting little cannon by Strong Firearms Company of New Haven Connecticut USA. 28 inch bronze tube, 1.5 inch bore with limber, and accessories box. Used by a GAR Post for special events. Also have a much larger 42 inch, 2.5 inch bore Strong on a field carriage available.
Contact Robert at 215-651-3478 or albrecht.rob68@gmail.com ArtillerymanMagazine.com
| Vol. 38, No. 2
5
Wartime photographer Samuel A. Cooley captured the gun crew of this 8-inch, 200-pounder Parrott rifle in Fort Chatfield on Morris Island. (Library of Congress)
O
ne of the primary objectypes of incendiary weapons throughBerney’s first projectile used hytives of the Lincoln Govout history, it was Alfred Berney who draulic pressure to burst the shell, but ernment was to capture developed the first feasible American the charge in the bursting tube was too Charleston, South Carolina, and close incendiary projectile. He patented small and ineffectively burst the shell. the port. In Union eyes, it was the his invention on November 11, 1862, It saw very limited action, if any, and “center of resident evil” in the ConfedPatent No. 36,934, and then revised the writer isn’t aware of any battlefield eracy as it was the first state to secede his design on July 7, 1863, Patent No. recoveries. Berney improved his rifrom the Union and it fired the first 39,112. He had previously patented an fled projectile by casting two separate shot of the War upon Fort Sumter. incendiary mixture on June 17, 1862, compartments in the casing so that The Union Navy began blockading patent No. 35,650 and subsequently the nose contained a small bursting the port in early 1862, but attempts to developed a method to deliver it. charge and the larger rear cavity concapture Charleston were thwarted by Berney’s early patent models used tained packed cotton with an incenstubborn Confederate resistance, foran ordinary common shell packed diary fluid. The incendiary fluid was midable artillery batteries and forts; with cotton. It had a bursting tube inserted through the base by removing and the swamps, mud flats and marsh inserted through the fuse hole down a large nut with a copper washer. Since lands that prevented a land approach. the length of the shell. It had a small the shell had to burst on target, a perThe Union Navy mounted massive asbrass filler plug on the side where the cussion fuse was used to detonate the saults on the forts with monitors and incendiary liquid was inserted before shell on contact. The charge was large powerful gunboats that enough to burst the casing were repelled in every case. and dispense the flaming Dec. 24. “Twas the night before Christmas,” but Despite the most intense cotton, but not so large as all in the house was stirring as lively as a cat for a artillery bombardments in to atomize the fluid and mouse. We were hurling shell and our Yankee sort of naval history, the fortificanot start a fire. Berney’s riGreek fire into the city of Charleston. We sent a shell tions stood firm and could fled incendiary shells were every five minutes from our 200-pounder Parrotts in not be destroyed. produced in three calibers: As the siege contin30-pounder, 4.2-inch ParFort Chatfield [Morris Island]. This music kept up ued, Federal forces slowly rott, 100-pounder, 6.4-inch an animated dance among the rebels, and they angained ground on Morris Parrott, and 200-pounder, swered us to the best of their ability. About midnight and Black Islands where 8-inch Parrott. we could see three fires in the city; two of them quite they established long range During this period Robclose together, and within the range of our pieces. We batteries that could reach ert L. Fleming had also inferred, what we afterwards learned, that our shells the city of Charleston. As developed an incendiary had occasioned the conflagration, at least in part, and 6.4-inch, 100-pounder and fluid that he claimed was the Charlestonians had a severe task in subduing the 8-inch, 200-pounder Parsuperior and should be flames. This loss to the city was a very heavy one. rott rifles arrived they were used in Berney’ compartemplaced in the works and mented shells. Levi Short Charleston came under an intense firing. Berney’s incendiary fluid is developed a third type, a solid incenbombardment, but due to extreme detailed in the patent, but it’s basidiary mixture that could convert orranges over 4,000 yards, the fire was cally nothing more than combustible dinary common shells to incendiary relatively inaccurate. The long range fluids of the time such as turpentine, shells. Short’s invention consisted of Union fire also experienced problems coal tar distillates, benzene and other what he called a “fire stick” that was with fuse and sabot failures resulting early forms of crude oil distillates. dropped through the fuse hole to fill in an exceptionally high “dud’ rate. The Army and Navy actually bought the shell before loose black powder President Lincoln and the War Desome of Berney’s spherical incendiary was added. This was not unlike a propartment got interested in attempting shells in 8-inch and 9-inch calibers, cedure that had been used for years to burn Charleston down by using inbut they didn’t perform to expectawhere portfire was cut-up into short cendiary shells filled with what was tions and weren’t reliable fire-starters. lengths and inserted in an ordinary called “Greek Fire,” a flammable mixThey weren’t used to any extent and shell to convert it to a shrapnel/inture. “Greek Fire” is a generic term for many have been found with no burstcendiary projectile. Short patented his an incendiary weapon dating back to ing charge because they were fired as device on May 5, 1863, patent 38,424, ancient times and was used by Civil solid shot. In fact an early form of incalling it “Short’s American Greek War era inventors to describe their incendiary shell had been fired into the Fire.” cendiary compounds. While every serbatteries at Cockpit Point, Va., in 1861 Neither Berney, Fleming nor Short vice had experimented with various without any visible affect. could get the attention of the services ArtillerymanMagazine.com
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Federal 30-Pounder Parrott Berney’s Incendiary Shell Fleming’s Composition Closeup of the cotton waste.
What I do claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is— 1. The composition for filling shells, composed of the materials and in the proportions substantially as set forth. 2. As a new manufacture, a fire-shell composed of a hollow shot, A, short tube or chamber C, for the bursting-charge of powder, and the filling B, all substantially and for the purpose set forth and described. Alfred Berney
Drawing by author of a production incendiary shell.
Alfred Berney’s patented incendiary shell with its two compartments.
This projectile was recovered from near Fort Hell, Petersburg, Virginia. Length of body without fuse or bolt is 11.81 inches. The brass sabot has five lands and grooves impressions from the 30-pounder Parrott rifle. The hex head nut is 2.06 inches overall length with a thread diameter of 1.14 inches and has twelve threads per inch. The hex head measures 1.54 x 1.62 inches and is .58 inch thick. The hole in the base is 1.07 inches in diameter. The incendiary shell contains two compartments, the lower one filled with the incendiary composition and the upper one contained the bursting charge. Depth of the incendiary cavity to the base of the shell is 7.25 inches. Incendiary material was soaked in creosote/turpentine type liquid which has a golden color. Weight is measured without the incendiary composition or the black powder bursting charge. More information is found in Abbot’s book Siege Artillery In The Campaigns Against Richmond, pages 97-99, Plate II, Fig. 11.
Diameter: 4.12 inches Bore Diameter: 4.20 inches Gun: 30-pounder Parrott Rifle Length: 12.9 inches Weight: 23.2 pounds (empty) 8
The Artilleryman
Construction: Incendiary Shell Fusing System: Percussion, Parrott Fusing Material: Zinc Fuse Threads Diameter: 1.12 inches Fuse Hole Length: 3.5 inches
Sabot: Ring, brass, Type III Sabot Height-Width: .62 inch Wall Thickness: .75 inch, estimated Matrix Material: N/A Case Shot Material: N/A
The materials which I use as my filling composition are the following, and I employ them in about the proportions set forth, viz: For making, say, twelve pounds, I take of benzole of good quality, four pounds; crude petroleum, two pounds; coal-tar, two pounds; turpentine, two pounds; residuum from distilled petroleum, one pound; coal-oil from coal-tar, one pound. These proportions may be varied and some of the materials may be omitted; but the proportions I have given are the best, and each of the ingredients adds to the value of the compound. After the materials are thoroughly mixed, they may be kept in close barrels or tanks for use. When to be applied in filling shells, the shell is first filled with what is known as “cotton waste,” or some similar fibrous material, and the composition is then poured into the shell and a tight plug put in to prevent leakage. The use of the cotton waste is to absorb the liquid and prevent its scattering too much on the explosion of the shell; and I would here remark that I have found by experience that cotton waste applied in the manner set forth is the best instrumentality for filling shells of any description with any kind of inflammable liquid. Alfred Berney
Alfred Berney and Mr. Fleming were two incendiary inventors. Berney’s patent information is illustrated here as Fleming did not patent his invention. Berney’s incendiary composition was tested at Petersburg in 100-pounder Parrott shells and Fleming’s was tested with 30-pounder Parrott shells. The cotton waste, soaked in incendiary material, was removed from the shell above to conserve the projectile. Courtesy The Atlanta History Center, Thomas S. Dickey Sr. Civil War Collection.
According to Union Gen. Henry L. Abbot, the bursting charge was 4.5 ounces for this above shell. Fifteen 30-pounder Parrott shells filled with Mr. Fleming’s incendiary composition were fired during the Siege of Petersburg, Virginia, with a range of three hundred yards. Ordnance Office, September 10, 1864. Sir: You will please make twenty 30-pounder Parrott shells and fill them with a mixture to be furnished by Mr. Fleming, who will visit you in a day or two. Turn them over to Captain Hill, and report to this office when they are ready. Respectfully, your obedient servant, GEO. D. RAMSAY, Brigadier General, Chief of Ordnance. ArtillerymanMagazine.com
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so they went to President Lincoln for assistance, aided by Congressmen and influential individuals. Lincoln arranged for a demonstration of Levi Short’s shell in January 1862 and was impressed, but the Army and Navy Ordnance Departments were not. Berney’s shell was also demonstrated for Lincoln; on February 16, 1863 the President sent a memorandum to the War Department and Secretary of the Navy to appoint an officer from each department to test Berney’s incendiary shell and fluid. General Henry L. Abbot tested the projectile and fired 29 of them at Petersburg in October 1864 where six houses were “consumed” at the expenditure of 29 shells. He noted that a total of 42 were fired and there were no premature explosions or accidents. Mr. Flemings’ incendiary fluid was also tested in a Berney pattern 30-pdr. compartmented shell at a later date by General Abbot, but it was determined it burned at too low a temperature to ignite anything but dry leaves and grass. General Abbot concluded the “invention” was entirely useless for burning abatis, stockading or palisading, unless surrounded by dry leaves. When the arms war between the “Greek Fire” inventors was finally examined by the services, a limited number of incendiary shells were purchased for further testing and have been found on various 1862-1865 battlefields, primarily Petersburg, Fort Fisher, and Charleston, where large caliber guns were used during late war bombardments. Levi Short provided General Gilmore’s command at Charleston with his “fire sticks” to convert 8-inch, 200-pounder shells to incendiaries. Through the influence of President Lincoln, incendiary shells were reluctantly used at Charleston. A number of Berney’s 8-inch compartmented incendiary shells were fired into the city. They were called “green-tops” as the tops of the shells were painted green to distinguish them from standard common shells. While some success 10
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was noted with Berney’s incendiary shells, it was insignificant and other than alarming citizens, failed to destroy what was left of Charleston. Levi Short was also given the opportunity to demonstrate the value of his invention which consisted of a fire stick about 3 inches long and about one-half an inch in diameter. Its advantage was thought to be that any ordinary common shell could be converted to an incendiary shell by inserting multiple fire sticks. The sticks were described by Short as “solid pyrotechnic tubes” which were inserted into ordinary shells. The device had a tube of a solid “flash powder” running through the center and was surrounded by a solid mixture of asphaltum, antimony, and sulfur mixed with naphtha. The device was tested in 8-inch Parrott shells at Charleston, but was not successful. The tests were stopped because upon firing the shell, the tubes were being crushed by the setback and exploded the shell in the tube or a short distance from the muzzle. This endangered the gun crews and General Gilmore abruptly terminated the tests for reasons of safety. No known surviving example of Levi Short’s “pyrotechnic tube” or “fire stick” was known and it was a forgotten entry in history until very recently. Jack W. Melton, Jr. saw a small display case with memorabilia saved by a Union Artillery veteran at a recent Civil War Show. Private Joseph A. Arnold, Company E, Rhode Island 3rd Heavy Artillery served at Charleston and had saved some items along with his diary. Melton immediately recognized that an item saved by Private Arnold was one of Short’s “fire tubes,” but it was slightly different than previously described. While the size, composition and paper wrapping were consistent with the description, the zinc tube had been replaced with a thin wooden tube open at each end. This was no doubt done to prevent metal on metal contact during firing that was crushing the powder
and detonating the shells. Since there is no record of this modification it isn’t known if this device was ever tested, but experiments conducted at West Point during the 1850s had previously shown that black powder could be detonated by wood on wood compression. Hence, it is unlikely this modification would have eliminated the premature detonation problem. What is known from Private Arnold’s collection is that a modified “fire tube” was provided to his battery during the Siege of Charleston by Levi Short. This writer is not aware of any 200-pounder incendiary shells with Short’s “fire tubes” that have been recovered in the Charleston area. That said, if they were deactivated through a small hole, the black powder may have been removed, but the “sticks” could remain inside the casing. One thing that is certain is that Short’s “American Greek Fire” was used and at least one specimen survived. As a matter of interest, the Confederates also produce incendiary shells at Charleston and filled them with yellow phosphorous. The records reflect they produced about one-thousand 8-inch shells and some of them were used as land mines. In addition they experimented with 12-pounder spherical and 6.4-inch rifled phosphorous shells, but elected not to field them. While specimens of very large incendiary fuses and 8-inch incendiary casings have survived, the author is not aware of the recovery of any loaded specimens. It’s difficult to say just how dangerous yellow phosphorous is 150 years later, but any collector with a Confederate incendiary shell should exercise extreme caution and have it examined by an expert, if the bursting chamber cannot be viewed to determine it is empty. For further information on spherical incendiary shells see Volume II, Encyclopedia of Black Powder Projectiles found in North America, 17591865 (www.bpapress.com). While Civil War incendiary shells are an interesting chapter in projectile
evolution, there is no record of any battle or action that was influenced by them and most fired specimens that have been found contain no charge, suggesting they were considered useless and were fired as solid shot. Sources: •
• • • • •
Shot and Shell: The Third Rhode Island Heavy Artillery Regiment in the Rebellion, 1861-1865. By Frederic Denison. Pages. 206-207. United States Patent Number 36,934, dated November 11, 1862. By Alfred Berney. IBID Siege artillery in the campaigns against Richmond: with notes on the 15-inch. By Henry L. Abbot. 1867. Congressional Series of United States Public Documents. U.S. Government Printing Office, 1868. Page 414. The War of the Rebellion-a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies.; Series 1 -
• •
•
Volume 28 (Part I) - Page 33-34. Scientific American, Volume VIII, No. 12, March 21, 1863, page 195. The War of the Rebellion-a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies.; Series 1 - Volume 28 (Part I) - Page 219. United States Patent Number 38,424, dated May 5, 1863. By Levi Short.
Col. John Biemeck is a retired Army Ordnance Officer and frequent contributor. He has earned the reputation of “Mr. Cannonball” and is the author of the Encyclopedia of Black Powder Projectiles Found in North America, 1759-1865 of which Volume II (Fuses and Spherical Projectiles) and Volume III (Confederate Rifled Projectiles) have been released.
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| Vol. 38, No. 2
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Levi Short’s Greek Fire Short had previously demonstrated his liquid incendiary “Greek Fire” at the Washington Navy Yard with good effect. In fact President Lincoln had seen the demonstration and was impressed. In its March 23, 1863 issue, the Scientific American reprinted a report from the Buffalo Republic, describing the tests: The first experiment made was with three and a half pints of liquid, which, upon being thrown into a barrel of water, burned with great intensity for seventeen and a half minutes; the solidified was tried by throwing a quantity of it among a mass of chips and on a plank. The flame lasted over a minute and a quarter. The experiments were witnessed by all the Navy-yard officials, all of whom expressed great satisfaction at the trial. Despite the enthusiasm during the tests, there is no indication in the records of much official interest in the Army and Navy Ordnance Departments. Short improved on his invention by developing solid incendiary sticks that resemble large “paper fuses” in texture. They burned with high intensity and could be inserted into an ordinary shell to convert it to an incendiary projectile. With the assistance from President Lincoln Short was allowed to send his “Greek Fire Sticks” to Morris Island so the Union Army could fire them into Charleston in a series of tests. Upon the failure of the tests the inventor himself traveled to Morris Island to correct the problem, but was unable to do so. Captain Alfred Mordecai was General Gillmore’s Chief of Ordnance during this period of operations on Morris Island and reported on the experiments conducted with Levi Short’s “Greek Fire Sticks.” His findings are best described by quoting his report. Captain Mordecai said that Short’s incendiary material was the only solidified “Greek Fire” incendiary material they used during the siege, but he was 12
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unable to describe the composition of the material. He goes on to report: “It was furnished in tin tubes, closed at one end, about 3 inches long and 3 ¼ inches in diameter. These tubes were covered with one layer of paper, such as is commonly used for cartridges. The paper was folded down over the ends of the tube, that part covering the open end having upon it a priming of powder and coal-tar. The directions for using this fire were furnished from the manufactory, and were as follows: “As many of the cases containing the composition must be dropped into the shell, with as much powder as can possibly be shaken among them. After the failure of shell filled in this manner to give satisfactory results, Mr. Short visited Morris Island. He altered the manner of filling the shell, putting several inches of powder in the shell before inserting the cases. He also covered some cases with several thicknesses of thick cartridge paper, and others with several layers of muslin. Into all the shell filled by him, powder was first placed.” While Captain Mordecai concluded that the solid incendiary material burned with greater heat intensity than “port fire,” it was a failure because the projectile either burst in the barrel or a short distance from the barrel endangering the gun crew. Mordecai reports of a total of 38 rounds fired, only 12 were successful and didn’t explode. The other 26 either blew up in the gun or a short distance from the muzzle. The tests were made with 8-inch, 200pdr, 6.4-inch, 100 pounder; and 4.2inch, 30-pounder rifled projectiles. Brig. Gen. John W. Turner, Colonel, and Chief of Artillery reported: “The great range which had been attained by the Parrott guns gave the means, with the control which we had of the swamp on the left of our position, in which to establish a gun for throwing projectiles into Charleston. The difficulty was in preparing a battery in the center of this swamp, a mile distant from firm ground, as it was required to be to attain an
effective range of Charleston. It was finally overcome by the commanding general, and a battery for an 8-inch Parrott [known as the Swamp Angel] established, under the direction of Col. E. W. Serrell, Volunteer Engineers, at 7,900 yards from Saint Michaels Church, in the city of Charleston. The piece was mounted under the supervision of Lieutenant Wadlie, Third New Hampshire, who deserves great credit for the accomplishment of this work, done under so many difficulties. The battery was garrisoned by a detachment of the Eleventh Maine Volunteer Infantry, commanded by Lieut. Charles Sellmer, Eleventh Maine. This battery was opened, on the night of the 22d of August, on Charleston, and fired some 15 rounds. Unfortunately, on the second occasion of firing, the gun burst, the breach breaking just in rear of the vent, and was blown clear of the re-enforce. Some 35 shells were fired in all from it. Both incendiary shells and shells filled with Greek fire [Short’s] were used. The latter [Short’s] worked very poorly, nearly every one prematurely exploding, and it is not determined whether any shells containing Greek fire ever reached Charleston.“
One end of the Short’s Greek Fire with what appears to be a paper time fuse inserted into the end of the incendiary composition. The other end has the same construction with the exception the paper time fuse is flush.
UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. LEVI SHORT, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA. IMPROVED COMPOSITION FOR FILLING SHELLS. Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 38,424, dated May 5, 1863. To all whom it may concern: Be it known that I, LEVI SHORT, of the city of Philadelphia, in the State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful compound or composition for combining with projectiles bombshells, rockets, and other missils [sic] to be projected from fire-arms, ordnance, and other engines or [sic] war, to be used either in a liquid or solidified form, which composition I designate as “Shorts American Greek Fire;” and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description of the mode of compounding and mixing and using the same, to wit: I take forty pounds of saltpeter, seven pounds of charcoal, six pounds of asphaltum, two pounds of antimony, seven pounds of sulphur, and two gallons of naphtha. These ingredients, substantially in the proportions described, I thoroughly mix in a large wooden tank lined with copper, and when thoroughly mixed I allow the compound to stand for two or
three days to settle. A large amount of sediment collects at the bottom of the tank, and the liquid rises above. The liquid is then drawn off and combined with any vegetable fibrous substance, the said fibrous material to be fully saturated with the liquid. This is then packed in explosive shells or projectiles and used as a destructive war-missile to burn an enemy’s ships, forts, &c. The sediment which collects at the bottom of the tank is taken in its plastic state and pressed into metallic cases of any convenient size--say three inches in length and five-eighths of an inch in diameter, more or less. This makes a combustible missile which, when ignited by the explosion of the projectile will burn with great intensity. As many of these as maybe required are then put into and combined with an explosive shell or any form of explosive projectile for use. When the projectile explodes these missiles will take fire, collodium being sprinkled over their open ends for this purpose,
and will dart out in every direction with ten thousand fiery tongues, hissing and burning wherever they go. The fire is unquenchable. Water will not extinguish it. It consumes and burns wherever it strikes. When thrown into an enemy’s fortifications, forts, ships, or camps these missiles will consume everything in their fiery course, sending death and desolation into the enemy’s ranks. What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is1. A combustible composition formed of the above-named ingredients or their equivalents, substantially in the proportions and for the purposes herein set forth. 2. Metallic pellets or missiles filled with combustible matter, in combination and use with explosive projectiles, for the purposes and substantially as set forth. LEVI SHORT. Witnesses: H. N. TAFT O. G. ABELL.
Levi Short’s Greek Fire Specimen Diameter: 0.85 inch
Length: 3.3 inches
Weight: 0.1 pound
Paper Fuse Diameter: 0.29 inch
The solid composition has what appears to be a long paper fuse running through the center that protrudes 0.1 inch on one end and is flush on the other end. It is wrapped in a very thin wooden sleeve to prevent sparks during firing. Unfortunately, the solid material compressed the black powder in the shell frequently causing ignition and it either blew up in the gun or just beyond the muzzle. ArtillerymanMagazine.com
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F
ort Branch is a Confederate fortification located on Rainbow Banks, Hamilton, N.C. The earthen fort protected the upper Roanoke River, its naval yards and railroad bridges connecting the Army of Northern Virginia with Wilmington. The site is privately owned by the Winslow Family. On the National Register of Historic Places, it enjoys some protective assistance from the Winslows, Fort Branch Battlefield Association, the recreated First North Carolina Regiment, state and federal governments. The site is a well preserved Confederate earthwork with a significant portion of its original armament on display.
Fort Branch History
Fort Branch was built to protect the upper Roanoke River valley, a crucial assignment since the Confederates were building the CSS Albemarle upstream at Edwards Ferry. There was also a navy yard at Halifax about 50 miles farther upriver. Finally, and probably most important, railroad bridges connecting the Army of Northern Virginia and the South crossed the river at Weldon, above Halifax. Fort Branch went through two main construction periods. After Federals seized the N.C. sounds, they could easily transport raiding parties anywhere reachable by water. During February 1862, Captain Richard Kidder Meade, a Confederate engineer, began erecting two batteries at Rainbow Banks, a steep bluff where the Roanoke makes a sharp turn. Due to Union advances against Richmond, the defenders were ordered away before the works were finished. In July 1862, three Union vessels left Plymouth, N.C., and headed up the Roanoke. When the ships were fired on, they fired back and continued moving upstream, passing the evacuated works at Rainbow Banks, before reaching 14
The Artilleryman
Hamilton. A raiding party landed but was recalled as the ships returned to Plymouth. The brief raid caused a rethinking of the river defenses. By September 1862, Confederate engineers were back at work, assessing the river and locating points for obstructions and forts. They were not simply looking at the Roanoke but the Tar and Neuse as well because all three rivers had ironclad construction sites and the rivers provided access to railroad bridges. In September 1862, the battery was described as “well located” and “arranged for five pieces.” The parapet was “not more than 14 feet thick” and thus potentially unable to withstand the Federal Navy’s heavy guns. Construction started again on Nov. 3, but was halted because a Federal force (Foster’s Raid) came into the region. Naval forces operating as part of Foster’s Raid attempted to destroy the fort but failed although the magazine was blown up, some materials burned and embrasures damaged. The damage was apparently quickly repaired as some guns were finally mounted by Feb. 9, 1863. At this time, the fort resembled a bridgehead with local alterations. From various documents, it is known that the garrison included the 17th N.C. Inf., 24th N.C. Inf., and Co. G and H of the 10th N. C. (First Artillery) at different times after July 1863. When Plymouth, N.C., was retaken by the Confederates in April 1864, Fort Branch was no longer the key defensive position on the river. It very quickly resumed that role when Federal forces retook the town in October. The fort was then garrisoned by N.C. Junior Reserves and a section of Lee’s Alabama Battery. Since Fort Branch was important again, the garrison was upgraded by returning the heavy artillerymen and a company of light artillery. The end came April 10, 1865 when
the garrison destroyed the fort and military stores. Lee’s Alabama Battery took some cannon when they evacuated the fort. The remaining guns were thrown into the river and buildings burnt.
Civil War Cannon Documentation A February 1864 report included a map showing the fort’s armament. There were three iron 6-pdrs., two 12-pdrs., three 24-pdr. siege and garrison guns, a 20-pdr. Parrott and a rifled and banded 32-pdr. Two additional land face emplacements were not occupied. Guns recovered during the 1970’s included types not shown on fort plans so the existing cannon represent the last armament of the fort. The cannon were a mixture of different types and must have presented a logistical nightmare for ordnance officers trying to supply ammunition. During 1972 and 1977, seven cannon, plus the breech of a burst 32-pdr., were recovered. Given the three or four guns recovered by the Union Navy in 1865 and some the withdrawing garrison may have removed, the fort may have had as many as 15 cannon.
Smoothbores
Jan/Feb Aug Nov Feb May 1863 1863 1863 1864 1865 1972 1977
6-pounder 3 3 2 12-pounder Brass 2 1 1* Howitzer 1 24-pounder 3 3 3 1 1 32-pounder 1 1 1 1** “smoothbore” 1
Rifles
6-pounder 1 20-pdr Parrott 1 12-pounder 7 4-inch F&P 1 4.62-inch 1 24-pounder 3 32-pdr B&R 1 1 1 1 64-pounder 1 “6-inch” (probably 6.4-inch) 1 TOTALS 5 12 11 4 3 5 *sent to Plymouth ** breech only
Fort Branch – Map by Shiman after 1864 Guion Map. ArtillerymanMagazine.com
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Cannon Recovery
Recovery of cannon began when the U.S. Navy raised at least three and possibly four guns from the river during May 1865. The guns included a 32-pdr. smoothbore, a 6-inch rifle and an otherwise unidentified smoothbore (Thornton 1865 ORN XII: 150-51, cited in Watts et al 1979:25). Cannon recovered in 1972 included a 24-pdr. smoothbore, a banded and rifled 32-pdr. and a 4-inch rifle (18-pdr.) mounted on an iron carriage. During the summer of 1977 the N.C. Underwater Archaeology Branch recovered the remaining guns from the Roanoke as part of a field school combining both terrestrial and underwater archaeology. Two 6-pdr. smoothbores, a 24-pdr. smoothbore, a 4.62-inch rifle and, finally, the breech remnant of a 32-pdr. were recovered and recorded. The actual weapons add information about the fort’s armament beyond that shown on the 1864 Guion Map.
The three cannon recovered in 1972. 32-pdr. Banded and Rifled, 24-pdr. Smoothbore, 18-pdr. Fawcett-Preston Rifle (front to rear) (Larry Babits) Between the various reports and archaeology, there are missing cannon as well as some pieces that were recovered archaeologically but that do not appear in the documents. The November 1863 accounting is by deserters who reported to Federal authorities that the fort held a dozen rifled cannon. Given the nomenclature used, the types, if not the numbers, are somewhat suspect because there were a 64-pdr., three 24-pdrs., seven 12-pdrs., and a 6-pdr. (Shiman 1990:30 footnote 101). While the total seems approximately correct, the archaeological recovery and lack of any shells for some of these types allow questions about the reliability of the deserter’s information. One 12-pdr. was taken to Weldon by Captain Lee’s Alabama Battery (Watts et al 1979:23). Together with the one “sent to Plymouth”, both 12-pdrs. are accounted for. For field use, it is likely Lee took the Napoleon rather than the howitzer but this is subjective. Two cannon were reported as burst. One was the 32-pdr, the breech of which is still present. The other type is unknown. If Lee took away a 12-pdr. Napoleon, a Blakely and a 16
The Artilleryman
3-inch Ordnance Rifle, the latter two were probably assigned to the battery as they don’t appear in fort documents. The acquisition of a shorter range smoothbore makes tactical sense for a rifle armed battery late in the war. Since Confederate batteries usually had four guns, it is likely that they also took the “missing” 6-pdr. as well.
Smoothbores
Two iron smoothbore 6-pdr. field guns manufactured by Confederate foundries were recovered in 1977. One 6-pdr. smoothbore was mounted on a wooden field carriage. This particular cannon had a brass rear sight mount and an iron foresight (Watts et al 1979:122). No markings were visible. Although 6-pdrs. were manufactured in the western theater, this gun was most likely produced at Richmond’s Tredegar Foundry (Olmstead et al 1997:64-65), or possibly at Noble Brothers in Rome, Ga., where it was based on the Model 1841 6-pdr. After conservation this barrel was remounted on its original carriage for display.
6-pdr. on its original carriage (l) and a 18-pdr. rifle on its original carriage (r). The second 6-pdr. smoothbore was also recovered with its field carriage. Again, no markings were visible. Instead of a rear sight mount, a sighting groove was present. It was
6-pdr. mounted on a modern reproduction carriage.
32-pdr. banded and rifled, 24-pdr., 4.62-inch Gibbon and Andrews rifle, 24-pdr. (front to rear). otherwise identical to the other 6-pdr. This barrel has been remounted on a reproduction carriage for display. The Guion Map shows three 6-pdr. field pieces located on the land face. These cannon are credited to Tredegar Foundry even though their overall length is 66 inches, about five inches shorter than the “approximately 71 inches” used at Tredegar or the 72 inches at Noble Brothers in Rome, Ga. (Oldmstead et al 1997:60, 64). Prior to their recovery, only nine other Tredegar 6-pdrs. and seven Noble guns were known to have survived of the circa 70 cannon produced. The rear and front sights plus the muzzle swell and cascabel suggest that Tredegar was the more likely founder. A Model 1819 24-pdr. mounted on its wooden siege and garrison carriage was recovered in 1972. This was marked “J. B. No. 164” on the muzzle face. The right trunnion had “I.M”. over “C.F.” with the left trunnion marked “1828.” The markings show that it was manufactured at John Mason’s Columbia Foundry in Georgetown, D.C., during 1827 and inspected by James Bankhead in 1828. Its weight was 5,512 pounds (Olmstead et al 1997:8,167,168, 197). During 1977, a second 24-pdr. smoothbore, Model 1819, siege and garrison gun was recovered with its carriage. This cannon was marked 1828 on the left trunnion and J.M.C.F. on the right trunnion. The 1819 Pattern was not designated as such until sometime before 1841 (Olmstead et al 1997:27)
so the 1828 date is more relevant. The initials stand for John Mason of Columbia Foundry (Olmstead et al 1997:167). Together the date and initials show that this barrel was one of some 311 24-pdr. guns produced by Columbia Foundry (Olmstead et al 1997:28). The muzzle face inspection initials show this tube was inspected by James Bankhead in June or July 1828 (Olmstead et al 1997:168,196). Three 24-pdrs. are shown on the February 1864 Guion Map but only two are documented as recovered. The second cannon recovered in 1865 by the U.S. Navy was a smoothbore 32-pdr. marked “J.M.C.E.”, “1829.” The initials might involve misreading the E which is probably an F. If so, then this gun was one of the earlier 32-pdr. seacoast guns made by John Mason at Columbia Foundry even though the date is slightly earlier than usually found (Olmstead 1997:32,167, 206). One 32-pdr. is shown on the 1864 Guion Map mounted on the river face. Two other 32-pdrs. were mentioned by the U.S. Navy in May 1865. They were described as burst. The breech of a blown up 32-pdr. was known to be in the fort prior to the 1972 archaeological recovery effort. While Thornton reported that two 32-pounders were blown up, only one breech has been located. The breech remnant was inspected by Olmstead or Stark who recorded it as an unchambered cannon of 47 hundredweight (Olmstead et al 1997:38). The markings on the breech, C.A. and Co., 54.47.27, indicate this is the only known survivor of the circa 66 produced by Alger during 1846 and 1847 (Olmstead et al 1997:38,212).
32-pdr. Breech section, blown up in 1865.
24-pdr., 4.62-inch Gibbon and Andrews rifle, 24-pdr. and a 32-pdr. banded and rifled. (left to right)
A fourth gun recovered in 1865 was a “smoothbore” marked J.R.A. & Co., 1851. The type and size are uncertain but the markings indicate it was cast in 1851 by Tredegar Foundry in Richmond (Olmstead et al 1997:167). From the date it is possible to suggest possible cannon types. A survey of cannon production bounded by the 1851 and J.R.A. parameters limits the “smoothbore” to a pattern 1845 18-pdr., pattern 1845 24-pdr., the 1843 heavy Navy 32pdr. and the pattern 1840 8-inch siege howitzer (Olmstead ArtillerymanMagazine.com
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et al 1997:194, 199, 213, 232). The 1864 Guion Map shows two 24-pdr. siege and garrison cannon positioned on the river face; another was mounted on the land face. A 32-pdr. is shown on the river face. No 18-pdr. is shown. A 12-pdr. howitzer is shown but can be excluded by the date and inspector markings It is likely this was sent to Plymouth after the fort was occupied by Federal forces. The “smoothbore’ recovered by Thornton was probably the “missing” 24-pdr. since three are consistently mentioned at the fort but only two are noted as being recovered.
Rifles
A 4-inch Fawcett-Preston rifle marked 138 on muzzle face and trunnion sight was recovered in 1972. This cannon was part of a consecutively numbered 1862 six-gun shipment to the Confederacy. The shipment also contained #136, a cannon that was captured in the Hebe Incidence near Fort Fisher. The other four guns in this shipment were presumably used to equip a field battery. This gun, nominally an 18-pdr. is not shown on the Guion Map. The 4-inch (18-pdr.) rifle has an interesting story; only part is known. It also has a “sister,” numbered 136 that provides additional information. Ripley designated this style gun as a Blakely Type 7 (Ripley 1970:152; Hazlett et al 2004:204-05). The markings on the upper barrel are “Fawcett, Preston & Co. Liverpool, 1862.” Despite their identification as Blakeleys, they do not say “Blakely’s Patent,” a feature of other Fawcett Preston cannon identified as Blakelys.
Fawcett-Preston 4-inch, 18-pdr. #138 on original carriage in foreground. 6-pdr. on original carriage in background. Since Blakely did not have a foundry to produce his cannon, contracted gun founders were employed, among them Fawcett-Preston of Liverpool. A significant comment was made by Hazlett, et al, that, along with Blakely’s continuous development, contractors added their own improvements to their work (Hazlett et al 2004:196). The “official” Blakely’s are usually marked with the manufacturer’s name, plus “Blakely’s Patent” (Hazlett et al 2004:199). The 18
The Artilleryman
Original iron carriage for 18-pdr. (4-inch bore) Fawcett-Preston rifle while undergoing conservation at East Carolina University. This carriage belongs to #136, the “sister” of the Fort Branch 18-pdr. numbered 138. markings usually include a date of manufacture as well as the founder’s production cannon number. This second Fawcett-Preston rifle, Number 136, was at the Washington Navy Yard but has been relocated to Raleigh, N.C., where it sits in front of the State History Museum. Number 138 is still at Fort Branch. An additional marking on the 136 carriage’s right cheek apparently indicates the metal’s quality and the subcontractor that furnished carriage iron “TREBLEBESTWN&Co.” To date WN&Co has not been identified but is almost certainly a Liverpool firm. The two existing 4-inch Fawcett-Preston rifles have a unique iron field carriage not used for the Blakeley Patent cannon also produced by Fawcett Preston. The shipping invoice drawings indicate the other four guns had iron carriages as well. The carriage type helps identify the guns as a Fawcett-Preston model. Together with barrel numbers, the carriages provided a key to the paper trail in England. The cannon were part of Order #66 that included the iron carriages. Both the Hebe Incident and Fort Branch cannon were found mounted on carriages matching Fawcett-Preston specifications. Since the order was for six identical cannon, numbered sequentially from 134-139, the missing guns, typical of a Confederate Army four gun battery, were probably employed as field artillery outside North Carolina. The Fawcett-Preston 18-pdr. rifle tubes bear a striking resemblance to the Federal 3-inch Ordnance Rifle in outward appearance. The 3-inch Ordnance Rifle evolved from experimental work by the Phoenix Iron Company about 1854, the same year Blakely submitted his guns to the Royal Artillery (Hazlett et al 2004:196). In 1856, the experimental U.S. tube endured test firing up to “a load of seven pounds of powder and thirteen shot, which was all that the barrel could hold” (Hazlett, et al 2004:121). In February 1861, the U.S. Ordnance Department ordered 300 “wrought-iron
rifle-cannon” (Hazlett, et al 2004:121). The original weapons patented by Phoenix in 1855 were 6-pdr., 3.67-inch smoothbores but the new 3-inch rifles were designated the Model 1861 (Hazlett et al 2004:121). These were rifled with “seven flat lands and grooves … right-hand twist” (Hazlett, et al 2004:121). Despite the 1855 patent claim, most surviving tubes are marked as patented in 1862 (Hazlett, et al 2004:123-25). Three-inch Ordnance Rifles were mounted on the standard wooden carriage for the 6-pdr. bronze field gun because they were about 300 pounds lighter than the 6-pdr. (Hazlett, et al 2004:121, 125). The rifling on #136 was preserved well enough that an examination could suggest new lines of research. Once noticed in the well preserved bore, the same features were noted in the #138 bore as well. The rifling is “hook/slant”, right hand twist with six grooves. A previously unnoticed, unreported detail of the lands is that they have a low (1mm; 0.017 to 0.078 inch) ridge centered on each land. This ridge is found on both #136 and 138 suggesting it was a designed rifling element. This ridge is almost certainly deliberate because it is centered and found on two different bore sizes. While it might have been caused by a damaged cutter or be the result of a two-stage rifling process where one half the land’s width was cut; then the second, deeper land was cut. This second case might be possible if the cutter head was indexed slightly off the original cut. Since the same feature is also found on 3.5-inch, 12-pounders marked Blakely’s Patent produced by Fawcett-Preston, a rifling error does not seem likely. The different bore sizes tend to confirm the ridge was deliberate because different bore diameters probably would not exhibit the same configuration due to a cutter head flaw. Rifled projectiles were forced into the rifling’s lands and groves inside the barrel when the main charge was detonated. This force created a signature on the projectile (usually the sabot) where it encountered the rifling. There were a number of projectiles available specifically for Blakely weapons but the ideal projectile was designed by Bashley Britten who obtained a patent in 1855 (Bell 2003:133). The Britten projectiles had a lead sabot bonded to the shell with a zinc coating. Britten ammunition was manufactured as both shell and solid bolts in a variety of calibers. They were also manufactured in the South (Bell 2003:141). Perhaps the most famous Britten shell was one fired by the CSS Alabama that struck the USS Kearsage rudderpost but failed to detonate. The Britten projectiles designed for the Blakely Rifles were presumably also used in non-patent tubes produced at Fawcett-Preston. Some shells used in Blakely rifles might also be called Preston-Blakely shells because they were made by Fawcett-Preston (Bell 2003:320-21). While some versions had lead sabots, the Preston-Blakely shell had flanges that engaged the six grooves of the rifling to
Diameter: 3.92 inches Overall Length: 9.28 inches Weight: 17.6 pounds Fusing System: Britten Percussion, Brass Recovery: Buffalo Bayou, Houston, Texas
This English imported projectile is the type that would have been fired from the 4-inch, 18-pdr. Fawcett-Preston Rifle. Courtesy The Atlanta History Center Thomas Swift Dickey Sr. Collection. (Jack Melton) impart rotation. Preston-Blakely shells have been found at Fort Branch, Fort Fisher, and Fort Caswell in N.C., as well as Malvern Hill, Va., Charleston, S.C., Port Hudson, Miss., and Buffalo Bayou, Texas (Bell 2003:321; Melton and Pawl 1996:49-50), indicating widespread use. Both lead sabot and shunt types have scarring indicating probable use in Fawcett-Preston manufactured cannon. This archaeological signature is caused by the low ridge that carved a groove into the projectile. This distinctive scar can be an indicator of where a particular battery was firing. The scarring appears on shells fired in Alabama where Blakely Rifles were used. More importantly, the scars also appear on Peruvian shells fired by Fawcett-Preston cannon. Since the firm sent cannon to Italy, Morocco, and Mexico in addition to the Peru and the Confederacy, the forensic signature of these weapons is wider spread than first appears. Our research has concentrated on the 4-inch, 18 pdr. Fawcett-Preston rifled gun tubes. Incidental research suggests that the low ridge midway on the lands is also found on the 3.5- and, probably, on the 3.6-inch Blakely rifles produced by Fawcett-Preston. The low ridges do not appear on 7-inch Fawcett- Preston Blakelys or on non-Fawcett-Preston Blakelys. A 4.62-inch Gibbon and Andrews rifle was originally misidentified as a Tredegar Brooke rifle was cast Dec. 19, 1862 by Tredegar Foundry and shipped to Hamilton, N.C., March 13, 1863. In 1997, it was the only surviving example (Watts 1979:124; Olmstead et al 1997:54-58, 193). ArtillerymanMagazine.com
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The barrel was marked 1863 on the left trunnion and JRF/TF on the right trunnion. The JRA/TF indicates that it was inspected by Joseph Reid Anderson of Tredegar Foundry, Richmond, Va. (Olmstead 1997:167; Watts et al 1979:124). The muzzle face was marked 1720, the Tredegar Foundry number. The rear of the band was marked 160; a number that may refer to a banded weight of 6,160 pounds (Olmstead et al 1997:56). The Tredegar order book noted that the barrel weighed 5,660 pounds before the 4 part composite band was added (Olmstead et al 1997:54,193). The bore was 4.62-inch (or 45/8-inch) rifled with five Brooke type grooves, right hand twist. The bore length was 108 inches; overall the barrel was 122 inches. The trunnion diameter was 5.75 inches. This gun is not on the 1864 Guion Map but a 20-pounder Parrott is shown on the land face. If the Parrott designation was an error due to similar banding around the breech, this could be the Gibbon and Andrews but the bore size is totally wrong for a 20-pdr. Parrott’s 3.67-inch bore or a 30-pdr. Parrott’s 4.2-inches (Olmstead et al 1997:123). Nor could it have been mistaken for a Pattern 1861 U.S. 4.5inch siege rifle which did not have the reinforcing band (Olmstead et al 1997:55). Since a 20-pdr. Parrott was not recovered from Fort Branch, if one was ever present, it was moved prior to April 1865. If this is the case, then it was possibly replaced by the 4.62-inch rifle. The best fit with dates is that the 4.62-inch Gibbon and Andrews shipped to Hamilton in November 1863 was mistaken for a Parrott in February 1864. During 1972 a banded and rifled 32-pdr. (6.4-inch) was recovered without a carriage suggesting it may have been mounted on a barbette carriage on the river face. The markings included JSC on the left trunnion and 32 over 1849 on the right trunnion. The rear sight mounting bracket was marked with the numbers 628 (Watts et al 1979:125,137). The number allowed identification of its missing front sight which is presently in the Thomas Dickey Collection, Atlanta History Center. This tube is rifled in the 7x7 Brooke hook-slant format.
Sight for the Fort Branch Banded and Rifled 32-pdr. No. 628. Courtesy The Atlanta History Center Thomas Swift Dickey Sr. Collection. (Jack Melton) 20
The Artilleryman
The Guion Map shows it on the river face. The left trunnion initials indicate John S. Chauncey who worked as U.S. Navy inspector at several facilities during 1840-49 and in 1862-63. At the time Chauncey inspected the barrel, probably at Tredegar Foundry, it was a 32-pdr., Navy Gun of 57 cwt. (Olmstead et al 1997:169,212-13). A “6-inch rifle” recovered by the U.S. Navy was marked C.W.S., 1852. The initials indicate U.S. Navy inspector Charles W. Skinner who only conducted inspections in 1852. He inspected cannon from Bellona and Tredegar foundries in Va. and Cyrus Alger & Company in Mass. (Olmstead et al 1997:169). Since these foundries were not making rifled guns prior to 1860 this cannon was almost certainly altered by the Confederates. If this were truly six inches, then it could only be an 80-pdr. (unrifled) Dahlgren (Bell 2003:503) which doesn’t seem likely because the Dahlgren shape is so well known; a naval officer would surely have said Dahlgren. It is even more unlikely given the 1852 date and C.W.S. marking because Dahlgren’s rifles were made well after 1852 (Olmstead et al 1997:97). The issue is somewhat complicated because other Union naval officers remarked on six-inch rifles in other Confederate forts and mention them on their own vessels as well. Whatever the exact bore diameter no rifled gun this size is shown on the Guion Map. Its absence indicates the Guion Map, while accurate for February 1864, might not reflect the late war armament present in Fort Branch. It is far more likely that Lt. Commander Thornton was referring to a rifled, but unbanded, 32-pdr. but these were somewhat rare as Olmstead, et al report fewer than dozen rifled unbanded 32-pdrs.(Olmstead et al 1997:208-210).
Insights
Taken as a group, the 24- and 32-pounders suggest that they were part of the nearly 1,200 heavy cannon captured by the Confederates at the Norfolk Navy Yard in 1861 (Bell 2003:3). Even the supposed 6-inch rifle (6.4-inch/32-pounder) could have been taken at Norfolk and rifled by the Confederates. The 6-pdrs. still have more history to be told. The difference in length and the lack of markings leave the manufacturer in question. Whether or not these guns were assigned to Lee’s Battery is another question. Since Lee’s Battery was created from an infantry company in Virginia, it is more likely the guns were from an eastern foundry. There are cannon shown on the Guion Map that were not recovered. These include one 6-pdr. field piece, a 20pdr. Parrott rifle, a 12-pdr. bronze field piece, possibly a Napoleon, and a 12-pdr. howitzer. During the evacuation, two field guns were possibly taken away by Lee’s Alabama Battery. These may have been may have been a 6-inch Blakely rifle and a 3-inch rifle. When Lieutenant Commander Thornton arrived at Fort Branch and recovered cannon, he remarked that,
“a Blakely, carried away to Weldon [N.C.]; one 12-pounder, carried away by Captain Lee; one 12-pounder, sent to Plymouth” (Thornton cited in Watts et al 1979:25). The Blakeley taken away by Lee is not shown on the Guion Map so it may have already been part of the battery’s complement. The 12-pdr. may have been the “brass 12-pdr.” shown on the Guion Map at a land face emplacement. The 12-pdr. “sent to Plymouth” could have been the brass 12-pdr. or the 12-pdr. howitzer. This gun must be considered a U.S. Navy recovery because Plymouth was reoccupied by Federal forces. Sources: •
•
• •
•
Hazlett, James C., Edwin Olmstead and N. Hume Parks, Field Artillery Weapons of the Civil War. (2004) University of Illinois Press, Urbana. Olmstead, Edwin, Wayne E. Stark, and Spencer C. Tucker, The Big Guns Civil War Siege, Seacoast, and Naval Cannon. (1997) Museum Restoration Service, Bloomfield, Ontario. Ripley, Warren, Artillery and Ammunition of the Civil War. (1970) Promontory Press, New York. Shiman, Phillip, Fort Branch and the defense of the Roanoke Valley 18621865. (1990), Fort Branch Battlefield Commission, Hamilton, N.C. Copies of the fort’s history can be obtained from the Fort Branch Battlefield Commission, PO Box 355, Hamilton, NC 27840. Watts, Gordon, et al., Fort Branch Survey & Recovery Project. (1979) Underwater Archaeology Branch, NC Division of Archives and History, Raleigh, N.C.
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| Vol. 38, No. 2
21
Plate CVII
22
The Artilleryman
T
he “Civil War Atlas” as it is called among Civil War collectors is a valuable and surprisingly comprehensive collection of maps of major and minor military actions and battles reported on in the Official Records. All are based on first-person correspondence and accounts of battles. In addition, the Atlas contains a number of diagrams of fortifications and sketches and lifelike drawings of scenes, uniforms, and equipment. Almost unnoticed are two sets of drawings on Plates CVI and CVII of Union and Confederate artillery projectiles used in battles in Virginia in 1864. The drawings show the profile and weight of Confederate and Union rifled projectiles, but do not identify the design. The drawings were prepared under the direction of Colonel Henry Larcom Abbot (photograph in center) of the 1st Connecticut Artillery based on projectiles recovered by the officers and men of his regiment.
Plate CVII also includes drawings of fuses recovered in a number of the projectiles.
Henry L. Abbot Several early and rare projectiles are included, surprising for late war (1864) battles in Virginia. One of the few explanations would be the use of obsolete projectiles as Union and Confederate forces exhausted their artillery projectile inventories. Also surprising in the collection are projectiles known to have been used exclusively in the western theater by
the Union Navy or by the Confederate Navy against Union naval forces. On Plate CVI, four such figures appear: • Figure 6 is clearly an 8-inch Confederate Parrott shell, thought to have been used in Virginia only by the Confederate Navy on the James River against the Union fleet. • Figure 8 is a 7-inch Brooke milledbase bolt. At a reported weight of 120 pounds, it is heavier than recovered 7-inch specimens that generally weigh 95 pounds. The known surviving 8-inch Brooke milled base bolt weighs around 155 pounds, much heavier than the reported 120-pound weight of figure 8. In the Army OR report that Plate CVI accompanied, this figure was identified as a 7-inch caliber, indicating it was probably a long version of the 7-inch Brooke milled-base bolt.
Plate CVI
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| Vol. 38, No. 2
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Left to right. Figure 8, from the Atlas, is a 7-inch Brooke milled-base bolt and Figure 27, Plate III, is from Abbot’s book. Figure 6 is an 8-inch Confederate Parrott shell. According to Abbot this shell was “Fired often from Howlett Battery sometimes with copper and sometimes with brass rings; the latter evidently Parrott projectiles. Ring wanting on drawing.”
Country: CSA Name: Brooke, milled-base Diameter: 6.96 inches Bore Diameter: 7.0 inches Cannon: 7-Inch Brooke Rifle Overall Length: 12.56 inches Weight: 120.6 pounds Construction: Bolt Fusing System: None Battlefield Recovery: Fort Morgan, Alabama Courtesy The Atlanta History Center, Thomas Swift Dickey Sr. Collection.
Country: CSA Name: Dahlgren pattern Diameter: 6.9 inches Bore Diameter: 7.0 inches Gun: 9-inch Dahlgren Smoothbore casting bored to 7-inches and Rifled Overall Length: 15.2 inches Construction: Shell Fusing System: Percussion, Archer (missing) Fusing Material: Brass Sabot: Cup, lead Weight: 90.8 pounds (without the fuse, bursting charge and lead sabot) Courtesy Jack Bell collection. 24
The Artilleryman
Left to right. Figure 10 from the Atlas is clearly a 7-inch Confederate Dahlgren shell and Figure 25, Plate III, is from Abbot’s book.
• Figure 10 is clearly a 7-inch Confederate Dahlgren shell. There is no other known record of the use of this type and caliber projectile after the CSS Virginia’s use in the battles on March 8-9, 1862. This early projectile design projectile was quickly supplanted by more effective projectiles designed by Brooke, and this design was thought to have been discontinued as obsolete by the Confederates immediately after the CSS Virginia’s battle with the USS Monitor on March 9, 1862. However, obsolete projectiles were used up by both sides during the last major battles of the Civil War on the east coast. • Figure 20 is a 2.25-inch Tennessee shell (formerly identified as a Mullane shell). These projectiles were designed for a small Confederate mountain rifled cannon. Most surviving specimens were recovered from the Savannah River at Augusta, where they were dumped at the end or after the Civil War. A small number have been reported recovered from sites in Virginia, as well as in Tennessee and Mississippi.
Plate CVII also contains two unusual figures:
Figure 12 is a 5.862-inch Sawyer shell.
• Figure 12 is a 5.862-inch Sawyer shell. The only battlefield provenance of this caliber Sawyer shell known by the author is in the western theater, particularly in Mobile Bay against Fort Powell. • Figure 41 appears to be a rare 7-inch Brooke ratchet-ring shell. This type projectile was manufactured only in the Selma Arsenal. It was not known to have been sent to Virginia because Tredegar continued to produce cannon and projectiles for local use until the very end of the war.
Figure 41 appears to be a rare 7-inch Brooke ratchet-ring shell.
Figure 20 is a 2.25-inch Tennessee shell. • Figure 28 is a 3-inch Clay shell (formerly identified as an Armstrong shell), reported having been used against Union forces only on one occasion (at Dutch Gap, Virginia).
Country: USA Name: Sawyer Diameter: 5.70 inches Overall Length: 11.90 inches Weight: 38.4 pounds Construction: Shell Fusing System: Percussion, Sawyer Fuse Material: Brass Sabot Material: Lead Battlefield Recovery: Fort Powell, Alabama Courtesy Michael Ward collection.
It is important to note that Plates CVI and CVII omitted some of the projectiles drawn and partially identified in Abbot’s drawings in his book. They also renumbered the shells in the drawings. Among these omitted are a 6.4-inch Parrott two-section incendiary shell, a 4.2-inch two-section Parrott incendiary shell, and an unidentified shell with the number “Figure 7” in Abbot’s book drawings. Plates CVI and CVII also do not include a 10-inch Brooke spheroidal shot and three Maury bolts – one 8-inch smooth-sided, one 8-inch bourreleted, and a 10-inch smooth-sided – the latter unknown except for Abbot’s drawings.
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| Vol. 38, No. 2
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The following table lists the projectile figures shown in Plates CVI and CVII, together with the results of an effort to match the diagrams with known surviving projectiles documented as described in endnote number 3. Figure
Caliber (inches)
Matched Projectile Type
Bell D&G Reference Page Reference Page
M & P Reference Page
Confederate Projectiles
26
1
7.0
2
6.4
3
7.0
4
4.2
5
4.2
6
8.0
7
4.2
8
7.0
9
4.62
10
7.0
11
7.0
12
6.4
13
4.2
14
4.2
15
4.2
16
4.2
17
4.2
18
4.2
19
4.2
20
2.25
21
3.67
22
2.9
23
3.0
24
3.0
The Artilleryman
Brooke case shot
1888
Brooke shell
174?9
Brooke bolt
181
Brooke shell
15810
Brooke shell
156
C.S. Parrott shell
314
C.S. Parrott shell
280
Brooke milled-base bolt
17711
Brooke milled-base bolt
159
C.S. Dahlgren shell
218
Tennessee shell
429
Tennessee shell
42112
Tennessee shell
40813
Tennessee shell
40714
Tennessee bolt
405
C.S. Parrott shell
279/280
Read shell
330
Broun shell15
198
Read shell
330
Tennessee shell
199
154
Read shell
283
208
Read shell
187
Read shell
257
196
Broun shell
133
108
Figure
Caliber (inches)
Matched Projectile Type
Bell D&G Reference Page Reference Page
Read shell
M & P Reference Page 20816
25
3.67
26
2.9
Read shell
243
27
3.0
Read shell
259
192
28
3.0
Clay shell
90
97
29
2.75
Whitworth bolt
329
234
30
2.75
Whitworth shell
333
236
31
3.67
Read bolt
32
3.0
165
131
33
4.2
34
257
198
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| Vol. 38, No. 2
U.S. Hotchkiss shell17 U.S. Schenkl shell18
362
7.0
Read shell
350
35
7.0
Read shell
350
36
6.4
Tennessee shell
420
37
6.4
Tennessee shell
38
6.4
39
Tennessee shell19
421
6.4
C.S. Dahlgren shell
42220
40
6.4
C.S. Dahlgren shell
215
41
6.4
Brooke rebated ratchet-ring shell
176
42
7.0
Brooke shell
188
43
4.2
Read shell
33621
44
4.2
Read shell
330
45
3.0
Read shell
Union Projectiles Long Parrott shell
302
6.4
Short Parrott shell
297
3
6.4
Parrott chilled-nose bolt
4
4.2
Parrott shell
1
6.4
2
279 27
Figure
Caliber (inches)
Matched Projectile Type
M & P Reference Page
5
3.67
Parrott shell
232
172
6
3.0
Parrott shell
22622
168
7
3.0
Schenkl shell
300
215
8
3.0
Schenkl case shot
299
216
9
3.67
Schenkl shell
309
223
10
4.2
Schenkl shell
362
11
4.5
Schenkl shell
366
12
5.862
Sawyer shell
358
13
3.67
Sawyer shell
296
213
14
4.5
Dyer bolt
15
4.5
Dyer shell
16
3.0
Hotchkiss shell
167
129
17
3.67
Hotchkiss shell
176
138
Endnotes: 1. This Atlas is a 1978 reprint of the original 1891 Edition of Atlas To Accompany The Official Records Of The Union and Confederate Armies, published by Arno Press/Crown Publishers, Inc., New York. All page references are to the 1978 reprint edition, as are the page references to the 1985-1987 reprint edition of the ORs. 2. The Official Records or ORs as they are commonly referred to, consist of two sets of records, War of the Rebellion, Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies and Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, both reprinted, published, and copyrighted in 1971 and 19851987 by the National Historical Society. 3. The drawings were incorporated into Abbot’s book, Siege Artillery In the Campaigns Against Richmond, originally published in 1867 by the Army Corps of Engineers, republished by Van Nostrand in 1868, and reprinted by Dean Thomas in 1986. 4. At the end of this article is a listing of the individual projectiles described in those plates and the results of an effort to match them to known actual projectiles as documented in three recognized books of the subject: Civil War Heavy Explosive Ordnance by the author; Field Artillery Projectiles of the American Civil War, by Thomas Dickey and Peter George (1993 edition); and Introduction to Field Artillery Ordnance 1861-1865, by Jack W. Melton Jr. and Lawrence E. Pawl. 5. In his report of December 5, 1864, Col. Henry Abbot, reported that the projectiles were fired by the Confederates at Union
28
Bell D&G Reference Page Reference Page
The Artilleryman
222
positions, (Army ORs, Series I, Volume 40, Part 1, page 669). 6. Ibid. 7. Two hundred of these shells were ordered by the Confederate Secretary of the Navy in November 1861 for the use of the CSS Virginia in its initial deployment against the Union fleet. Based on a period recovery of this type shell and its recently reviewed documentation, this type 7-inch shell was recently confirmed to have been fired against the USS Cumberland on March 8, the day before the Virginia’s battle with the USS Monitor. It is the only projectile documented to have been fired by the CSS Virginia. 8. The surviving specimen shown on Bell page 188 is a shell, not a case shot. 9. Figure 2 is of a fragment of a shell, so matching it to a known surviving projectile is a “guestimate.” 10. In many cases, there are differences between the weights shown for the figures in the plates and that known in surviving specimens. This could be a mismatch in the attempted matching. Suggested matching changes would be welcome. 11. In the diagram, the reported weight of this bolt (120 pounds) in figure 8 does not closely match the 7-inch (95 pounds). However, in the Army OR text (Series I, Volume 40, Part 1, page 669), Col. Henry Abbot provided amplifying information that aids in identifying some of the projectiles. Figure 8 is a long version of the 7-inch Brooke milledbase bolt. 12. The projectile shown on page 421 is a resaboted Read shell; this is the closest
comparison found to the shape of figure 12. 13. The match to figure 13’s design is a different caliber, 4.62-inch (Bell 408). 14. The only drawing match to figure 14 was in a 4.62 caliber (Bell 407). 15. Figures 14, 18, 19, 32, 35 and 45 are noted as shaped for wooden fuse plugs. 16. The projectile shown on M&P 208 is a case shot, but the profile matches figure 25. 17. Based on figure 32, this is almost certainly a Union Hotchkiss shell recovered and reused by Confederates. It appears that the Hotchkiss shell in the figure was shaped for a wooden fuse plug. The M&P shell shown on their page 131 has a brass fuse. 18. Figure 33 is a Union shell recovered by the Confederates, who replaced the original Schenkl fuse with a Confederate copper fuse plug. 19. Figure 38 shows the shell as a Read shell that has been resaboted as a Tennessee shell as seen on Bell 421. 20. Misidentified in the book as a Tredegar shell 21. Figure 43 is a 4.2-inch caliber; the match based on the drawing profile is a 4.62 caliber. 22. The match for Union figure 6 is a shell, not a case shot. 23. Quote from Transactions of the Southern Historical Society, Vols. 1-2. “Confederate Artillery Service”, E. P. Alexander. Pgs. 36-37. 24. Confederate Papers Relating to Citizens or Business Firms, 1861-1865, Record Group 109, Roll 0898, Samson & Pae. Page 89. 25. Abbot, Plate 6, figure 72. 26. Ibid. Page 106. 27. Ibid. Page 107.
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| Vol. 38, No. 2
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Addendum, on the next three pages, to Jack Bell’s article by Jack Melton.
Confederate 3-Inch Clay Shell
The Clay gun was a breech-loader, and was called an improvement upon the breech-loading Armstrong, which being adopted and only manufactured for the English Government, could not be obtained. Its grooving and projectiles were very similar to the breech-loading Armstrong, and its breech-loading arrangements appeared simpler and of great strength. On trial, however, it failed in every particular. Every projectile fired “tumbled” and fell nearer the gun than the target, and at the seventh round the solid breech-piece was cracked through and the gun disabled.
Tom Dickey’s number 110 is painted on the side indicating the High Bridge recovery site. There is a lathe dimple in the round lead base. The Confederate copper time fuse adapter is smaller in thread diameter and flange diameter than the standard rifled Confederate time fuse adapter. This Clay projectile is one of at least ten unfired projectiles that were recovered in cache at a Confederate fort at High Bridge, Farmville, Virginia. Photograph of Mike Petrakos and Tom Brooks with a portion of their artillery projectile recoveries back in 1960. Samson & Pae manufactured a brass breech for the repair of a Clay breech-loading rifle in June of 1862. Diameter: 3.10 inches (widest point) Bore Diameter: 3.0 inches Gun: 3-inch Clay Breech Loading Rifle Length: 8.58 inches Weight: 11.4 pounds 30
The Artilleryman
Construction: Lines of weakness Fusing System: Time Fusing Material: Copper Fuse Thread Diameter: 1 inch Fuse Hole Length: Unknown
Sabot: Jacket, lead Sabot Height-Width: 6.30 inches Wall Thickness: Unknown Courtesy Michael Ward collection.
The Confederates fired one projectile of this pattern into, at that time, Col. Abbot’s Dutch Gap batteries in 1864. Abbot stated: “Had it not been for this circumstance, I should have supposed that none of the ordnance of this gun-maker was ever used by either army in Virginia.”
Samson & Pae invoice from the National Archives. “1 Brass Breech for Clay Gun”.
Figure 28 in the Atlas is a 3-inch Clay shell (formerly identified as an Armstrong shell). Figure 72, shown above, is from Plate VI from Abbot’s book.
This projectile consists of a thin cast iron shell enclosing forty-two segment-shaped pieces of cast iron, built up so as to form a cylindrical center cavity. The exterior of the shell is thinly coated with lead, which was allowed to percolate among the segments so as to fill up the interstices; the central cavity was kept open by a steel rod. This is the actual shell illustrated on Plate VI, figure 72 in the book by Bvt. Brig. Gen. Henry L. Abbot, USA, Siege Artillery In The Campaigns Against Richmond. Weight of iron body only is 6.6 pounds. Length of the iron body is 8.32 inches, diameter of the iron body rings is 2.58 inches, width between rings is .37 inch and the five raised rings are .57 inch wide. The lead jacket and small bursting charge cavity would have prevented the shell from bursting into a number of pieces. Diameter: 3.08 inches Bore Diameter: 3.0 inches Gun: 3-inch Clay Breech Loading Rifle Length: 8.52 inches Weight: 9.0 pounds (both parts)
Construction: Lines of weakness Fusing System: Time Fusing Material: Copper Fuse Thread Diameter: 1 inch Fuse Hole Length: Unknown
Sabot: Jacket, lead Sabot Height-Width: 6.30 inches Wall Thickness: Unknown Courtesy West Point Museum Collections, U.S. Military Academy.
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| Vol. 38, No. 2
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Federal 3.4-Inch Hotchkiss Shell
The ninth system is identical with that of Hotchkiss already described; but certain of the projectiles, as those shown on Figs. 47 and 68, Plate VI, were manufactured for or by the confederates. This is shown by the absence of the usual patent marks upon these shells, and by the facts that the former belongs to a calibre not used in our service, and that the latter has a stout wire wrapped around the projectile and imbedded in the lead. The system was considerably used, as one accustomed to its peculiar sound could easily detect by the ear when much exposed to confederate fire. Where or how they obtained their supply is open to conjecture. Country: USA Name: Hotchkiss Diameter: 3.31 inches Bore Diameter: 3.40 inches Cannon: 3.4-Inch, 12-Pounder Dahlgren Rifled Boat Howitzer Overall Length: 6.47 inches Weight: 9.0 pounds Construction: Shell Fusing System: Percussion, Hotchkiss (missing) Fuse Material: Brass Fuse Thread Diameter: 1 inch Sabot Material: Lead Sabot Width: 1.54 inches This shell was incorrectly identified as Confederate by Abbot in his book Siege Artillery In The Campaigns Against Richmond. This is a U.S. 3.4inch Hotchkiss shell for the 12-pounder Dahlgren Rifled Boat Howitzer. Two of the fifteen surviving guns are on display outside Battery Jameson, part of Fort Lincoln, in Brentwood, Maryland. There are no flame grooves on the lead sabot or base cup, however, there are flame grooves cast into the nose. This is the exact specimen on Plate VI, figure 68 in Abbot and is missing from the Atlas plates. There are 12 lands and grooves with right hand twist rifling impressions on the lead sabot. Old inventory number 5087 is stamped into the lead sabot. Courtesy West Point Museum Collections, U.S. Military Academy.
The wire wrap, embedded in the lead band during casting, was an attempt to help prevent the band from flying off the projectile after leaving the gun. Diameter of the iron wire is .13 inch. 32
The Artilleryman
Plate VI, figure 68 in Abbot’s book.
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| Vol. 38, No. 2
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O
n the 151st Anniversary of the American Civil War, it is appropriate that we take a moment to reflect on those brave citizens of greater Lowell who served in the war between the states. A recent visit to the Lowell Cemetery revealed a special lot where eighteen veterans are buried. This lot is guarded by four very large naval cannon marked with
Artilleryman Henry H. Smith survived the Battle of Wyse Forks in February 1865, Kingston, N.C. 34
The Artilleryman
Grand Army of the Republic, or G.A.R. insignia. According to local historian Mr. Richard Howe, the cannon were obtained from the War Department in 1933 through the efforts of a World War I veteran named Irving J. Loucraft, past commander of the Lowell American Legion Post, with assistance
from Congresswoman Edith Nourse Rogers, Legion Post Commander James H. Rooney, Mayor Charles H. Slowey, and Superintendent Thomas P. McDermott of the Lowell Water Department. The cannon were declared military surplus and the War Department
These twin Dahlgren cannons cover the flanks of the two rows of Civil War Veterans in the Lowell Cemetery, Massachusetts. (All photos by Mike Kelley)
Lorenzo Richardson of 2nd Massachusetts Heavy Artillery Regiment saw action at Fort Branch on the Roanoke River, Va,. and on the Rainbow Bluff Expedition in 1864 and 1865. made them available for use as war memorials for local cities and towns. At the time, the four guns were stored at Fort Banks in Winthrop and had to be transported to Lowell. Many of these guns were made by a South Boston company, the Cyrus Alger and Company, and saw extensive service aboard U.S. Navy ships such as the USS Kearsarge, USS Richmond, and USS Ticonderoga to name a few. The guns are made of cast iron and weigh about 1,185 pounds. The heavy guns required some type of large crane to lift and transport them to Lowell. The
Three IX-inch spherical projectiles lay under this gun. Lowell Water Department owned a heavy duty truck with a crane which could hoist the cannons and transport them to Lowell. Superintendent McDermott dispatched Irving J. Loucraft, along with Assistant Superintendent James Reynolds to Fort Banks to pick up the cannons with a crew of city
The Dahlgren IX-inch shell-gun has a distinctive soda bottle shape. It could fire shot, shell, canister and grape shot.
workers. The four Dahlgren IX-inch smoothbore cannon were restored and mounted on special cast iron gun carriages and placed in the Civil War lot in Lowell Cemetery. The cannon, along with a large granite memorial stone marker, were dedicated by Congresswoman Rogers, city officials, members of the B. F. Butler G.A.R. Post 42, the American Legion Post, local veterans, and citizens of greater Lowell to the memory of the Unknown Dead of the Civil War, and to the veterans who fought and died in the war, such as Private Abbott Samuel, age 22, 1st Co. of Mass. Sharp Shooters, who died at the Battle of Antietam on Sept. 20, 1862, Private Michael Kelley, age 20, Co. B, 30th Mass. Vol. Inf. Regt., who died at Baton Rouge, July 31, 1862, and Sergeant Hiram Pierson, age 28, Co. I, 2nd Mass. Vol. Inf. Regt., of Tewksbury, who died of wounds received at the Battle of Resaca, Ga., in 1864. Of special interest are the graves of two veterans in the lot, Lorenzo Richardson and Henry H. Smith, as they were artillerymen in the Civil War who manned cannon against Confederate forces in many battles from the First Battle of Bull Run, July 21, 1861,
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| Vol. 38, No. 2
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The eighteen Civil War Veterans whose graves are guarded by the four cannon are: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
William C. McFarland, U.S. Navy, Died 1886 William G. Knott, Co. F, 26th Mass. Inf., Died 1886 John Wiley, Co. G, 1st Mass. Inf., Died 1887 David L. Ridley, Co. G, 10th N.H. Inf., Died 1887 Clinton Gilbert, Co. G, 43rd Mass. Inf., Died 1871 Henry H. Smith, Co. K, 2nd Mass. Heavy Artillery, Died 1890 William Leighton, Co. H, 33rd Mass. Inf., Died 1891 John L. Lairdison, Co. H, 5th Pa. Cav., Died 1896 George N. Leathera, U.S. Navy, Died 1897 Rubin C. Hardy, Co. K, 46th Ill. Inf., Died 1897 John McDonald, Co. B, 84th N.Y. Inf., Died 1898 Lewis Magnant, U.S. Navy, Died 1888 Alonzo K. Preston, Co. A, 15th Vt. Inf., Died 1899 Nelson S. Iby, Co. A, 96th N.Y. Inf., Died 1899 Lorenzo Richardson, Co. M, 2nd Mass. Heavy Artillery, Died 1920 Asa M. Gower, Co. E, 55th Maine Inf. Adelbert Richardson, Co. D, 33rd Mass. Inf., Died 1925 Alvin W. Stockwell, Co. F, 3rd N.H. Inf., Died 1925
to some of the final shots of the war at Columbus, Ga., on April 16, 1865. The Navy men listed here more than likely saw Dahlgren guns like these fired in action aboard their ships. They may even have been a member of a gun crew. Appropriately, the headstones of McFarland and Magnant, the
two Navy veterans, sit next to two of the guns. During the war, thousands of citizen soldiers volunteered for duty in the Union Army and Navy. Some regiments formed for Federal service were mustered in Lowell at Camp Chase and Camp Wilson. Camp Chase was located along Boston Road across from
The back row of Civil War Veteran’s protected by this IX Dahlgren cannon. 36
The Artilleryman
Seaman Lewis Magnant must have seen cannon like this IX-inch Dahlgren aboard the USS Sinclair during the war. It now stands eternal guard over his gravesite. the Saint Patricks Cemetery. Some units that formed up in Lowell are the 2nd Bn. Mass. Cavalry, 1861, the 3rd Mass. Vol. Cav., 1861, the 6th Mass. Battery, Light Artillery, 1862, and the 30th Mass. Vol. Inf. Regt., 1861. They engaged in battles at Port Hudson and the Teche Campaign, La., Fisher’s Hill and Cedar Creek, Va., and the Shenandoah Valley Campaign to name a few. The next time you are in the neighborhood of the Lowell Cemetery, stop by to visit these long forgotten American heroes and maybe run your hand along the barrel of the once “state of the art” IX-inch Dahlgrens and imagine what it must have been like to prowl the oceans in pursuit of enemy ships. The G.A.R. lot is located in the northeast part of the cemetery on Myrtle Path. Just look for the flagpole with the large American flag. The history of the great American Civil War is right here in Lowell. Mass. These American heroes are waiting for your visit. Poem engraved on the Civil War Memorial: “Oh Ye who rest in nameless graves unmarked because unknown—We cherish the record of your deeds. Angels have heard your story and God knows all your names.”
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WWI Field Cannon Model 1906
Civil War Deck Cannon
4.7-inch, with limber. Hard-to-find Northwestern Ordnance Co. Ready for easy restoration. U.S. Army’s standard medium field gun in 1917, with 60 in service. Production was increased when the U.S. entered WWI. Northwestern Ordnance Co. produced 98 more of them in Madison, WI during 1918. Limber has stamp on it that reads Rock Island Arsenal. $21,900 or reasonable offer.
We believe this to be one of the original six Ordnance rifles converted. No. 11 P.I.C 1861, 813 lbs. TTSL, complete with original U.S. base. Manufacturer: Phoenix Iron Co. Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, Model 1861. Maximum Range 1,830 yards. Barrel/Tube length 69 inches. Original Bore: 3 inches converted to 3.18 inches. This gun was altered to a breech loader at Fort Mackenzie, Wyoming. $17,000 or reasonable offer. (Source: Wayne Stark’s notes)
Located in California. Call Jeff for more information (916) 410-3993 (I will split the shipping cost)
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W
e often see news reports where a Civil War or other antique black powder (BP) projectile has been found or identified; a bomb squad responds, evacuates the area and often detonates the projectile on the scene. This recently occurred at Folly Beach, S.C., and Savannah, Ga., where Civil War cannon balls were found. While some bomb squads and military Explosive Ordnance Detachments (EOD) understand that antique BP projectiles are not motion sensitive and can be simply picked up and moved without danger; many bomb squads are unfamiliar with their characteristics and treat them like modern explosives. Modern explosive projectiles or devices are very dangerous and cannot be handled or moved in a safe manner. They have fuses that are spring loaded, mechanically or electrically initiated, or have sensitive components that can be activated by handling. As a result, bomb disposal teams without training on antique projectiles normally elect to destroy every explosive projectile, on the spot, if possible. The largest problem bomb disposal units have is they can’t always identify a projectile as antique or modern. While it should be evident that a cannon ball is an antique projectile, Civil War rifled projectiles can be confusing to a technician with no training handling or identifying them. In addition, because virtually all training is focused on modern projectiles, they have been taught not to handle them and to destroy them in place, if feasible. Modern explosive projectiles or devices cannot easily be deactivated by any safe manner so EOD tend to detonate everything in place or on a safe range as soon as possible. While 38
The Artilleryman
this is frustrating to antique projectile collectors we must realize most EOD lack the training or expertise to do anything else. Furthermore, attempting to save historic projectiles has a very low priority with EOD, considering the current threat presented to them by terrorists and lunatic bomb makers. The author wants to make an unqualified disclaimer of liability that this does not suggest black powder projectiles are not dangerous. They can be dangerous and anyone who has a projectile they believe is still loaded or has a partial charge should seek the advice of an expert and should never, never attempt to deactivate it themselves. Readers may be interested in examining the explosive characteristics of black powder, antique explosive ordnance hazards and the types of explosions that have occurred since the 1950s. Having said this it must be emphasized this discussion only applies to antique projectiles made prior to 1866. The hazard is many modern rifled projectiles look like Civil War projectiles and inexperienced personnel, like bomb squads, can’t tell the difference. Just because a projectile was found on a battlefield doesn’t make it a Civil War projectile. During World War I the Army leased land all over the U.S. for use as artillery ranges. Many ranges were on Civil War battlefields or where Civil War artillery units practiced. You would not believe the number of misidentified antique projectiles referred to the author for identification that were actually modern explosives and very dangerous. This emphasizes the dangers associated with an individual who incorrectly identifies an antique projectile.
There are many myths about black powder that are simply not true. First, it doesn’t get more powerful with age. If it did, they would have aged it. Secondly, it doesn’t get more sensitive with age. It gets less sensitive, but that doesn’t mean it’s less dangerous. In fact, black powder in good condition is one of the most sensitive and dangerous explosives to handle. It can be ignited by the slightest spark or open flame; static electricity can produce an ignition spark. It will ignite instantly if heated suddenly to 572 degrees Fahrenheit. It will ignite if compressed between two surfaces and, finally, it will ignite from friction which is a combination of sparks, static electricity, heat and compression. History has numerous examples of magazines exploding when personnel walked on spilled black powder on the floor or accidently performed other seemingly innocent acts. If black powder gets wet, it can dry out and still be explosive. If the potassium nitrate is dissolved with water and removed, it can be deactivated, but if all the potassium nitrate isn’t removed, it can still be dangerous. If water enters a bursting cavity and remains, overtime, it can cause the black powder to decompose and produce hydrogen sulfide, which has the odor of rotten eggs. Hydrogen sulfide is flammable and easy to ignite, but it takes a mixture of oxygen to have an explosive mixture, so any hydrogen sulfide within a bursting cavity cannot explode if it is under pressure and has no oxygen. There is no documented record of any projectile exploding from hydrogen sulfide, although it is often released during deactivation. Since the 1950s, the author has documented only five explosive
incidents. These produced two fatalities and five severe injuries. All seven accidents resulted from using an electric tool, primarily an electric drill. There have been a great number of detonations resulting from individuals using a remote drill press but, while there was some contained property damage, there were no documented injuries. This is incredible because this writer estimates that over 300,000 antique explosive projectiles have been deactivated by rank amateurs with an electric drill with no reported fatalities. This doesn’t mean it’s safe to deactivate an antique BP projectile; it merely means a lot of people were very, very lucky. The known accidents were all attributed to individuals who frequently deactivated projectiles and either got very careless or disregarded common sense safety practices. In a few cases, they had done so many deactivations that they actually believed they couldn’t be detonated. The most incredible statistic is there are no known antique projectiles that exploded by handling and they have been struck with construction equipment, dropped, sucked up during channel dredging or accidently exposed to severe handling. In addition, antique projectiles are not sensitive to shock and so there is no documented record of any projectile exploding by sympathetic detonation when another projectile exploded nearby. One of the greatest myths is that black powder is sensitive to shock. It is not, because if it was explosive projectiles couldn’t be fired. When a projectile is fired it accelerates from standstill to over 1,000 feet per second, within about six feet. This violent shock is called “setback” and is so strong it produces a force of about 1,000 “Gs!” If black powder was sensitive to shock, every projectile would have exploded in the cannon tube the instant it was fired or at least would have exploded when it struck the ground. The author has safely deactivated over 600 antique explosive projectiles
and has disassembled many Schenkl and Hotchkiss percussion fuses (after the projectile was rendered inert). Examination revealed the fulminate of mercury cap in the slide or detonation mechanism had deteriorated in every case. The author has purchased original Civil War percussion caps and attempted to explode them by hitting them with a hammer or exposing them to the flame of a propane torch. In no case would they ignite. Other black powder artificers have done the same thing and not one has found an original fulminate of mercury device that would ignite or function. When the author was in the Pentagon he examined old Army records and noted they determined the shelf life of Civil War fulminate of mercury fuses was about 15 years. This is attributed to the primitive characteristics of Civil War era mercury of fulminate. This doesn’t mean percussion caps can be drilled out safely… they can’t because there is black powder behind them in the powder train; it does means the slide can’t detonate a cap by handling. This is not true of post-Civil War modern fulminate of mercury which will remain active for over 100 years. Explosive antique projectiles can only be detonated by exposing the black powder to either sparks, static electricity, flame (heat (572 degrees Fahrenheit) or compression. Static electricity on the projectile casing will not cause the projectile to explode because it doesn’t produce an internal spark. Many collectors have put a loaded explosive projectile through electrolysis and there is no documented case of one ever exploding. The writer must emphasize this is not a safe practice, as hooking an explosive projectile up to a battery charger could produce a situation that hasn’t previously occurred, but to date no incidents have been noted. It should be obvious to the reader that the real hazard of explosive antique projectiles is attempting to deactivate them, particularly by using an electric tool such as a drill.
The drill sets up the conditions of ignition (heat, sparks, compression, static electricity and friction). But the real purpose of this article is not to discuss deactivation, but to note that antique black powder projectiles can be safely handled and moved. It is not necessary to detonate them in place, close roads or evacuate entire neighborhoods. They can be carefully picked up and moved as long as they have been positively identified as an antique cannon ball or Civil War rifled projectile. The greatest danger is the misidentification of a modern explosive projectile, which is not safe to handle or move. This is a danger relic hunters must recognize when hunting on old military ranges where modern projectiles are mixed with antique ordnance. In addition to accidental detonation, many World War I ranges have shells filled with mustard gas that is absolutely deadly and if handled, can be a silent killer before you know you have been exposed. This writer’s advice is stay off post-Civil War artillery ranges as they have many dangerous projectiles that cannot be safely handled. Any relic hunter who exposes a projectile that isn’t immediately recognized as antique ordnance should leave it in the ground. Hopefully this article has made the point that when bomb squads positively identify an antique projectile such as a cannon ball, they can merely pick it up and move it. If they make a positive identification of a Civil War rifled projectile, the same is true. Whether they elect to preserve the artifact for history depends on their technical deactivation competence, and many military EOD units and bomb squads have amassed very impressive collections by preserving these antiquities for future generations. Col. John Biemeck (Ret), is a frequent contributor to The Artilleryman, is a technical expert and published author on antique explosive devices and is our staff Black Powder Explosive Ordnance Consultant.
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Confederate forces defending Atlanta in the summer of 1864 positioned a IXinch Dahlgren smoothbore shell gun in their fortifications surrounding the city. But where was it, exactly? The literature is sparse and conflicting, but some surprising sources - Yankee reports! - suggest that it was placed in the northwest salient of the Southern defenses, possibly in the famed “Fort Hood.” Here’s what we know…or think we do.
I
n late May 1864 Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman’s Union forces were thirty miles northwest of Atlanta, slugging it out with Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston’s Army of Tennessee in the vicinity of Dallas-New Hope. With the campaign not even a month old, Johnston dared not hint to Jefferson Davis in Richmond that he intended to retreat all the way to Atlanta. But a good indication of his plans to do so appears in Southerners’ transporting a huge 64-pounder cannon from the C.S. Naval Station in Columbus, Ga. On May 28, 1864, Lt. Augustus McLaughlin at Columbus telegraphed Lt. David McCorkle, commanding the Atlanta Naval Ordnance Works, that he was putting on the train “two 32 pdrs. of 41 cwt. & one 9 in. Dahlgren with carriages.” The guns, coming via Macon, would be in Atlanta “by tomorrow evening,” McLaughlin predicted.1 We don’t know anything about the IX-incher, which was obviously 40
The Artilleryman
intended to be deployed in the Atlanta defenses. It could have been of Northern manufacture, one of the fifty-two IX-inch Dahlgrens captured by Virginia forces when they overwhelmed Gosport Navy Yard at Norfolk in April 1861. During the war Southerners also cast their own IX-inch Confederate Dahlgrens at the Tredegar Iron Works and Bellona Foundry in Richmond.2 As the war entered its second year, Atlantans realized that the Yankees would be coming. Northern train thieves stole a locomotive north of Atlanta in April 1862, but were captured before they could damage the rail line to Chattanooga. A year later, in May 1863, Union Col. Abel Streight led mounted infantry on a raid that got sixty miles from Atlanta before Bedford Forrest rode him down. The scare caused the Atlanta City Council to demand fortifications be built against future enemy raids. The plans, adopted by the Confederate Bureau of Engineers in Richmond, eventually called for a complete ring of defenses around the city. Work on them by hundreds of slaves was supervised by Atlantan Capt. Lemuel P. Grant through the fall of 1863 and into spring 1864. By midApril, Grant submitted to Richmond a map showing an entrenched perimeter of 10 ½ miles completely encircling the city. Sited on high ground were nineteen artillery forts, each with four to six embrasures for field pieces.3
The artillery would obviously come from the Army of Tennessee, when Joe Johnston presumably retreated from north Georgia into Capt. Grant’s fortifications. But in mid-April 1864, the Atlanta Campaign had not even begun. The big Dahlgren naval gun, arriving probably sometime by early June, was thus among the very first Confederate ordnance placed in the Atlanta defenses. But where was it mounted? Confederate records don’t offer evidence. After the war Atlantans talked about an “immense gun” that was “so large and heavy that it had taken three days to drag it to its position,” according to Wallace P. Reed, an early historian of the city.4 Could it have been placed in
Portrait of Lemuel Pratt Grant from the book Atlanta And Its Builders by Thomas H. Martin.
“Atlanta. Georgia. And Its Rebel Defences,� by Robert K. Sneden, a Northern veteran who served as mapmaker in the Army of the Potomac. (Library of Congress)
the works northwest of the city? Obviously the Yankees would be coming from that direction. Thus it was odd that Grant had drawn his perimeter of works in that quadrant much too close to the city—in some places, actually within Atlanta’s one-mile radius. To push his fortifications farther out, Grant created a northwest salient, which was not finished as of midApril 1864. His April 12 map shows
Country: CSA Name: Brooke Diameter-Projectile: 6.34 inches Diameter-Bore: 6.40 inches Cannon: Rifled 32-Pdr. Smoothbore Overall Length: 11.09 inches Weight: 57.0 pounds (empty) Construction: Shell Fuse: Missing Fuse Internal Thread Dia.: .98 inch Sabot Material: Copper Sabot Height: 1.20 inches Recovery: Vicksburg, Miss. Actual specimen found on page 171 of from the book Civil War Heavy Explosive Ordnance: A Guide to Large Artillery Projectiles, Torpedoes, and Mines by Jack Bell. This is similar to the fired Brooke projectile sabots that were found on Davis Hill in Atlanta. Courtesy The Atlanta History Center. (Jack Melton) 42
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several artillery forts sited on hills northwest of the city. They would be connected by rifle pits, but when Sherman’s forces neared Atlanta, these earthworks were still not complete, although the project was being rushed. On July 3, a Northern spy who ventured in and out of the city reported to Federal officers, “General Johnston had ordered out every negro to work in the fortifications.” Two weeks later, Johnston’s army was at Atlanta, with Johnston giving Confederate President Jefferson Davis no assurance of plans to attack and drive Sherman’s forces away. Davis therefore relieved Johnston on July 17 and promoted Lt. Gen. John B. Hood, a corps commander in the Army of Tennessee, to replace him. Hood immediately ordered more work on the northwest salient, and directed that another one be dug on the city’s northeast corner as well. Lt. Col. Stephen Presstman, Hood’s chief engineer, oversaw this effort, allowing us to term the Atlanta’s fortified perimeter the Grant-Presstman line.5 Confederate engineers never prepared a map of the city’s completed fortifications, on which they continued to toil even under enemy shellfire. By
Two Confederate 6.4-inch, rifled 32-pounder Brooke copper sabots. These were found by author and historian Phil Secrist, Ph.D., on Davis Hill, on Oct. 18, 1959. Davis Hill was the location of Union troops during the Atlanta Campaign. Fragments of rifled 32-pounder shells (64-pounders) have been recovered at Davis Hill and near Ezra Church. July 20 the Yankees were close enough to start bombarding the city from the north and east, as Sherman pursued his plan of cutting Atlanta’s railroads one by one. For example, Confederate Capt. William L. Ritter, after the war, recalled that his 3rd Maryland Battery moved to the “Peach Tree Redoubt” on July 22, an as-yet unfinished fort which Ritter’s men completed as a fiveembrasure work. This earthwork was shown as “Fort K” on Grant’s map;
Chevaux-de-frise on Marietta Street; photographic wagons of George Barnard and darkroom beyond. Shown prominently is Fort Hood. (Library of Congress)
today it is the site of the Fox Theatre, on Peachtree Street near Ponce De Leon Avenue. In the next month and a half, the Federal commander shifted his forces around the city, never completely surrounding it (hence my preference for semi-siege as the term for Sherman’s operations). During this time Hood ordered more artillery forts constructed. As late as August 20, according to Lt. Col. Bushrod W. Frobel, Assistant Engineer-in-Chief for the Army of Tennessee, new gun embrasures were being built along the Confederate lines.6 Without a C.S. engineers’ map of Atlanta’s defenses, we are thrown upon cartography of an unexpected source: the Yankees. After Sherman captured the city on Sept. 2, the Union XX Corps occupied it for the next two and a half months. During this time Hood led the Army of Tennessee onto the offensive, back through north Georgia and northern Alabama into Tennessee and the Confederates’ tragic defeats at Franklin and Nashville. During Oct. and early Nov. Sherman tarried in northwest Georgia with most of his forces, warily watching the Rebels marching away. Meantime the XX Corps, commanded by Maj. Gen. Henry W. Slocum, whiled away their time in
Sneden marked “Large gun” on the southeast salient with no indication of its caliber. (Library of Congress)
Atlanta. Slocum’s engineers had the opportunity to inspect, survey and map the city’s defensive works. Their work led to a remarkably detailed map drawn and painted years after the war by one Robert K. Sneden, a Northern veteran who served as mapmaker in the Army of the Potomac. Sneden’s colorful map, “Atlanta. Georgia. And Its Rebel Defences,” has only been published in the last few years.7 Sneden carefully included in his Ponder’s house (above), on the lines N.W. of the city, showing the effect of shots, Atlanta, Ga., Nov. 1864. (Library of Congress)
Confederate fortifications in Atlanta, Ga. Fort Hood is shown on the horizon.. (Shown is George N. Barnard, photographer and his dark room). The Ponder house is to the middle far right of this photograph. (Library of Congress)
Location of the Ephraim Graham Ponder house and Fort Hood. Northwest bastion of the Sneden map. (Library of Congress) ArtillerymanMagazine.com
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Brig. Gen. Orlando Metcalfe Poe was Sherman’s Chief Engineer. (Library of Congress) water colored map as many artillery forts and gun emplacements as the XX Corps cartographers recorded. To my eye, there are thirty-four of them, ranging from the original emplacements sited by Captain Grant (which he denoted only by alphabetic letters) to the new ones constructed in late July and August (but which were never named, so far as I know). In which fortification, if any, was the immense Dahlgren gun placed? Note that in the southeast salient, Sneden marked “large gun,” without specifying its caliber. Yet the literature does not support the 64-pounder as having ever been placed there. Similarly, claims that the big Dahlgren was put in the Peachtree fort mentioned by Captain Ritter cannot be substantiated. Wallace Reed, the postwar newspaperman and early chronicler of Atlanta’s history, wrote in the 1880s that “the Confederates had an immense gun on Peachtree Street…. where Kimball intersects.” Atlanta historian Franklin Garrett notes that Kimball is now Ponce de Leon, the area of Fox Theatre/Fort K.8 On the other hand, sometime after Confederate engineer Capt. Grant 44
The Artilleryman
prepared his map of the Atlanta fortifications on April 12, 1864, the Southerners constructed a notable artillery earthwork. The map of the city’s defenses prepared during October 1864 by Union Capt. Orlando M. Poe, Sherman’s chief engineer, shows a lone embrasure south of Fort K along Peachtree Street.9 The site is today bounded by Linden Avenue, West Peachtree, Prescott and Peachtree Streets. Atlantan William R. Scaife made the assumption that the earthen emplacement may have been constructed for the IX-inch Dahlgren, and that the naval shell gun was indeed positioned there. In his map “Confederate Defenses,” Scaife even pictured a “9” [inch] Dahlgren Naval Gun from gunboat CSS Chattahoochee,” though he implausibly added that the cannon was “manned by Georgia Militia.” As was his practice, Scaife cited no source for his assumption. He repeated the claim in his map “Civil War Atlanta”
in the second edition of his book, again without documentation.10 Instead of this emplacement along Peachtree Street, it would make more sense that the IX-inch shell gun was placed in the northwest salient of the Confederate works. Captain Grant’s map of April 12, 1864 showed the position marked with an “X” for the battery then being built. During the semi-siege, when it and other batteries were connected by continuous trench lines, some Confederates started calling it “Fort Hood,” as E. T. Eggleston of Cowan’s Mississippi Battery noted in his diary on Aug. 28, 1864, “We left Fort Hood today and moved to the left to join our division.” The late Wilbur G. Kurtz (1882-1967), Atlanta’s indefatigable Civil War historian, answered the question of why the fort was named for General Hood and not Johnston. Although Grant laid out a potential line of works for the northwest salient, it was not until
Wartime photograph of Fort McAllister, near Savannah, Ga., has a 32-pounder smoothbore that had been rifled and banded mounted on a 1864 dated Savannah Arsenal carriage. The bore is 6.4-inches and would have fired a conical, rifled projectile bolt (solid projectile) weighing approximately 64-pounds, hence the 64-pounder designation. This rifled 32-pounder is similar to the one that fired the Brooke projectiles at Davis Hill. (Library of Congress)
Gen. Hood took command that intense labor—by soldiers and slaves alike— saw its completion.11 The northwest bastion, according to the Sneden map, seems to have had embrasures for four guns. After the war a former Confederate artillery officer, Capt. Robert L. Barry, recalled that his battery of four Napoleons had been placed in Fort Hood. The 1930s historical guide to the city marked the site as, “Fort Hood. Northwestern salient of the city fortifications. Location of Capt. R. L. Barry’s Confederate battery during the defense of the city, July, August 1864.” But there was no mention of any other artillery, much less the big Dahlgren.12 During the Federal occupation, George Barnard, a civilian photographer employed by Federal engineers, took more than a dozen photographs of Fort Hood, which he simply termed the “large rebel fort
on Marietta Street.” They show an imposing earthwork, whose front had been obstructed with chevaux de frise and other impediments to infantry assault. One view in particular shows the Confederate parapet and fortified line extending to the east.
home of Ephraim Ponder, a wealthy landowner who had left his wife Ellen; she was refugeeing in south Georgia as the Yankees approached, so the house was vacant. The place was mistakenly called “Potter’s” by Union officers.13 When Barnard took his pictures, of course, there was no Rebel artillery in the fort, only a Northern battery of Napoleons and their XX Corps gun crews. There is thus no photographic evidence of a 64-pounder Dahlgren having been in Atlanta during the semi-siege. During the fighting around the city, several Federals remarked upon a big 64-pounder firing on them, and together their evidence suggests that the cannon was at Fort Hood. The first piece of evidence comes from Union Brig. Gen. John W. Geary, who commanded a division in the XX Corps in lines north of the city. Geary stated in his campaign report, “July 28. The forenoon passed in comparative quiet, the enemy throwing occasional 64-pound shells, of the James projectile pattern, in our direction from heavy guns recently mounted in a fort near the railroad and close to Mrs. Ponder’s house.” Geary’s statement was enough to persuade the careful Wilbur G. Kurtz that the Confederates’ 64-pounder was indeed there. Kurtz knew that Geary’s division was in the lines just north of Fort Hood, as he showed in a map accompanying his article on the fort.14 Point two comes from Union artillery Capt. Arnold Sutermeister. In his report Sutermeister, in charge of the XX Corps siege artillery, wrote that, after taking position north of Atlanta near the Marietta road, his guns came under fire from “the forts in front and on our right, the former being armed with 20-pounder guns, the latter with 12-pounders and one 64-pounder rifled gun….15 The fort to Sutermeister’s right, given his position in the XX Corps line, would have been Fort Hood, westernmost
“every little while they sent over sum sixty five pounders…and killed James Biling and took a leg off one other and wounded one or two others you can bet it made a pretty big mess.” “Stereoscopic view of large rebel fort east side of the W. & A. R. R. Potter’s house in right background,” is Poe’s caption for the image. The descriptives are important: Fort Hood was near both Marietta Street and the Western & Atlantic Railroad, the single-track line that ran northwest out of the city, eventually to Chattanooga. “Potter’s house” was the two-story white stucco
In this Mathew Brady photograph, a IX-inch Dahlgren shell-gun on a slide-pivot mounting is seen in operation aboard a U.S. Navy warship during the Civil War. This Dahlgren shell-gun fired a IX-inch spherical shell that weighed 7072 pounds. No archaeological evidence exists that any IX-inch Dahlgren shells were fired in Atlanta.
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U.S. Gen. John W. Geary. He commanded a division in the XX Corps during the Atlanta Campaign. (Library of Congress) in the Confederate lines north of the city. Sutermeister also mentioned 12-pounders, which echoes Captain Barry’s claim that his Tennessee battery held Fort Hood. On July 27 Sherman began shifting his Army of the Tennessee from east of Atlanta around toward its west, pushing toward the Rebels’ railroad southwest of the city. The Union XVI Corps took up the Federals’ new line beginning a mile southwest of Fort Hood, according to Kurtz’s map of wartime Atlanta.16 The XVI Corps position was thus definitely within range of the big cannon at Fort Hood, as attested by the diary of Pvt. James P. Snell, 52nd Illinois, Headquarters, 2nd Div., XVI Corps - the third piece of evidence. On July 30 Snell recorded in his journal, The rebs have been quite saucy today—throwing 64 pd. shell so thick around us, as to endanger our HdQrs. and the lives of everybody near them. The enemy cannon fire was more than annoying. All the shell come over the brow of the hill, explode in its rear and scatter their fragments every way. Two men of the 81st Ohio were badly wounded by a shell, which struck a tree, behind which they sought refuge: 5 men in the 7th Ind. Bat’y were killed by one shell. Two exploded 46
The Artilleryman
above us, scattering the fragments among our headquarters tents, one piece burying itself in the ground a rod behind the general’s tent (he was out to the front at the time) another cutting a sapling close by. Another shell (the next one) passed over the Adj’ts tent, and burst about 8 rods off, sending the fragments down into Genl. Dodge’s HdQrs. to our left and rear—Killing Col. Tiedman’s horse, and wounding two others. Dodge thereupon moved ½ mile farther to the rear. Snell noticed that a Federal battery positioned nearby seemed to draw fire from the Rebels’ “big gun.” Battery H, 1st Missouri Light Artillery, commanded by Capt. Frederick Welker, was attached to the 2nd Division, XVI Corps. Snell recorded on August 1, “since those 64 pd. shell have come over, Welker’s boys have strengthened their fort.” A few days later Snell wrote, “the Rebel guns especially ‘Growler’ (as our boys call the 64 pdr. gun opposite us) played upon our line and batteries.”17 Private Snell’s nickname—“the Growler”—for the big Dahlgren is the only such reference I’ve come upon yet, but the sobriquet works as well as any we might imagine. At least one report of a 64-pounder has been found in Confederate newspapers. “J.T.G.,” a soldier-correspondent for the Columbus, Ga. Enquirer, wrote a column published Aug. 9 about his visit to the front lines on a recent Sunday. “Upon the north side of the city and near the state road [reference to the Western & Atlantic] we have planted a few pieces of siege artillery carrying a 32 pounder round shell or a 64 pounder oblong shell,” he began. “J.T.G.” saw in the distance a bunch of enemy troops. “The Yanks had got out of their ditches and formed a line immediately to the rear of their works,” he explained, which caught the eye of the nearby Confederate artillery commander as well. He ordered a few rounds fired, and one, “a 64 pounder, exploded apparently at their feet and such a scattering and
leaping into ditches never has been witnessed before,” the correspondent wrote.18 The Growler, as we may call it, turned its fire upon the XX Corps lines north of the city as well as toward the XVI Corps west of it. There was apparently enough cannonading and skirmishing along the northwest salient for Gen. Hood to order a secondary line of entrenchments dug behind it on August 1. “General Hood directs that you cause the line in rear of the salient on the Marietta road to be staked off,” Hood’s chief of staff, Brig. Gen. Francis Shoup, wrote to Lt. Col. Presstman, “so that the work can be done tonight.” As late as August 22, a Union signal officer perched in a treetop reported, “I have observed for several days a body of men at work on what appeared to be a new line of works on east side of Marietta railroad.” Lt. Samuel Edge, another signal officer, added, “the enemy are busy strengthening their works and building new ones in front of the Twentieth Corps.” He was able to mention a “new casemate battery…south of big gun and in front of the left of the Sixteenth Corps” —further placing the “big gun” in the Fort Hood salient area.19 Federals near the northwest salient—troops of the XX Corps— were busy, too. On July 30 Shoup instructed Col. Robert Beckham, an artillery commander, “to use all the guns against the enemy’s working parties on the Marietta road” as Hood did not want the enemy to “gain a lodgment in front of that point.” Among the Confederate guns engaged on the Marietta road was of course the 64-pounder. “They throw two shells to our one,” wrote a correspondent for the New York Times on August 15, “and for every 32-pounder of ours they hurl a 64-pound slug. While these destructive missiles are on the wing, such expressions as ‘Look out for that cart-wheel!’ ‘There comes an anchor!’ ‘Look out, for that blacksmith’s shop!’ and the like may be heard.” “These sixty-four pound
Sketch Of The City Of Atlanta And Line Of Defenses
Confederates began planning Atlanta’s fortifications in the summer of 1863. By spring 1864 the engineer in charge, Capt. Lemuel P. Grant, had laid out a ring of entrenchments completely surrounding the city, 10 ½ miles in circumference. Grant submitted a map of his work in progress on April 12, 1864. It shows nineteen artillery forts in the perimeter, plus one on a hill in the southern stretch of McDonough Street. They are designated alphabetically as A - U. Surprisingly, Grant had pitched his line closest to the city limits in the very quadrant from which the enemy approach could be expected: the northwest. He thus sited five more gun batteries (forts V – Z) in that direction, but as of mid-April they had not been connected by infantry trenches. When they were, in mid-July as Sherman’s forces approached Atlanta, Fort X became the northwest salient of the Confederate defenses. Soldiers started calling it Fort Hood. It was here that we think the Confederate placed their big IX-inch Dahlgren gun. (OR Atlas, Plate LI.) ArtillerymanMagazine.com
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Capt. David Conyngham. (Library of Congress) slugs,” “Chickamauga” declared, “are the most destructive shell I have ever seen.” One happened to have landed near Maj. Gen. George H. Thomas’ tent, and was on display there. The Times writer noted that it was almost as big as a water bucket; “no wonder the boys shout, ‘Look out for that blacksmith’s shop!’ as these ‘fellows’ go crashing through the woods.”20 Other Union soldiers recorded impressions of the Rebels’ big 64-pounder. Capt. David Conyngham wrote that its firing “made a regular fuss and scare, kicking up a whole lot of puddle; in fact, conducting itself like a miniature volcano.”21 A New York private, in a letter written home in mid-August, recalled that, from the time the XX Corps dug in on July 22, “every little while they sent over sum sixty five pounders…and killed James Biling and took a leg off one other and wounded one or two others you can bet it made a pretty big mess.”22 “The big gun stands in the same position,” Lieutenant Edge wrote Maj. Gen. John A. Logan on August 22. At some point “the Growler” ceased to growl. The Rebels’ Dahlgren would doubtless have become a target of Union artillerists, although the Official Records contain no correspondence to confirm this. Lt. Ralsa Rice, whose 48
The Artilleryman
125th Ohio Inf. occupied part of the IV Corps line north of the city, thought that a Union battery of six rifled cannon near his position had directed its fire “to silence the rebel siege gun.” The Yankees might have been successful. The New York private whose anonymous letter is quoted above noted on August 16 that, “we have got that old felow [sic] still at least they have not shot it this way for a few days.” The Dahlgren was apparently dismounted by the Federal artillery; if so, it would have been too heavy to be remounted during the heavy artillery exchanges of mid-August. After the fall of the city, Lieutenant Rice returned to the fortifications north of Atlanta and found that “the enemy’s large siege gun was dismounted and lay in a ditch.”23 Such, apparently, was the ignominious end of the Confederates’ IX-inch Dahlgren mounted in the Atlanta defenses in the summer of 1864. Other than Lieutenant Rice’s observation, there is no record of the big gun tube after Atlanta fell to Sherman’s forces on Sept. 2. The Confederate army’s inventory report of artillery lost in the evacuation of the city did not include the 64-pounder; it was a naval gun.24 No corresponding report from Lt. David McCorkle, ranking Confederate naval officer in Atlanta, has come forth which might shed light on the fate of the big gun.25 Indeed, absence of references to it in C.S. correspondence is striking; General Hood during the semi-siege was more solicitous about the ammunition supply for his 32-pounders than for the big Dahlgren.26 Perhaps more evidence will yet come to light. Endnotes:
1. Lt. Augustus McLaughlin to Lt. David
P. McCorkle, May 28, 1864, Letter Book
and Confederate Navy Yard Log and Accounts, National Civil War Naval
sending photocopy with transcript of the McLaughlin-McCorkle telegram corrects
a misinference we have drawn for nearly thirty years from Maxine Turner’s Navy Gray. In her book (1988), Professor Turner
states that McLaughlin “suggested using the nine-inch and two 32-pounders from the
Chattahoochee at Fort Gadsden, fifteen miles
south of the present obstructions.” During the spring of 1864, the C.S.S. Chattahoochee
was moored at Fort Gadsden, Fla., on the Apalachicola River (Maxine Turner, Navy Gray: A Study of the Confederate Navy on
the Chattahoochee and Apalachicola Rivers [Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 1988], 196). Dr. Turner cited the McLaughlin Letter Book at the James W. Woodruff, Jr., Confederate Naval Museum, Columbus,
Ga. Examination of the actual document
leads us to realize that the IX-inch Dahlgren
was being transported to Atlanta from Columbus, not north Florida, by train in a trip lasting only two days.
2. J. Thomas Scharf, History of the Confederate States Navy from Its Organization to the Surrender of Its Last Vessel (New York: Fairfax
Press, 1977 [1887]), 132; Warren Ripley, Artillery and Ammunition of the Civil War (New York: Promontory Press, 1970), 104; Charles
B. Dew, Ironmaker to the Confederacy: Joseph R. Anderson and the Tredegar Iron Works
(Wilmington, N.C.: Broadfoot Publishing
Co., 1987), 118-19, 324; Larry J. Daniel and Riley W. Gunter, Confederate Cannon Foundries (Union City, Tenn.: Pioneer Press, 1977), 22-23 (Bellona).
3. Stephen Davis, What the Yankees Did to Us: Sherman’s Bombardment and Wrecking of Atlanta (Macon, Ga: Mercer University Press, 2012), 55-63.
4. Wallace P. Reed, ed., History of Atlanta,
Georgia: With Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of its Prominent Men and Pioneers (Syracuse, N.Y.: D. Mason, 1889), 191.
5. Davis, What the Yankees Did to Us, 60-61, 86,
89-91, 112-13. My name (Grant-Presstman) isn’t catching on. For the map he and his wife drew of the Atlanta area, Prof. Earl
Hess calls Confederate fortifications simply the “Atlanta City Line” (Earl J. Hess, The Battle of Ezra Church and the Struggle for At-
Museum, Columbus, Ga. Copy courtesy
lanta [Chapel Hill: University of North Car-
Education. Mr. Seymour’s generosity in
6. William L. Ritter, “Sketch of Third Battery
of Jeffery Seymour, Director of History &
olina Press, 2015], 7).
of Maryland Artillery,” Southern Historical
view of large rebel fort east of the W. & A.
(column dated “Near Atlanta, Monday,
Davis, “Full-Throated Defender of Hood,”
Capt. Orlando M. Poe’s listing of 250 Bar-
21. David P. Conyngham, Sherman’s March
Academy, West Point (typescript courtesy
of the Campaign (New York: Sheldon & Co.,
Portrait of the Civil War (Charleston: Arcadia
22. Unidentified Union soldier letter, “Camp
Society Papers, vol. 11 (1883), 192; Stephen Civil War News, vol. 42, no. 4 (May 2016),
17 (Frobel’s diary); Mills Lane, ed., Times
That Prove People’s Principles: Civil War in Georgia (Savannah: Beehive Press, 1993), 200 (Frobel’s diary).
7. America’s Civil War, no. 23, no. 4 (Sept. 2010),
31; Robert E. Zaworski, M.D., The General and the House on a Hill: General John B. Hood
and the Battle of Atlanta (Alpharetta, Ga.: Booklogix, 2011), 20; Stephen Davis, “Robert Sneden’s Map of Atlanta’s Confederate
Defenses,” Civil War News, vol. 42, no. 10 (Nov. 2016), 16-18.
8. Reed, History of Atlanta, 191; Franklin M.
Garrett, Atlanta and Environs: A Chronicle of Its People and Events (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Co., 1954), vol. 1, 627.
9. Calvin D. Cowles, comp., Atlas to Accompany the Official Records of the Union and Confederate
R.R. Potter’s house in right background,” nard photographs, United States Military
of Keith F. Davis); Michael Rose, Atlanta: A Publishing, 1999),84-85 (Barnard photo-
graph, “looking from Fort Hood”); Stephen
Aug. 15, 1864”).
Through the South, With sketches and incidents 1865), 200.
near Atlanta,” Aug. 16, 1864, MSS 2355, Georgia Historical Society, Savannah.
Davis, “‘A Very Barbarous Mode of Carry-
23. Edge to Logan, Aug. 22, OR, vol. 38, pt. 5,
ment of Atlanta, July 20—August 24, 1864,”
Civil War with the 125th Ohio, ed. by Richard
ing on War’: Sherman’s Artillery BombardGeorgia Historical Quarterly, vol. 79, no. 1
(Spring 1995), 87 (“Ellen Ponder’s home and yard [often mistakenly identified as the
Potter House])”; Davis, What the Yankees Did to Us, 113-14.
14. Report of Brig. Gen. John W. Geary, Sept. 15,
631; Ralsa C. Rice, Yankee Tigers: Through the A. Baumgartner and Larry M. Strayer (Huntington, W.Va.: Blue Acorn Press, 1992), 135,
140; Union soldier letter, Georgia Historical
Society (I thank Dr. Todd Groce, President,
for a copy of this previously unpublished document).
1864, OR, 128 vols. (Washington, D.C.: Gov-
24. Capt. Charles Swett, “Remarks,” appended
pt. 2, 142; Kurtz, “Fort Hood and the Pon-
light artillery, Army of Tennessee,” Sept. 20,
ernment Printing Office, 1880-1901), vol. 38, ders House,” 5, 14.
to “Abstract from inspection report of the 1864, OR, vol. 38, pt. 3, 684.
Armies, 3 vols. (Washington, D.C.: Govern-
15. Report of Capt. Arnold Sutermeister, Sept.
25. Lieutenant McCorkle had packed up the
LXXXVIII, fig. 1. Captain Poe’s map is repro-
16. Stephen Davis, Atlanta Will Fall: Sherman,
Works in the city by late June, and was
Photographer of Sherman’s Campaign (Kansas
(Wilmington, Del.: Scholarly Resources,
ment Printing Office, 1891-95), vol. 2, plate duced in Keith F. Davis, George N., Barnard: City, Mo.: Hallmark Cards, 1990), 81.
10. William R. Scaife, The Campaign for Atlanta (privately printed, 1985), 170; second edi-
tion (Saline, Mich.: McNaughton and Gunn, 1993), 129.
11. Edward Noyes, ed., “Excerpts from the Civil War Diary of E. T. Eggleston,” Tennessee His-
torical Quarterly, vol. 17, no. 4 (Dec. 1958),
14, 1864, OR, vol. 38, pt. 2, 488.
Joe Johnston, and the Yankee Heavy Battalions
2001), 149-50; Wilbur G. Kurtz, “Map of
Atlanta as of 1938 Showing the Field and Fortified Lines of the Confederate Forces,
Together with Those of the Federal Armies —Also the Fields of the Three Major En-
gagements, During the Summer of 1864,” Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, 1938, Wil-
valuable machinery of the Naval Ordnance
ready to transport it to safer places should Atlanta become endangered (Turner, Navy Gray, 205). McCorkle succeeded in moving
everything out of the city by mid-July (Adm.
Franklin Buchanan to Cmdr. Catesby Ap R. Jones, July 13, 1864 [“McCorkle is moving
everything from Atlanta”], ORN, 31 vols. [Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1894-1927], vol. 21, 906).
bur G. Kurtz Collection, MSS 100, Atlanta
26. Three telegrams sent July 27, Aug. 3 and
Ponders House,” Atlanta Constitution Sunday
17. James P. Snell Diary and Memorandum
officers in Augusta, Macon and Savannah
and Retreat. Personal Experiences in the United
(typescript copy courtesy of the late Dr.
349; Wilbur G. Kurtz, “Fort Hood and the
Magazine, June 1, 1930, 5; J. B. Hood, Advance States and Confederate States Armies (New
Orleans; Pub. For the Hood Orphan Memorial Fund, 1880), 173 (“partially completed
line of works toward Peach Tree Creek,”
or northwest salient), 174 (“an entirely new
line, and upon more elevated ground,” northeast).
History Center.
Book, 1864, Illinois State Historical Society Albert Castel), entries of July 28, Aug. 1, 4. After reading the Snell typescript diary in
1953, Kurtz was able to locate the site of Welker’s battery fort, which was still partly visible off Tazor Street, just east of Maddox Park (Kurtz notebook #21, 72, 91, Atlanta History Center).
12. [Franklin M. Garrett and Wilbur G. Kurtz],
18. J.T.G., “From Our Correspondent,” Colum-
2, no. 8 (Sept. 1934), 19; Scaife, Campaign for
19. Francis A. Shoup to Presstman, Aug. 1, OR,
“Key to Map,” Atlanta Historical Bulletin, vol. Atlanta (1993), 186 (Capt. Robert L. Barry’s Lookout Tennessee Battery, 12-pounder Napoleons).
13. “Exterior view of large rebel Fort on Mari-
etta St.” no. 68, and no. 110, “Stereoscopic
bus Enquirer, Aug. 9, 1864.
vol. 38, pt. 5, 938; Ch. H. Fish to Saml. Edge, Aug. 22, OR, vol. 38, pt. 5, 631.
20. Shoup to Beckham, OR, vol. 38, pt. 5,
931, 938; “Chickamauga,” “From Gen. Sherman,” New York Times, Aug. 27, 1864
15 from Hood’s headquarters to ordnance
ask for 32-pound shells to be transported
to Atlanta (Telegrams Book No. III July 27, 1864-Jan. 3, 1865, Hood Papers, National Archives.)
Steve Davis of Atlanta is the Book Review Editor for Civil War News. His new book, A Long and Bloody Task: The Atlanta Campaign from Dalton through Kennesaw Mountain to the Chattahoochee River May 5-July 18, 1864, was published as part of Savas Beatie’s Emerging Civil War paperback series. The companion volume, carrying the Atlanta Campaign to the city’s surrender on September 2, 1864, will be published early this year.
ArtillerymanMagazine.com
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The Great Endicott Coastal Defenses After a fifteen-year absence of planning and appropriations following the Civil War, the Federal government decided to begin the process of constructing new batteries and forts everywhere in the United States. On the Western Front in California ten forts were eventually developed, eight in the San Francisco Bay area and, for the first time, two in Southern California, at San Diego and Los Angeles/ San Pedro. The period of fort building began in the late 1890s and continued to the mid-1940s. The motivation for all this activity was a new, and growing, threat from foreign naval powers. The response was based on the latest technology in defensive warfare and produced the last great forts built on the West Coast. The batteries in these forts were the largest guns ever deployed by the United States—the 16-inch, 50-caliber breech-loading rifles called the “Biggest Guns in the West.” This history presents the political and technical bases for the big guns and then describes construction of the first two 16inch installations in the San Francisco Bay area.
The Endicott Board & The Taft Commission After fifteen years of neglect, the public and government began to grow 50
The Artilleryman
alarmed at the deterioration of existing defenses and the emergence of a new threat to the shores of the United States from foreign navies. In 1885 President Grover Cleveland assembled a special board headed by Secretary of War, William C. Endicott, to review the entire coast defense situation and to submit recommendations for a program based upon modern developing weapons. This joint Army/Navy civilian group, charged with the most comprehensive task of any such body since the 1860s, conducted an extensive study of fortifications, types of armament, and protective materials. As technology developed, the quality of the new guns was so much more superior than expected that fewer guns were needed at fewer locations than originally recommended. The Board’s report formed the basic framework around which a new and completely modern generation of seacoast defenses took shape during the Spanish-American War and well into the first decades of the twentieth century. Almost all the fortifications that resulted from these initial plans, except for their armament, remain in existence today. In 1905, President Theodore Roosevelt convened another group similar to the Endicott Board headed by the Secretary of War, William Howard Taft. Its function was to review the earlier Board’s program and bring it up-to-date with the newest technical
developments and to provide defenses for the Panama Canal Zone and territories newly acquired as a result of the Spanish-American War. The Board report also had the effect of accelerating installation of many features, projected by the Endicott Board. The major technical changes were primarily in accessory harbor defense equipment. Along with the development of electricity and the telephone, the Board recommended batteries of searchlights for nighttime illumination of harbor entrances, general electrification of all aspects of harbor defense such as communications and powered ammunition handling and, most importantly, a modern system of gun pointing for major caliber guns, mortars and underwater electronic mine fields. These also involved the first large-scale use of steel for guns, perfection of breech loading, introduction of far more effective propellants, reinforced concrete construction and improved fire control.
Advances In Cannon Manufacture The history of cannon casting has always been in the metallurgy of the metal used. The substitution of steel for iron in gun manufacturing became possible only with the maturing of the domestic metals industry in the years of rapid growth and development
Drawing of a 16-inch rifled, breech loading gun on a 45° elevation angle carriage with casemate.
Rendering of a base-end station
Map of 16-inch battery installations in California. Base-end azimuth sighting bench. Inspecting the interrupted screw breech of one of two Battery Townsley 16-inch rifles, 1941.
optical
target
The batteries in these forts were the largest guns ever deployed by the United States—the 16-inch, 50-caliber breech-loading rifles called the “Biggest Guns in the West.” 110° M1915 plotting board used to determine range to the target from base-end station azimuth angle readouts.
Loading an armor piercing 2,200-pound, 16-inch round into the breech.
Ramming round and 640 pounds of powder into the breech, 1941.
A 16-inch gun barrel being machined at the Watervliet Army Arsenal at the turn of the Twentieth Century. Most Seacoast Guns were manufactured at this arsenal. Watervliet Arsenal, U.S. Army, 1993. ArtillerymanMagazine.com
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after 1865. The availability of steel and the capacity of the industry to produce increasingly massive forgings, at last permitted large-scale practical achievement of a weaponry form conceived many years earlier—the compound gun. Fabricating cannon in accordance with this concept involved building up the barrel by the successive shrinking-on of many separate concentric tube members rather than by machining it from a single, homogeneous casting. Not until the late 1880s did the combined availability of good quality steel in large amounts, industrial facilities for producing heavy forgings, and machining techniques meeting the required standards of precision make it possible to produce substantial numbers of these lighter, stronger, longer and hence more powerful weapons. To prepare for the future needs of the modern ordnance, Congress in the Naval Appropriations Act of 1883 established the Gun-Foundry Board. The Board recommended that the government should induce private industry, with the offer of sufficiently generous contracts, to equip themselves to supply the basic steels and forgings for guns and armor, while the government should assemble these materials into finished guns in its own arsenals. The Board’s recommendations were adopted. The Bethlehem, and later, the Carnegie, Steel Companies began to equip themselves to provide the forgings, while the Watervliet Arsenal in upper N.Y. and the Naval Gun Factory in Washington, D.C. were to fabricate and finish most heavy ordnance, ashore and afloat. The Watervliet Arsenal was the gun maker for almost all coast defense guns until the end of the big gun era, while Watertown Arsenal in Mass. specialized in their steel carriages. Steel castings were delivered to the arsenal and the tubes were bored out. Then the breech was machined to mate very accurately with the gas tight breechblocks. The desired accuracy 52
The Artilleryman
could only be achieved with modern machineable steel. Steel was also stronger, so less was required to build up the basic gun and for this reason guns could be cast in larger bores, eventually reaching 16 inches.
The Breechblock
The French and American invention called the Interrupted-Thread Breechblock with a gas check pad was the key invention needed for big guns using powder bags and separate projectiles. The block was machined and assembled separately and then mounted on the gun barrel with simple hinges. A few degrees of rotation were all that was necessary to close or open the breech after swinging the steel block into place. Most large caliber guns used the six-segment block. Matching threads were machined into the barrel. The use of steel and modern machining methods made the basic screw design accurate enough to meet all the above requirements. The gun could be opened in seconds after firing and cleared for the next load of projectile and powder.
Powder
The centuries-old use of gunpowder and its derivatives began to give way to new propellants whose burning properties produced substantial increases in muzzle velocities, yet reduced the mechanical stresses on guns. The new relatively slow-burning guncotton could be regulated to continue the exertion of constructive acceleration force upon the projectile throughout its entire progress along the length of the gun. The development of the steel compound barrel, rifling, steel interrupted screw breech blocks and new slow burning powders represented, within the space of a few decades, the greatest advance made in artillery between its invention in the fourteenth century and the appearance of the nuclear projectile in the mid-twentieth century.
Improving The Accuracy Of Gun Pointing The development of electricity and the telephone and their application to coast defenses by the Taft Commission
Fort Rosecrans, One of the two 16-inch guns at Battery Ashburn. The woman was included to show the massiveness of this battery. Note the 2-inch steel shield under the casemate, used on all batteries.
of shot from the ship’s guns. The same ships could also send fast attack boats to enter harbors and attack the electric mine control centers. The response to these threats was to develop adequate harbor defenses to discourage any enemy from attacking without encountering unacceptable losses.
Fort Funston, Battery Davis, gun no. 2, 1938, Mark II, Mod. 1. On barbette carriage, M1919 M2, February 24, 1938. Elevation: 47°; traverse: 145°; range: 45,100 yards. resulted in a revolution in fire control accuracy. The new system used triangulation to determine range. To accomplish this, a number of optical sighting locations were built along the coast and their locations accurately determined by survey. These stations were called “base-end” stations. Each had a long focal-length optical telescope with azimuth circles that allowed the angle of the target relative to the station to be determined. The data was verbally transmitted by telephone to the central fire control plotting room where the angles were used to establish range to the target by simple geometric triangulation. The more “base-end” stations and the farther apart they were, the better the accuracy. The gun’s elevation, azimuth and gun powder weight could be adjusted so that the projectile could come very close to the target or hit it on the first shot. The firing data was finally transmitted to the gun or mortar positions by telephone. The angles were then manually set into the guns pointing angles by an officer at the gun itself. The “base-end” stations would then report firing accuracy if the target was visible. Even this new improved system was limited by fog or nighttime detection of ship targets off the coast. Not until the mid-1940s did the invention called “radar” allow range determination in fog and at night to solve this problem. Also, with the built-in azimuth and elevation
position readouts on the radars, the “base-end” system was rendered obsolete. One radar installation could provide all the information necessary to determine firing angles for the new 16-inch maximum range guns. All enemy ships appearing on the horizon were then easy targets day or night, fog or rain.
The Naval Threat
The perceived naval threats from foreign powers were the impetus for developing better guns and batteries. The same technical developments that saw improvements in coast artillery were available to warship designers and builders. Steel ships and guns were being built that could move a threat to any part of the world. Such ships had nothing to fear from shore batteries or lesser ships. The British called their versions of the new ships “Dreadnoughts;” Americans called them “Battleships.” The threat from foreign powers was that they would attack U.S. harbors and land troops at the docks after subduing the harbor forts. The new ship guns of the early 20th century could stand off over five miles and bombard a harbor’s defenses. By the late 1930s, the range of attacking ship guns was increased to 25 to 30 miles. These developments were augmented after World War I by airplanes launched from battleships or cruisers that could bomb or fire machine guns at coast batteries and observe the fall
The Endicott Forts, The Last Great Forts The long-term result of the Endicott Board and the New York and Pacific Army Engineering review boards was the construction of ten new forts in California over a period of forty years. These are listed in the following table below. The 16-inch batteries were built at Forts Funston, Cronkhite, Barry, Rosecrans and MacArthur. The Army Corps of Engineers, as in past fort construction, was charged with planning and building the forts as well as selecting appropriate guns. After this was done in some cases, but not all, the posts were authorized to provide military personnel to service the forts and maintain the facilities.
The Last Great Forts Fort Winfield Scott
1912
Fort Miley
1900
Fort Mason
1909
Fort McDowell
1900
Fort Funston
1917
Fort Baker
1897
Fort Barry
1904
Fort Cronkhite
1937
Fort Rosecrans
1899
Fort MacArthur
1914
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Battery Richmond P. Davis The 16-inch gun and its carriage were the largest guns used by the Army and Navy for its coastal forts and battleships. The need for such mega-batteries was based on the growing threat from foreign battleships that carried ever-larger guns. As early as 1915 the chief of artillery explained why it was necessary to emplace 16inch guns at Fort Funston. 16-inch guns at Fort Funston would provide defense from the new foreign naval threats. Fort Funston was selected for the first 16-inch battery on the west coast, the first of the last great batteries of the last great forts in California. Seven such batteries were to be built in California. Three were located in the Bay Area, two at San Diego, and two at San Pedro/Los Angeles. Watervliet Arsenal had developed a solid cast 16-inch tube weighing 74,000 pounds for this anticipated application in 1902. The new carriage was developed by the Watertown Arsenal that allowed the new guns to be raised to 65° in elevation as compared to about 15° for earlier Endicott period barbette carriages. The new carriages were designated Model 1917. Most of the new carriage was located below ground so that the breech could be loaded at ground level and then the gun elevated to the high angles while the breech rotate, lowering below ground. The increased elevation of the new guns eliminated the need for mortars altogether. Designated the Model 1919, the new 16-inch gun was the most powerful service cannon ever produced by the United States. It was also the most expensive. It was capable of firing a 2,400-pound projectile a distance of nearly 50,000 yards, about 28 miles. As such, its range was never exceeded by any naval gun, not even the 18-inch giants of the World War II Japanese battleships. The gun itself was a wire-wound tube of nearly 200 tons that required two to three years to complete and 54
The Artilleryman
cost over one-third of a million dollars. The carriage, though relatively simple in design, demanded components of a size and quality that made it only slightly less expensive. Because of these enormous costs, funding allotments were made for one or two guns at a time. When this model was discontinued about 1924, only a handful of the monster weapons had been completed by the Army’s heavy gun arsenal at Watervliet and the carriage works at Watertown. Suspension of the Model 1919 was a by-product of the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 by which the United States agreed to terminate 12 capital ships then under construction, all of which were to carry the new 16-inch, 50-caliber rifle. At the time, the gun factory at the Washington Navy Yard had a substantial number of new barrels on hand. As a consequence of the treaty, which was to last until 1937, the barrels were offered to the Army for coast defense weapons. The naval gun, designated the Mark II, was somewhat lighter and less powerful than the Army Model 1919. It, however, became the core of all future designs of seacoast fortifications. The Model 1919 barbette carriage was modified slightly to take the naval gun and its cradle. The Army designated the new system Mark II Mod. 1, and it was a part of its planning from 1925 on. In 1926, the San Francisco District Engineer prepared a new set of plans for a two-gun battery mounted on barbette Model 1919 carriages. This battery was placed on the south half of Fort Funston. Navy guns with a maximum range of 25.3 miles would be used. Nine years later, in January 1935, the district engineer submitted a new plan for Fort Funston. Finally, another plan was presented on Jan. 24, 1936. This ultimate plan was revolutionary in that it returned to a casemated battery, the first since construction of the casemated barracks on Alcatraz Island was halted at the close of the Civil War. The new Fort Funston design took into account the new
Fort Cronkhite, Battery Townsley, gun no. 88 being moved to gun block no 1, July 27, 1939. “Now where does this piece go?” threat from air bombardment to gun emplacements here-to-fore built in the open without overhead cover. In the case of Fort Funston, the battery was armed and then the concrete casemate was built over it. In 1937, appropriations for “Seacoast Defenses” made available $300,000 to initiate construction of the battery at Fort Funston. Construction of the huge battery began in Oct. 1936. At the same time, the carriages were shipped from the Watertown Arsenal, Mass., and the guns from Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Md., by the Army transport ship Ludington, then special rail cars and, finally, trucked to the battery site where they arrived in March 1937. The battery site was located on the beach in the southwest section of San Francisco among sand dunes. The cost of the project, including the installation of the guns, amounted to $860,440. The main facilities were: 1. Roadway, 2. Pump house and Pumping Station, 3. Reservoir, 4. Battery Commander’s Station, 5. Latrine, 6. Fire Hydrants, 7. Gun Blocks, 8. Plotting/Switchboard
A Naval 16-inch 50 caliber rifle barrel from the Battleship New Jersey, and an armor-piercing shell are located at the Los Angeles Maritime Museum, San Pedro, California. Photograph by the author.
Rooms, 9. Plantings, 10. Radio Room, 11. Power Room and Magazines, 12. Power Equipment, 13. Casemates, 14. Guns. The guns were mounted beginning on July 1, 1937. The two guns in this battery were separated by 600 feet. The first gun took five months to install, the second two and half months. The cost was $45,296 per gun. Once the guns were in place, work began on casemates; instead of brick, stone and mortar, the modern casemates were constructed of concrete and reinforcing steel. In 1942 a 2-inch steel shield was placed in front of the guns. The casemates were camouflaged with netting and paint while trees and shrubs were planted over the concrete structures so to blend into the sand dunes. Construction was completed on Feb. 15, 1939. The Battery was named Richmond P. Davis after a distinguished Coast Artillery Corps officer who had served at San Francisco. Battery Davis was turned over to the Coast Artillery Corps in Sept. 1940. It was supplied with a 56-page booklet entitled “Instructions for Maintenance and Operation of Battery Richmond P. Davis, Fort Funston, California.” Because the heavy projectiles weighing up to 2,240 pounds and powder bags weighing up to 672 pounds were used by the 16-inch guns, a hydroelectric system was built into the battery for ease of handling and safety. This system consisted of overhead tracks, switches and hoists to transport the shells and powder from the underground magazines. To purge the guns of gases after firing before the breech was opened, a blowout system borrowed from the Navy was
Fort Cronkhite, Battery Townsley, first test firing on West Coast, 1940.
installed as a part of the gun battery. Without this feature, gases escaping from the open breech could be hazardous to the operators in the bunkers. The firing range of this first 16inch gun battery was 48,000 yards at a 47° elevation. Its effective range was 44,000 yards at an elevation of 40° and 52 minutes. Each gun’s field of fire was 145°. Each gun barrel had 96 rifling grooves. Because of these great firing ranges, a long range target detection and fire control baseline was needed. In 1937, a fire control system was worked out for Battery Davis. The battery commander’s station (BC, B1S1) was located just south of the battery and five additional spotting and surveyed ranging stations extended the baselines up to 15,600 yards. Once turned over to the Coast Artillery, training of the troops with these big guns began. The first firings were done with the gun crews standing outside the casemates. There was concern that the sound would deafen the operators or blow the casemate apart. None of these things happened. Future firings proceeded to train the troops, develop the ranging system and determine firing accuracy. Airplanes and balloons were used to observe splash points. One can only imagine the number of spent 2,400pound projectiles littering the ocean floor about 25 miles away from Fort Funston. When radar became available during early World War II, one unit was assigned to Fort Funston’s Battery Davis. The range detection capability of this miracle technology, as well as its elevation and horizontal angle determining capability, made it possible to enter information directly into gun computers so that the base-end stations were no longer needed. Radar made these great guns effective day and night and in the worst fogs or rain. Construction of the other six forts continued until 1944. Battery Townsley at Fort Cronkhite was the first to fire its guns followed by Davis, Ashburn and Bunker. The other batteries
The massive casemate for 16-inch gun. Gun no. 2, October 31, 1938. Record Group 77, Office of the Chief Engineers. National Archives, San Bruno, California. were not armed before the war ended. Following World War II, the last great guns were dismantled and scrapped. It is a shame that not one was retained to show the technology of these last great forts. Today, the concrete casemates sit on the bluffs overlooking the ocean buried under sand and plants, deserted and forgotten. Signs do tell the story to those that who never heard of World War II or the last great guns. One 16-inch rifle from the Battleship New Jersey is located at the Los Angeles Maritime Museum in San Pedro. The threat of attack from battleships ended with World War II to be replaced by aerial bomber attack threats during the “Cold War.” For this new threat, surface to air missiles were developed with ranges far exceeding the venerable rifles. Sources: The Biggest Guns in The West, California’s 16 Inch Coastal Batteries, Justin M. Ruhge, 2009. The Military History of California, The Defenders of The Western Front, Justin M. Ruhge, 2005. Justin Ruhge is retired from 40 years in the California aerospace business. He was originally with the Naval Bureau of Ordnance. He has a degree in physics and a masters degree in engineering from UCLA. He sponsored and conducted the California cannon survey. A book entitled “The Historic Cannon of California” was published and a copy sent to The Artilleryman for inclusion in the national cannon survey. Mr. Ruhge has published several articles in The Artilleryman over the past 30 years, published 17 books and many articles in newspapers and magazines.
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Prospect Hill Cemetery monument. (Ron Bupp)
A
somber assembly of citizens in the autumn of 1874 stood around a new monument being dedicated in Prospect Hill Cemetery. It was the passion of the Ladies Aid Society and Citizens of York, Penn., at the cost of $3,500 (more than $71,000 in today’s money). The seven-foot granite base by A. J. Brashears & Son is topped by a life size Federal soldier, dressed in his winter uniform, clutching an 1861 model Springfield rifle musket. The youthful bronze head by sculptor Martin Millmore is bowed as he stands at parade rest, his face clearly in a state of grief and mourning. At the foot of the monument under his fixed gaze are the honored remains of 163 comrades from eight states. More than 1,000 Union soldiers are buried throughout the cemetery including Gen. William Buell Franklin from the Fredericksburg debacle. The men buried in the Soldiers Circle perished in the U.S. Army General Hospital located in Penn Park, York, from either wounds or disease beginning in 1862 subsequent to the Battle of Antietam. This consecrated “Soldiers’ Circle” of honored Union dead has additional sentinels, four Civil War cannon. Each soldier buried in this cemetery has a story, and now the four equally spaced guns mounted at the monument’s foot will have their story told. The history of the guns is now clearer. This is their story. In midsummer 1864, the silent guns presently in Prospect Hill Cemetery began their long sea journey to American shores. Originating in England, and coming by way of Nassau or Bermuda, six 3-inch Armstrong muzzle loading field guns had been ordered by a Confederate agent. The six guns were likely sent separately so as not to lose the whole battery in one U.S. Navy blockade seizure. The Armstrongs likely followed the navigational route of previous Armstrongs to Nassau and thence, in late September 1864 to a Lt. Col. Broun
at Richmond. One Armstrong can be traced on a ship’s manifest, that of the blockade runner Hope of Wilmington. The manifest listed one 12-Pdr. (Armstrong) with 148-segmented shells and fuzes plus 52 common shells and fuzes. The Hope was captured Oct. 22, 1864 by the USS Eolus on her third run into Wilmington, The gun was sold by “prize court” to a private interest in 1865. This captured Armstrong may be the final gun of six sent to complete an order by the Confederate government It is a tantalizing thought the sixth gun most likely was aboard the Hope during this seizure. As a result, it is worth mentioning, in early 1880,
U.S. Gen. Henry Davies Jr. (Library of Congress)
Confederate Gen. Custis Lee. a 3-inch gun of the correct description as an Armstrong and labeled as a “trophy” was sold by sealed bid. Sadly, to date, no trace of this last gun can be found. In the spring of 1865, Gen. Lee’s army was compelled to withdraw from Richmond and Petersburg, Va. Two columns, one from each city, received orders to abandon their current positions and rendezvous at Amelia Court House on Wednesday, April 5, 1865. They anticipated being resupplied at Amelia by rail and from Gen. G. W. Custis Lee’s wagon train. Federal cavalryman under Gen. Henry E. Davies Jr., intercepted Custis Lee’s wagon train four miles from Painville. Consequently, the needed supplies failed to arrive because some 20,000 badly needed rations were burned by the Union cavalry. In Gen. G. W. Custis Lee’s wagon
Capture of the blockade runner Hope by the USS Eolus off Wilmington, Oct. 22, 1864. (Library of Congress) ArtillerymanMagazine.com
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train, were five artillery pieces which were captured along with a host of other material. Pvt. William Wilson of the 12th Va. Cav. remembered the wagon train’s capture, “the panic was greatest in the wagons nearest the river … The road was soon blocked with wagons, sacks of corn, oats, meal, flour, bacon, trunks, knapsacks, cooking utensils and every other article of camp equipage were indiscriminately thrown out. Teams were cut loose … and a general rush ensued ….” The 1st N.J. Cav. led by Major Walter Robbins captured 200 wagons, 320 prisoners, 430 horses and mules, 310 teamsters, five pieces of artillery and 11 battle flags. The prisoners, artillery, and animals were all taken to the rear.
The captured artillery may have been part of Ramsay’s N.C. Battery, commanded by Lt. Jesse F. Woodard. It turns out the guns taken near Painville were five 3-inch Armstrong muzzle loading rifles. Though they were a valuable part of Gen. Custis Lee’s wagon train, they presented a logistical and tactical problem to the Confederate artillery commanders. The unique ammunition required for these guns was extremely limited and pressure applied by the U.S. Navy blockade prevented delivery of appropriate ammunition. General E. P. Alexander spoke well of the Armstrong gun in spite of its ammunition shortcomings, “Of the Armstrong shunt-guns, six were obtained
just before the close of the war and they were never tried in the field. They were muzzle loaders and nothing could exceed their accuracy and the perfection of the ammunition … taking all things into consideration the guns are probably the most effective field-rifles yet made.” The highly valued but inadequately supplied Armstrong guns were known early on to have ammunition shortages as General Pendleton noted to First Corps artillery: By command of Gen. R. E. Lee: W. H. TAYLOR, Assistant Adjutant-Gen HDQRS. ARTILLERY, FIRST CORPS,
Artist Alfred R. Waud’s rendition of Gen. Davis [sic] near Paines Crossroad (Painville) April 5, 1865. This sketch depicts the capture of C.S. wagon train with its guns. (Library of Congress) 58
The Artilleryman
Armstrong Gun Data Location West Point Gun: Prospect Hill: York, Pa. “ “ “ “
Gun No. 1184 1185 1186 1187 1190
February 28, 1865. GEN.: I received this morning your note directing me to turn over four 3-inch rifles to the cavalry; but while making arrangements to execute it, I beg to submit that it will seriously weaken my rifle armament, already, I believe, the weakest in the army. … This will leave me with sixty-four smooth-bores, eighteen 3-inch rifles, and five Armstrong and one Whitworth; … the Armstrong and Whitworth are only temporary guns, as the ammunition for the former is limited, and when it is gone I wish to replace them all with smoothbores. ... Losing the guns to Federal capture may have been a tactical solution to a logistical dilemma. By the end of May, the U.S. inventory of captured artillery was completed and the guns forwarded to storage. Lt. F. H. Parker confirmed the Armstrong guns taken at Painville were in the Federal register of captured guns, as he reported: Lieutenant F. H. Parker, Chief Ordnance Officer, Army of the Potomac to Col. George D. Ruggles, Assistant Adjutant-Gen.: May 31, 1865. SIR: I have the honor to make the following report of artillery and small-arms received by the ordnance department, captured from and surrendered by the enemy in the recent campaign, in operations around Petersburg, and against the rebel army after the evacuation. This does not include the heavy artillery, which was collected by Gen. Abbot … 3-inch Whitworth guns, rebel, 1;…12-pounder Armstrong guns, rifled, rebel, 5 ….
Weight 1,009 lbs. 1,007 lbs. 1,005 lbs. 1,008 lbs. 1,005 lbs.
Mfg. Date 1864 1864 1864 1864 1864
Maker Elswick Elswick Elswick Elswick Elswick
Rear Sight Aperture No. presume No. 1184 1185 1186 1187 1190
Three 3-inch Armstrong projectiles recovered by Chester Dawson, near Painville, Va. These were purchased from Sam White in 2007. (Jack Melton)
The Armstrong 3-inch Field Gun
In England a breech loading 3-inch Armstrong was developed in 1858, but failed to live up to its expectations. Sr. William Armstrong engineered a 3-inch muzzle loader in 1862 with distinctive three groove rifling that was dubbed a “shunt” system. The main tube of the gun was composed of steel, with four wrought iron hoops welded on top of each other around the breech where the highest pressure would be exerted upon firing. Projectiles for the Armstrong gun fit into a category identified as “studded” projectiles. That is they were manufactured with projections of brass along the projectile’s outside
surface conforming to the rifling. Because of their unique construction, existing projectiles of the same caliber were not interchangeable. Three of these unique British manufactured shells are pictured to help visualize the conundrum of the Confederate arsenals and munitions manufacturers. The two shells on the left (two rows of three brass studs) possibly have the letters; “EOC” cast into the nose section (ogive), which would identify them as manufactured at Elswick Ordnance Company, England, but their condition hides any markings on all three. The one far right projectile (three rows of three brass studs) is one of the seven unfired long pattern type Armstrong shells, recovered by
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effective field-rifles yet made,” E. P. Alexander. In Alexander’s defense he was not afforded the chance to observe them deployed in action which may have altered his “consideration” of their performance. Records indicate the standard weight for the 3-inch muzzle loading Armstrong gun is 996 lbs. All the above tubes are evidently overweight. It is plausible the sixth gun not accounted for may have been either number -1188 or 1189. Muzzle of one of the 3-inch, 12-pdr. Armstrongs illustrating the three grooves of the shunt system. Chester Dawson, near Painville. The fuzes were found in close proximity by Tony Easter. The range of the Armstrong had been established as substandard compared to the Whitworth. Tests conducted in England during 1864 demonstrated that at 33 degrees elevation, the 12-pounder Whitworth muzzle loader with solid shot (bolt) attained 8,776 yards whereas the Armstrong 3-inch muzzle loader with solid shot attained no more than 6,774 yards. General E. P. Alexander’s conclusion on the Armstrong gun may have been overstated “...taking all things into consideration the guns are probably the most
Front sight on top of the tube in between the trunnions. 60
The Artilleryman
The two photographs above show the unusual sight base and elevation system instead of a round cascabel typical of American manufactured field artillery cannon.
Non-excavated 3-inch, 12-pdr. Armstrong projectiles. Both have brass shipping plugs. These are thought to be the specimens collected by Gen. Henry Abbot in Virginia. Both are located in the West Point Museum next to the United States Military Academy.
One of the four 3-inch, 12-pounder Armstrong cannon located in Prospect Hill Cemetery. (Jack Melton)
Sources: 1. Bayne, Gregory. Crossfire Magazine; acwrt. org.uk.
2. Bell, Jack. Civil War Heavy Explosive Ordnance-A Guide to Large Artillery Projectiles,
Torpedoes, and Mines, University of North
York Campus, civic groups, local public and private schools, on the strategy, equipment, and ordnance used at the Battle of Gettysburg. Ron served proudly in the U.S. Marine Corps during the 1972 Spring Offensive in Vietnam and was
Texas Press, Denton, TX., 2003, p. 120.
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BLACK POWDER PROJECTILES FOUND IN NORTH AMERICA; 1759 – 1865
3. Bender, Jim; Thanks to Jim for his assistance as a consultant.
4. Flowers, Mr. Ray. Kure Beach, N.C.
5. Fort Indiantown Gap; Penn., National Guard
VOLUME III
Training Center, authorization to verify tube
CONFEDERATE RIFLED PROJECTILES
numbers in Prospect Hill Cemetery.
6. Hazlett, James C.; Olmstead, Edwin; Parks,
M. Hume. Field Artillery Weapons of the Civil
War, University of Illinois Press, Urbana and
•
Chicago, Revised 2004, pgs. 20, 195, 196.
7. Jensen, Mr. Les; Curator of Arms and Armor, U.S. Military Academy Museum
•
Armies, 128 vol., 1880-1901, Washington,
•
Vol. 46. Part I, p. 1145, Part II, pgs. 1266-96.
•
8. Official Records of the Union and Confederate
D.C.; Government Printing Office, Series I. 9. Prichard, Russ, Jr. A. & Huey, Cleveland A. The English Connection, Thomas Publica-
tions, Gettysburg, Penn. 2014, pgs. 387, 388, 448.
10. Pyne, Henry, Chaplain. The History of the First New Jersey Cavalry, J. A. Beecher Publisher, Trenton, N.J., 1871, pgs. 307-308.
11. Ripley, Warren. Artillery and Ammunition of
awarded the Navy/Marine Corps Meritorious Unit Commendation, Republic of Vietnam Cross of Gallantry Meritorious Unit Citation and two campaign stars. Ron retired following 29 years as Chaplain in the York County Prison in York, Penn.
•
The most complete listing of Confederate rifled projectiles ever published. Includes every CSA rifled projectile included in every major Artillery book published since 1865 and many new projectiles previously unknown. Over 750 projectiles, variants and canister rounds with over 3,000 pictures, drawings and charts. Complete history, descriptions, features, diameters, weights, lengths, variants, bursting charges and other technical data. It’s the “one book” that contains every Confederate rifled projectile appearing in prior books and many not previously published. The Encyclopedia is fully indexed and includes source references by book and page number for additional pictures or information.
$54.95 postpaid in U.S.A. Order from our website www.bpapress.com or the Black Powder Artificer Press, Box 575, Colonial Beach, VA 22443. For additional information, visit our website or call 410-4911052 to place phone orders.
the Civil War, Promontory Press, New York, 1970, p. 140.
12. Somer, Jack. Administrator, Prospect Hill Cemetery, York, Penn.
13. Southern Historical Papers, Volume II, p. 109.
14. Wise, Stephen. Life Line of the Confederacy Blockade Running During the Civil War; University of South Carolina Press, Columbia. 1988.
15. w w w . d a v e m a n u e l . c o m / inflation-calculator.
16. York County Heritage Trust, library and archives.
Ron has been a Civil War enthusiast since learning of his great uncle who served in the 130th Penn. Vol. Inf. Living only 30 miles east of Gettysburg served to only deepen his appreciation of all things Civil War. He has given talks at the York County Heritage Trust, Cumberland County Historical Society, Penn State/
One of the four 3-inch, 12-pounder Armstrong cannon located in Prospect Hill Cemetery. (Jack Melton) ArtillerymanMagazine.com
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News from the U.S. Army Artillery Museum This report covers July through December of 2016. We finished 2016 with a new record total of 37,381 visitors including training 5,806 military personnel on artillery history. The new addition inches closer to completion. Yet to be completed are the HVAC ducts, restrooms, painting of all the overhead pipes and installation of track lighting. In July we completed a new exhibit case of a typical World War II GI’s kit (personal items). Two new wall panels were added in July, one on the Proximity/Variable Time Fuze of WWII and a second panel explaining what in the museum is real versus reproduction. Major acquisitions in the second half of 2016 include a Japanese Type 91 105mm Howitzer from the National Museum of the Marine Corps. TRADOC Museums purchased a CCKW-353 2-½w-ton truck, the artillery prime mover deuce and a half of World War II. Both will require extensive restoration. Thanks to Stan Hurt we finally have a Civil War artillery officer’s kepi to top off the frock coat. We also completed a new uniform case housing the uniforms and equipment of a World War I Coast Artilleryman who served on British 8-inch howitzers. The Exhibits Shop crew installed the canvas seats, canvas top and the M2 .50-caliber Machine Gun on the M5A1 Hi-Speed Tractor. The Logistics Readiness Center (LRC) completed the reproduction 155mm projectile racks and we acquired dummy 155mm projectiles to fill these racks. The tractor will be towing a 155mm “Long Tom” Gun in the Korean War diorama of the new addition. A series of new exhibit cases of Civil War ammunition was completed. There is one case each for the 12-pdr. Napoleon, 3-inch Rifle, 10-in. Mortar and the 4.2-inch/30-pdr. Rifle. Most of the projectiles exhibited were finely halved by Richard Williamson to show their interiors.
Closeup of some of the cutaway projectiles in 3-inch case. 62
The Artilleryman
Gordon A. Blaker Director/Curator U.S. Army Artillery Museum 238 Randolph Road, Fort Sill, OK 73503 Phone: (580) 442-1819 http://sill-www.army.mil/FAMuseum Gordon.a.blaker.civ@mail.mil
Civil War 12-pdr. ammunition case.
Exhibit of Soldier’s Kit, WWII.
M5A1 Hi-Speed Tractor with canvas and ammo installed.
By Peter A. Frandsen Guns Afloat: U.S. Army Riverine Artillery in Vietnam. By John M. Carrio, Brown Water Enterprises, 51 pages, 2014. ISBN 978-0-9794-2314-7.
B
y the time of the Vietnam War, it had been a century since the U.S. Army needed to provide artillery support from river-based craft and pads to reach inland targets. While the Army had gone from the Mississippi and Tennessee Rivers in America in the 19th century to the Mekong River delta in southeast Asia in the 20th century, the problem was the same: how to provide reliable, sufficient fire support for the maneuver arms with heavy land-based artillery in a river environment. (Coastal or littoral combat environments present different problems again for fire support.) No matter whether the ordnance is a 13-inch cast iron mortar, Model 1861, or an M102 105mm howitzer being employed, in the fluid demands of battle, the Army (with help from the Navy) found a solution where dry land was non-existent, but the need was great. Other difficulties included proper survey in a
featureless landscape, inadequate maps, the massing of fire support, and interference with local population and water commerce. This book is a unique pictorial record of the artillery in Vietnam in an unusual and difficult environment. The author has tracked down some of the original participants with original documents and photographs to assemble this book. There is no other comparable work directly on the subject. The book briefly describes the process or evolution of the riverine artillery which varied according to available equipment, the environment and mission needs. Essentially the development of the whole Mobile Riverine Force was a series of experiments while in combat to find the solution for the situation to support the infantry on the ground. The information is conveyed to the reader mostly through contemporary photographs taken by those who worked the guns. Most have never been published before. The author has made schematic diagrams of how the water craft and firing pads were transported, built, laid-out and used. This book is recommended for the information it contains and for the subject it covers. There is no other work with such a detailed focus on
riverine artillery operations. The official Army Vietnam Studies book, Field Artillery, 1954-1973 (reprint 2007) by General David Ott has some material on riverine artillery. About the Author John M. Carrico is a twenty-year U.S. Army veteran, who served as an airborneinfantryman until he retired as a Sergeant First Class in 2004. He is currently serving as a Force Deployment Specialist for United States Forces Korea (USFK) in Seoul. John earned his Associate of Arts degree from the University of Maryland in 2004, authored two history books titled, Vietnam Ironclads and Waterborne Warriors. He has also produced several short documentary films about the Vietnam War. His hobbies include collecting militaria and restoring antique military vehicles.
The Artilleryman Magazine has moved. Please update your records to: Historical Publications LLC Civil War News & The Artilleryman 520 Folly Road, Suite P-379 Charleston, SC 29412 800-777-1862
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Artillery Irons – Cast Steel Carriage Parts Ltd (865) 573-8045 No. 1 Field Carriage Irons, Field Limber Irons, Field Ammo Chest Irons, 1st Model Prairie, No. 2 Field Carriage Irons & Misc Parts 1017 Russwood Drive • Knoxville, TN 37920 Email: ken.creswell@comcast.net
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CANNON FRICTION primers: 95 cents. Lanyards $20. Gimlets $15. Bronze vent picks $12. Bronze vent brush, wood handle $12. Primer extractor $7. Shipping $15, $1 each additional 100. UPS Ground. Phil “Boom Boom” Sieglein, 5026 Mile Stretch Dr., Holiday, FL 34690. 727-934-4330.
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128 ISSUES of The Artilleryman magazine for sale. Vol. 1 through vol. 35. All are in excellent condition. $575 postpaid, or make offer. Email bckindig@msn.com
1" RIFLED CANNON BARREL BLANKS suitable for turning a 1/3 scale Parrott, Whitworth, etc. model field piece. Blanks are made of chrome-molly high strength steel: .997 bore, 1.025 groove, 2.210" OD X 30" length, 14 grooves $80 724-321-2031 cerb65@windstream.net NO. 1, NO. 2 AND NO. 3 C.W. GUN CARRIAGES: Solid PVC and steel construction, no rot, no cracking, indefinite
1841 6 POUNDER. Full scale ductile iron barrel, Seamless DOM ½" liner, and carriage by Cannon Ltd. 3 ½" bore. Implements, sights, and HD trailer with winch. Often fired; well maintained; beautiful condition; garage kept. $16,500. Located Roanoke, VA. Email for photos. Joe Davis 540-776-0679 or josephdavis1@cox.net. Spring 2017. 40 ASSORTED ANTIQUE CANNONS; black powder, 10/12 gauge blanks, mortars, small 3" up to 32" which is a Lyle cannon. Call or email me for a list and scans.
Steve Kapp. Cell: 918-791-1262, Email: kalbosjk@sbcglobal.net. Spring 2017. ARTILLERYMAN MAGAZINE subscription. $34.95 for one year and $64.95 for two year subscription. Quarterly publication. Subscribe online at www. ArtillerymanMagazine.com.
UPCOMING EVENTS LOOMIS’ BATTERY ANNUAL LONG RANGE ARTILLERY MATCH GRAYLING, MI. Range 35 will be used for the Long Range Historic Artillery Matches, on July 22-23, 2017. N-SSA SPRING NATIONALS May 17-21, 2017. Located at Fort Shenandoah near Winchester, Va. For info visit www.n-ssa.org
Artillery Goodies For Sale
1. King howitzer, steel barrel on split trail carriage. Complete with sponge & rammer: $3,000 2. Bronze Mountain Howitzer on 1st Model Prairie Carriage with limber etc. CALL 3. Bronze US Golf Ball Mortar: $300 delivered Call or email for more 4. Steel CS Model Golf Ball Mortar: $200 delivered details and pictures. 5. Scale Steel CS Mortar, 3" Bore on wooden bed: $450 delivered 6. Steel 12-Pdr. Mortar on wooden bed: $1,800 7. 6-Pdr. Solid Shot, Zinc $15 8. CS Steel 12-Pdr. Mortar on oak bed, new $1,600 9. No. 2 Field Carriage, New in stock $8,500 10. Blakely Split trail carriage, Excellent/New Condition, 50" Wheels $7,000 11. 1st Model Prairie Carriage New in Stock $5,000 12. 32-Pounder Steel Shot — have 2 tons! $60 each 13. Steel Cannonballs 1", 1.25", 1.5", 2", 2.9", 6-Pdr., 12-Pdr., 24-Pdr., 32-Pdr. by the ton. 14. Traveling Forge, New, CALL
Trail Rock Ordnance
1754 Little Valley Rd • Blaine TN 37709 • 865-932-1200 • Akm556@aol.com
www.trailrockordnance.com
Extraordinary Firearms Auction April 11, 12 & 13, 2017 | Fairfield, Maine
Our spectacular April auction will include a broad array of the most prestigious Investment Quality firearms in the world. This sale will feature renowned Private Collections and Estates including The Extraordinary Warren Buxton Estate Collection of Important and Rare Walther Arms; Collection of Rare Mauser Broomhandles from Noted German Industrialist Friedrich-Wilhelm Dauphin; The Fantastic Semi-Auto Pistol Collection of Frank H. Wheaton, III; The Dr. Zack Catterton Collection of Rare Confederate Arms; The Second Session of The Allen Hallock Schuetzen Rifle Collection; The Doug Buhler Collection of Rare and Spectacular German Imperial Headgear and Pickelhauben; Outstanding Winchesters; Fine Colts including fully documented Historic Single Action Army turned in as “unserviceable” by Captain Benteen after the Battle of The Little Bighorn; Best Quality English and American Sporting Shotguns and Rifles; Class-3 Machine Guns and other Fine Military Arms; Rare Antique Martial Arms and Civil War items and much, much more. Online bidding through Invaluable. com and Proxibid.com. Below is a Small Sampling of Items Consigned to the April Auction - View More at www.jamesdjulia.com
We Do Not Sell the Greatest Number of Firearms in a Year, We Sell the Greatest Number of Expensive Firearms in a Year. For Many Years Now Julia’s Has Sold More High-End, Rare and Valuable Civil War and Confederate Items Than Any Other Auction House on the Planet Earth
Extremely Rare State of New York 1861 Contract Delafield Field Gun SN 3 in Magnificent Condition
Rare Bronze 1786 French 1-Pounder Cannon Made in 3rd Year of French Republic, 1795
Beautiful French 1786 1-Pound Bronze Cannon On Carriage
Rare Bronze French Model 1756 Naval 1-Pounder Gun
Rare Pair of Historic Islamic Rifled Bronze Cannon
Full Color Catalogs Available | $39 Each or Both for $75 | Catalogs Online Soon! Contact John Sexton | Email: firearms@jamesdjulia.com | Tel: (207) 453-7125 | Fax: (207) 453-2502 www.jamesdjulia.com | Fairfield, ME | Auctioneer: James D. Julia | Lic#: ME:AR83 | MA: AU1406