12 Founder Field Piece – English Royal Artillery Firearms
This beautifully detailed 12 pounder field piece was part of the English field artillery group in 1850. One of the noticeable things on this gun is that all of the tools that were needed to service the gun were fastened to the gun in one place or another. The attached tools were: linstock, vent pick, powder and water buckets, brake chain, barrel roller, trail spike, rammer, sponge, worm and fuse cutter. Two ammunition boxes were
mounted on the axle, one on each side of the barrel.
The rear aiming sight had adjusting wheels to facilitate sighting on the target.
15 Inch Dahlgren Shell Gun
U.S. Admiral John Dahlgren was a prolific inventor who came up with many types of firearms. He invented the type of cannon that became known as Dahlgrens (which the English critics rather sarcastically called “soda-water bottles”). He started out with small boat cannons and made many firearms models, gradually working his way up to 20 inch behemoths that tipped the scales at about 100,000 pounds. By comparison, the 15 inch cannon is estimated to have weighed 42,000 pounds. Even the shells for the 15 inch gun were big. The solid shot weighed 440 pounds, the hollow shells that were to be filled with powder were 330 pounds with grape and canister shot in the same range.
This mini firearms model has an iron carriage that rests on an oak pad covered by brass plates (of course, in the real unit these would be iron plates) for mobility. There is a small dolly with two wheels for raising the rear end so the gun can be swung around, while the front end has two large wheels on eccentric axles that can be raised to move the front end around. Lugs were cast on the barrel at the vent, to which a lock was fastened, so that when a lanyard fastened to the lock was pulled, a hammer fell on the primer, setting off the cannon. An elevating screw is machined in the rear of the barrel to aim the piece. A full set of accouterments is available, including water and powder buckets, a rammer, a sponge and three explosive shells with fuses.
The Napoleon Miniature Firearms
Louis Napoleon developed this gun, the Napoleon, in France in 1850 from whence comes the name. It was designed to replace several sizes and models of guns and gained wide acceptance at the time. It was a favorite of both sides in the Civil War and as a smoothbore, it could handle all types of ammunition, shot, shell and case and, as Ripley an expert in Civil War matters says, “when loaded with canister against personnel at a quarter of a mile, it was downright vicious”. In appearance it was quite straightforward, usually being pretty much of a straight line from the swell of the breech to the smaller diameter at the muzzle.
The mini model is well made, and includes a limber for the cannon, rammer, sponge, two water buckets, handspike and an ammunition box on the limber, which is removable. All miniature parts are completely functional.
The 3 Inch Ordnance Rifle
The 3 inch ordnance rifle was used on both sides of the Civil War and was one of the favorite guns on both sides. It was made of wrought iron and was a built-up gun rather than a cast one. A strip of wrought iron was spiraled around a mandrel, after which a second strip was wound on over the first strip but in the opposite direction. This continued for five strips. Then small bars were added lengthwise and the whole was heated and welded into a solid mass by squeezing in a press. The bore was reamed and rifled after which the outside was turned to the proper shape in a lathe. While most of these guns had rifling consisting of seven grooves and seven lands, our model is made with five grooves and five lands. By way of comparison, correspondence between the Secretary of War and the Ordnance Department (the Northern side) dated 1861 states that the department will order 300 rifled barrels of approximately 1000 pounds weight for $250 each, or 25 cents per pound. What do you think of that price! A barrel like that today would certainly be up in the many thousands of dollars.
The mini firearms model is made of brass and walnut and is complete with all the necessary paraphernalia: sponge, rammer, leather powder bucket, drag brake, drag rope, trail spike, fuse cutter and three shells, complete with expanding cups on their bases to engage the rifling.
When someone says cannon, this is the type of gun that comes instantly to mind. If you block out of your thoughts the deadly carnage that such a gun can create, it is a beautiful piece of machinery, beautiful but unfortunately built for the wrong purpose.
Blakely Cannon
Blakely cannons were widely used during the Civil War, especially on the Confederate side. These firearms were made in England in various foundries, under the patents of Alexander Blakely. He had been a captain in the Royal Artillery but left that post and devoted his time to the design and production of cannons. Most of his guns were rifled and one of his guns, a twelve pounder, had the distinction of being the first rifled gun to be used in combat in this country. This occurred during the attack on Fort Sumter, which, of course, was the start of the Civil War.
He did, however, produce some smoothbores, especially in the larger calibers, of which this mini model is one such. It is mounted on a garrison carriage, which means that it would be used in a fort or for siege work. In a fort or at a siege, mobility is of secondary importance, so the wheels are different from those of a field carriage. Wheels are one of the main distinguishing characteristics between field, garrison and naval carriages. If the wheels are larger than about twenty inches in diameter, the carriage is classified as a field carriage. If the wheels are smaller than twenty inches, the carriage is classed as either a garrison carriage or a naval carriage and the wheels are no longer called wheels, they are called trucks. If the trucks were made of iron, the carriage was for garrison use, while if they were made of wood, the carriage was a naval carriage.
You will notice that the miniature carriage is made of wood. In most cases, this would indicate that the commander of the fort was keeping his command in readiness for an attack. Because wood would rot and become weaker with age, most permanent garrisons had two carriages for every gun. One was made of iron and was used during peacetime and when there was no threat to the fort. However, any time the fort was threatened and was on active alert, the firearms were dismounted from their iron carriages and installed on their wooden carriages which had been carefully protected from the elements, the reasoning behind this was that:
1. If damaged, the iron carriage was difficult to repair.
2. If hit, it was more easily broken.
3. When hit, iron fragments became a deadly form of shrapnel.
4. An iron carriage was almost twice as heavy as a wooden one and thus a wooden one was easier to swing around for aiming.
The commander of a fort, when threatened with an attack, would order his men to take the gun barrels off the iron carriages and put them on the wooden carriages. Since the guns could number a hundred or more it was quite a chore and this is where the gyns came into play. Luckily, all that was needed for remounting the guns was manpower and forts always had plenty of that.
Dahlgren Fortress Gun
This Civil War Dahlgren, possibly an 11-inch model, situated behind a low parapet of a fort was emplaced on an iron carriage in a front pintle barbette mounting. The carriage was mounted on steel tracks with stops at each end to prevent over-running the tracks. The wheels of the carriage were fixed on eccentric axles so that the carriage could be raised up or lowered down to the tracks so as to be able to move the cannon into firing position or pull it back for loading.
The barrel had a lock holder lug cast into it to enable an ignition lock to be fitted to it. The lock had a lanyard attached to
it to fire the cannon. There was also a screw at the rear to raise or lower the elevation of the cannon. The structure that held the carriage had wheels that ran on circular tracks so that the cannon could be traversed around the front pintle. All in all, it was a very functional affair.
Sea Coast Gun – 48 Pdr. – On Barbette Carriage
Looking at this miniature model makes it very easy for, me to visualize the actual scene as it plays in my mind’s eye. The tall man-of-war comes creeping up the channel toward the fort with all guns at the ready, while in the fortress, the gunners are peering out the casemate ports. Up on top, behind the parapets, the gunners have the big guns loaded and run up to the wall, waiting for the ship to come into range. Finally the order is given and the battle begins. Flame and smoke belch out of the muzzle and the cannon recoils to the rear of its carriage. Leaving the master gunner to assess the damage inflicted, the rest of the crew, howling like banshees, throw themselves at the gun to ready it for the next shot. One grabs the sponge, dips it in the water bucket to get it thoroughly wet and sticks it into the bore of the gun. After he has completely swabbed it out to make sure there are no glowing bits of powder bag left alive, he pulls the sponge out while the next man shoves a bagged powder charge down the muzzle; the sponger reverses his tool to the rammer end and rams the powder charge tightly down to the end of the bore.
A wad of tow is placed on top of the powder and a round shot is rammed into the wad. In the meantime, the gunner is pricking the powder bag open through the vent with the vent pick and putting a friction primer in the vent. With a yell, the men grab the spokes of the big hand wheels and quickly bring the gun back to position over the parapet. The gunner readjusts his aim and pulls the lanyard, bringing the lock down on the primer, firing the gun. Now the whole scene is repeated, until after only 8 or 9 shots, the foretopmast of the big ship falls, she loses forward way, slowly turns on her heel and begins to seek the safety of the open sea. Her captain has decided that a frontal assault on a fortress as well manned as this one, is not the type of a battle he can win. Seeing the enemy in retreat only brings more cheers and faster loading from the gunners, who see how much damage they can inflict before the ship is out of range.
As the smoke, flames and thunder of the guns fade from the mind’s eye, the reality comes back into focus, and you are again looking at the mini firearms model. It is equipped with a sponge-rammer, a hand spike, two solid shot, a bar shot and a star shot. The last two are specifically designed to rip and tear a ship’s rigging. After leaving the muzzle of the cannon, the bar shot spins, with the two half balls describing a circle around the bar, cutting and tearing any ropes or sails that it comes into contact with. The star shot comes out of the muzzle of the gun and spreads out, the three heavy pieces forming a sort of “star” which also tears its way through the rigging and sails.
The Swamp Angel Firearms
The firearms model pictured is a miniature of “The Marsh Battery” better known as “The Swamp Angel.” The model is a one tenth scale replica of the Parrott 8 inch Navy 1861 rifle that was used to bombard the city of Charleston, S.C. in 1863 in the American Civil War (I say the American Civil War because our English readers also had a Civil War). While the gun had to be replaced because it burst after firing only 36 rounds, the placing of the gun was such an engineering feat that it is still discussed in Army engineering classes to this day.
The best location was determined to be a huge marsh behind Morris Island, which was composed of a jelly-like sub-stance known as “pluff mud” that was of such a consistency that if a man tried to walk on it, after 10 or 12 feet, he would be up to his knees or hips and would have to be helped out. After a diligent search, a spot of relatively firm ground was found, measuring about 18 by 30 feet and it was decided to site the gun there. One of the problems was that a platform had to be laid down that had to be level and had to remain level since any sinking of one corner or the other would seriously change the aiming of the gun. The engineers overseeing this task faced a real problem in making a platform that would do this while supporting a 16,000-pound gun on pluff mud in addition to adding the shocks of the firing of a gun this size.
The engineers solved this problem by building a sort of leaky cofferdam around the site. Sharpened planks were, after several methods were tried and discarded, pushed down through the mud by the relatively simple method of strapping a cross bar to the plank on which men leaned until the plank was driven down to the firm sand below. Now a platform was put on the mud inside the cofferdam but another problem arose. When the gun would be placed on the platform, the platform would act like a piston and push the mud out through the planks. To solve this, the engineers surrounded the area with a thick layer of swamp grass, then covered that with tarpaulins, added a layer 15 inches thick of sand and proceeded to build a platform of logs on this around the gun emplacement. Thousands of sand bags were put on this platform until the pressure on the outside equaled the pressure on the inside. Whenever the gun platform showed signs of sinking, more sand bags were loaded on the outside platform until the pressure forced the gun platform back up. I consider this truly a remarkable and beautifully engineered feat.
We must confess that while going through the main steps of placing the Swamp Angel in the swamp, the model does not quite follow through in depicting an exact picture of the cannon as the above description says was done. The mini firearms model, while beautifully made, doesn’t give a true picture of the thousands of sand bags that were piled around it and the work that went into placing the cannon on the site. Possibly the most egregious mistake was showing the barrel as a two banded Parrott rather than the single banded type that it should have been. Picky, picky, it is still a great model!
Resourse: “The Wonderful, Wacky, Terrible World of Artillery in Miniature” by Ralph Koebbeman