A Heavy Artillery Question

[3rd_PA_Artillery]

There was something I was pondering today on the bus to school. In coastal batteries, heavy artillery batteries, etc., how would they get those heavy projectiles up to the guns? As far as I've read, some of these things weighed 300 lbs. Did they just have a few of the more muscular men carry them to the crews one at a time, or was there some other means for this?

[flattop32355]

This might help: A book on the subject.
http://www.amazon.com/Civil-War-Heavy-Explosive-Ordnance/dp/1574411632

Found by googling "civil war heavy artillery projectile".

[Rob Weaver]

The short answer is with a winch and a crane. There's a sketch of slaves assisting in loading a cannon at Ft Sumter (?) that's pretty famous. Can be found in the AMerican Heritage Pictorial History. The guns had an exceptionally slow rate of fire - I think they could put a round in the air every half hour or so - but it was a really BIG round that did a lot of damage on the other end, especially against the kinds of targets for which they were designed. Same for heavy mortars like "Dictator."

[Shortround]

The artillery shells and the propellant (black powder) were loaded into the weapons by one of two ways. Generally, if the shell was 100 pounds or less it was lifted to the breach by a single cannoneer or a team of cannoneers. This practice is still used today by the US Army or Marine Corps when they load either the M-198 or M-777 howitzers. Two soldiers or marines will carry the projo on a tray. A separate man will have the propellant.

On guns with a weight of shot of greater than 200 pounds (generally larger than 7") then both the propellant and shot (or shell) were loaded separately by the use of a crane. The rate of fire was dismal by modern standards. A large gun might fire once or twice an hour. A modern artillery piece can fire once every ten seconds and ammunition supply becomes the limiting factor, not rate of fire.

Coastal Artillery's day didn't at all pass after the Civil War. Muzzle loading guns were used as coastal artillery until the 20th century. The guns were quite effective and due to the fact the ranges were pre-marked (registered) the guns were very accurate for muzzle loaders.

The last know major coastal artillery battery was not decommissioned until 1977. Norway had the Turret of the Nazi Battleship DKM Gneisenau mounted as a coastal gun. The coastal battery was extremely accurate and could lob a 500 pound shell with great accuracy up to 20 miles. The battery was decommissioned due to the fact that spare parts and ammunition expense. This turret is really the only surviving item of Germany's WWII capital surface fleet.

The Confederates used forts to their best tactical effect. The guns covered minefields. The minefields could sink major warships and the guns prevented the mines from being swept up by support ships.

If a mine field is not covered by direct or indirect fire it's merely a nuisance.

Bill Hensler
CPT, FA, USAR (ret)

[Tiger_rifles]

Hello All,
I have always taken the term "heavies" as just a way to describe any artillery bigger than field artillery. Sea Coast artillery can be huge! If you live anywhere near Fortress Monroe in Hapmton Virginia, they have a wonderful museum of sea coast and field artillery. When I was there last they showed how large shells are lifted in the magazine, using a crane onto special carts that are then taken out to the guns and loaded.
What I think of when the term "Heavy" is used is the Siege Guns. But thier shells are generally under 100lb.s.
Here is a good info site on siege guns......

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_artillery_in_the_American_Civil_War

Now if you ever find yourself on the island of Malta, in the Med. stop by and see the biggest muzzle loaded piece ever made!

[Shortround]

It is with artillery that war is made
Napoleon

Artillery is the God of War
Stalin

If Yankee Artillery could be combined with Confederate Infantry we would have the best army in the world
Quote from a Confederate Officer after the Seven Day's campaign

The Modern mortars were not invented until the Great War, WWI. The trench mortars eventually evolved into the modern mortars of 60 mm, 81 mm, and 82 mm (former Soviet) and were assigned either to a platoon or company. The heavier mortars of 4.2 ("four deuce") and 120 mm weapons were assigned to battalion sized elements. But modern mortars are not the subject of this Civil War site.

Corhorn mortars were named after Baron Von Corhorn. They were less like modern mortars, which are aimed indirect fire weapons. Basically, in modern terms, the Corhorn's were small grenade launching weapons. The Corhorns were of absolutely no utility in fluid maneuver warfare. Corhorns and Siege Mortars are used when attacking forts or fixed military objectives. Basically, when the enemy is "in the wire" you use the mortars because the enemy is in defilade. Translation, the bad guy is behind something that stops bullets so you toss a bomb behind him.

I've seen where the Confederates actually tried to use a Napoleon cannon as a mortar against besieging Union forces. Unless you knew what you're doing the weapon would be near useless because a field gun would fire at about 900 FPS and the mortars would lob in around at a softball like 500 - 600 FPS. Since the rebs (and pretty much everybody else in the 1860s) knew beans about muzzle velocities it's easy to see why the Napoleons with buried trails didn't work as mortars.

The Union forces used cut off tree trunks to make field expedient field mortars, basically locally made small grenade launchers. The union guys made them simple. They cut about a two and a half foot diameter tree stump, bored it out, and added about a dozen barrel staves around the outside to hold the weapon together. Honestly, the weapon only shot a small grenade a few hundred yards and it was only useful for anti-trench warfare. That was perfect for Port Hudson or Vicksburg.

It could be argued that the seige mortar was a permutation of the Bombard, a very old artillery piece. Both the explosive shell and seige mortar far predate the American Civil War and the seige mortar saw limited action because of the fluid conditions. Most reenactors know the seige mortar picture of one put on top of a flat car outside of Petersburg.

Bill Hensler
CW Private/F&I War/WWII reenactor
Michigan

[plankmaker]

The Cornfeds used Coehorns with some effect during the construction of Dutch Gap Canal. There are quite a few stories and sketches of the shells dropping on the workers while they dug. The following is an excerpt from:

DUTCH GAP CANAL
By Gen. John Ames
January, 1870

Mark Campbell
Piney Flats, TN
But the enemy had brought a new weapon into play, which was doing more damage than all their devices hitherto - than any thing, in fact, except the insidious fever. This was a mortar-battery - an old-time device for shell-throwing; once the only method by which shells could be thrown at all. By the side of the modern perfections of horizontal shell-firing, rifled ordnance, and long ranges, these little, squat, iron tubs seem as absurd as the old-fashioned, bell-mouthed blunderbusses and matchlocks. But they renewed their youth at Dutch Gap. Their shells, thrown up from the bushy meadow beyond the river, fell into the gap of the excavation, and exploded with fatal effect. The direct fire sent the shot screaming in lines above our heads, or spent itself against the impenetrable mass of the bulk-head. A few only described their parabolas with sufficient nicety to clear the upper edge of the protecting wall of earth, and yet fall short enough to reach the workers. But the mortar-shells were thrown high up into the air and then fell by their own weight, with no warning scream, and, dropping in the midst of busy groups, burst in ragged fragments of iron, which maimed and killed.

Across the river from the closed end of the canal was a wide, low meadow, with a fringe of scattered trees along the stream, and thickets of alders and meadow-bushes over its surface. Hidden in these bushes lay the mortars. It was impossible to tell their whereabout, as they were often shifted. But, to them, the canal remained fixed, and it was an easy thing to get the angle at which to toss a shell that would fall into its open seam. Down in the deep cut, between the high clay walls, it was difficult to hear the report of the mortar when fired; but if one looked up at the right moment, it was easy to see the black ball descending. They fell hardly as silently as snow-flakes, but with a flutter scarcely too loud for a bird's wing, until the quiet and stealthy fall ended in a sudden roar of explosion, which reverberated with horrid exaggeration from the upright walls. Then crouching figures rose slowly from the sulphurous cloud of the gunpowder smoke; or there were some who did not rise, and a blanket was made to do duty as a stretcher, and something limp and bloody was carried down to the outer bank, by the mouth of the canal.

To silence the mortars, a battery of artillery was brought over, and earth-works were built on the river-bank, near the closed end of the canal. This bank was high and steep, and overlooked the meadow of the hidden mortars. The gunners could see no troops, or works among the alder-bushes, but they kept a sharp watch for the puff of smoke from the discharged mortar, and directed their fire at the spot indicated.

The Rebel counter-movement to this step was to place sharp-shooters along the river-bank, hiding them also in the bushes of the shore. But this by no means checked the Federal fire, though it may have disconcerted its accuracy. At any rate, the mortars continued to toss their quietly dropping and terrible missiles into the canal, with no perceptible diminution, though they came now from thicker and more hidden clumps of bushes.

[Shortround]

So, the Reb Corhorns was used for attacking a fixed union objective, in this case a cannal.

It would be interesting to see a topographical map of the battle area, where the canal was (is?), and the ranges of the engagement. That was good information.

That whole story had the makings of a mess. The workers in the canal were targets of the mortars. The union depoys artillery in a counter battery mode. The cornfeds put in sharpshooters to counter the artillery.

[Rob Weaver]

That Dutch Gap escapade is one of the great unsung stories of bravery in the War. The troops digging the canal were USCT primarily, and they dug under nearly continuous bombardment. The project never bore fruit and the canal was abandoned as unable to support warcraft. Good treatment in "Strike the First Blow." history of the 6th USCT.

[Jim Mayo]

So, the Reb Corhorns was used for attacking a fixed union objective, in this case a cannal.

It would be interesting to see a topographical map of the battle area, where the canal was (is?), and the ranges of the engagement. That was good information.

That whole story had the makings of a mess. The workers in the canal were targets of the mortars. The union depoys artillery in a counter battery mode. The cornfeds put in sharpshooters to counter the artillery.



Large caliber (100 and 200 lb shells) were also fired from the CS forts along the river bluffs overlooking the canal. They were timed to burst over the canal sending a rain of heavy shrapnel down on those working. Some of these shells did not explode and still rest beneath the greens of the golf course on the South side of the James next to the Benjamin Harrison Bridge. Of course others were found before the golf course was put in.

[Artyman]

Some shells actually had depressions cast into them to accept "tongs" to carry the shell with. Especially true for morters. I recall a photo showing a morter round being carried by two men using a set of tongs and a handspike. Spherical morter shells were especially irksome since they needed to be loaded with the fuse more or less facing out of the muzzle. A fuse turned in toward the charge could be blown into the shell itself and cause immediate detonation. In earlier wars some shells actually had handles cast into the shell to facilitate handling and to help prevent the round from going into the morter crooked.

Those big guns are amazing. We have a pair of Rodmans decorating our cemetary. I don't know how they were able to even make them, let alone fire them.

The loading and hoisting cranes were often called "gins".

Harry

[MBond057]

Harry,

Here is a live fire competition of a heavy mortar being loaded.

1674

[Artyman]

That is SO Cool!

Harry

[3rdUSRedleg]

This Unit also uses a Tripod (made by specs.)
to load and offload their 8" mortar