Galloper
Up to the early 1700’s, commanders had a hard time really deciding what to do with their artillery. Until that time, most of the cannons were relatively heavy and as a consequence, were also relatively immobile. At least, it took a great deal of effort and much time to move a cannon to a new location, especially if the new location was at any distance from the old one. About this time, the Germans began to make and use small guns in the four to eight pound category. However, it wasn’t until the reign of Gustavus Adolphus, the king of Sweden, that mobility really blossomed. He is credited with the invention, or at least the introduction of the leather gun, although there is reason to believe that the idea came from Scotland. Be that as it may, the leather gun did make a decided impact on tactics. Actually, the so-called leather gun was made by wrapping rope tightly around a copper tube, which formed the bore of the gun. A covering of leather was then shrunk around the rope and the whole was mounted on a light carriage. It was not a very good gun from the stand-point of firepower or durability, but it was there, where the fighting was, not back of the lines in an artillery park. From these beginnings, a type of gun was developed that was highly portable and had reasonable firepower. In England, as in other countries, these were known as gallopers. England used three and six pounders for this type and mounted them on light carriages made so that they could be pulled by a couple of men if need be, but the carriages were made with a pair of shafts that acted as the trail of the gun when used as a gun, or as a pair of shafts to put a horse between when the gun needed moving. With an arrangement like that, the gun could be rapidly moved from one location to another, and be set up and shooting, while the crew of a heavier gun would be just starting the preparations for the original move. This model has an ammunition box between the shafts, so that a small supply of shot and shell could be carried. Thus the crew was able to man the gun while they were waiting for the ammunition wagons to come up with a more ample supply.
Schuwalous Russian Unicorn
This model depicts a Russian gun, the unicorn, which was in use from about 1750 to as late as World War I. Developed by a Russian, Count Schuwalous, it was meant to fire shells or bombs with the fuse of the bomb ignited by the flash of the propelling charge. The unicorn got its name from the fact that the Count’s family crest had a unicorn in its center, which led to the Count having a unicorn cast on the top of the barrel. Since many noblemen in Russia and Europe were rich and powerful men, they were able to support and equip their own private armies. Thus it was no problem for Count Schuwalous to have a unicorn cast on his cannon barrels if he wanted one. His cannoneers took to calling the gun a unicorn, and the name stuck, even though the unicorn crest was eliminated. It was a short range cannon, basically a large caliber howitzer, with a light carriage and a light barrel, which made it well suited to the terrain and climate of Russia, both of which were bad.
The model is made of pewter and walnut, with the wood being painted dark red and black. Each Russian ruler had his with fuses and fastened to wooden sabots, own personal color scheme, and Catherine the Great (actually, she was Catherine the Second) had red and black for hers. On the fore part of the barrel, the Russian double-headed eagle is cast, incorporating into its design the signs or crests of the eight provinces that made up Russia at that time. (Alaska was one of them). On the rear, or first reinforce, of the barrel, the monogram of Catherine is cast. This tends to be confusing, because it can be mistaken for the monogram of Queen Elizabeth of England, since the central figure is a large “e”. This happens because Catherine is spelled Ekaterina in the Russian Cyrillic alphabet. For accessories, there is an ammunition chest, which, of course opens on working hinges and has a locking latch. There is a linstock, powder-scoop-rammer, sponge, trail spike, vent pick, wheel brake chain, water bucket, and drag rope (called a prolonge) complete with wooden toggles or handles. One shot of grape is included, along with two hollow bombs, complete or shoes. Bombs or shells, as hollow ammunition was called (as distinguished from solid ammunition, which was called shot) was always strapped to a wooden disk (the above mentioned sabot) with light metal bands. This was done because the shell had a weak spot where the fuse was inserted. If the shell turned when being pushed down to the powder, the explosion of the propelling charge could drive the fuse into the body of the shell and set off the charge in the shell before it left the barrel, with disastrous results.
With the shell strapped to the sabot and gently pushed down to the powder, there was no chance of the fuse being placed incorrectly. The coign or wedge for adjusting elevation is marked off in a 5 to 15 division scale to aid in setting elevations. Hooks for drag ropes swivel on the outer ends of the axle. The rings at the ends of the trail have clips incorporated in their mounts so that they will not drag on the ground when moving the piece.
32 Pdr. Naval Gun – English
This naval gun is a rather large specimen for miniature firearms (scale 1:6) and it is beautifully made. The model has a brass barrel while the original barrel was made of iron. The cartouche of King George II is cast on the top of the second reinforce indicating that it was cast during his reign and theoretically, at least, it belonged to him. The carriage is made of rosewood and the gun sits on pine planking. It is equipped with the following accouterments, sponge, rammer, water bucket, two hand spikes, two solid shot and a bar shot.
Constellation’s Naval Cannon – 18 Pounder
This model of a long 18-pdr was patterned after one that saw duty on the frigate Constellation. The Constellation was one of six frigates that were authorized by the Continental Congress after the revolution, mainly to take care of the Barbary corsairs, or pirates, who, under the direction of the Bey of Tripoli, preyed on American merchant ships. Three, one of which was the Constellation, were to be 36-gun ships and three were to be 44-gun ships. The most famous of the sextet was the Constitution, “Old Ironsides,” which is still berthed in Boston, and is carried on the naval roster of active ships. After many problems, the Barbary pirates were subdued, with probably the most remembered result being the line in the “Marine Hymn” that goes, “From the halls of Montezuma, to the shores of Tripoli”. The Constellation had about two thirds long 18-pdr cannons and one third 32-pdr carronades.
9 Pounder Revolutionary War Field Piece
When you compare the Revolutionary War 9 pounder with the equivalent Civil War field piece, as far as appearance, efficiency and fire power in concerned, there is no comparison. The Civil War piece could be moved, set up and be ready to fire much faster than the Revolutionary war piece, but once each gun was set up, they were pretty much on a par. It hurt just as much to be hit by one as it did by the other and probably the rate of fire would depend a lot on the crew that was doing the firing as to measure the number of shots each could get off in a given time.
The model 9 pounder Revolutionary War cannon is a nice model, which can be rarely found among miniature firearms. It has the initials U.S. cast on the top of the barrel encircled by a floral wreath and the date 1776 cast on the first reinforce together with a floral design around the vent. The split trail has a leather covered ammunition box set between the trail timbers. This miniature gun has a powder scoop, a rammer and sponge fastened to the right side of the trail and two wooden spikes fastened on the other side for lifting and moving the rear of the trail around and a wooden water bucket hanging from the axle.
9 Pounder Cannon On Garrison Carriage
This 9 pdr model was one of two models made to commemorate the bicentennial of our country. It is mounted on a garrison carriage, which means that it was made specifically for use in a fortress. It differs from a naval carriage only in the fact that naval guns had wooden trucks (in gunnery, any wheel smaller than 20 inches in diameter is called a truck) to protect the deck from wear. The garrison carriages had iron wheels, even though they also were used on wooden platforms, the difference being that it was easier to replace a gun’s wheels on land than on a ship’s deck at sea.
The platform was in the form of a trapezoid, narrow at the front and widening out at the rear and about 15 feet long so that it would follow the recoil of the gun as it was traversed from side to side to follow the course of the target. It was also raised at the rear at about a half an inch per foot, to help slow down the recoil and to make it easier to return the gun to firing position.
The gun itself is a beautiful model. The master used the same pattern to cast the barrel as he used in making the bicentennial commemorative field cannon. On the first reinforce, at the breech of the barrel, there is an elaborate floral design around the vent and a little higher there are the two dates, 1776 and 1976 with a star between them. On the second reinforce, there is an eagle clutching an olive branch and a sheaf of arrows while three stars arch overhead. On the third reinforce, behind the muzzle, there is a laurel wreath enclosing the letters, U. S. There are two hand spikes or crowbars, a sponge-rammer, a water bucket, a vent pick, a shot garland and 30 cannon balls. The carriage is made of African rosewood, the platform of walnut and the base of Brazilian rosewood. The barrel and all castings are made of silver plated brass, making this an outstanding model.
Bicentennial Celebration Cannon, Revolutionary War – 9 Pounder
Length of barrel – 7 Feet
Weight of barrel – 2300 Pounds
Caliber (Bore) – 4.21 Inches
Weight of Ball – 9 Pounds
Powder Charge – 2 Pounds
Range – 1200 Yards
Gun Crew – 5 men
This model, made to celebrate the bicentennial of the United States, is a beautiful piece of craftsmanship and a brilliant exemple of miniature firearms. The woodwork is all made of African rosewood and all the metal parts are silver-plated, even to the smallest nails. As a matter of fact, the nails turned out to be one of the hardest and slowest items to make, and helped to stretch out the job to over a year and a half. The master tried several techniques for making them, but none resulted in nails of a high enough quality to suit him until he finally made them by casting them in “trees” where the branches of the “trees” were the nails. Since there are about 350 nails in the project, you can see where making nails would become quite a chore.
The model consists of the cannon on its carriage, which includes the covered supply box, holding tools, priming powder, some extra shot and similar necessities. The limber was for moving the cannon from place to place as well as for the ammunition cart. When the gun was to be moved from one location to another, the barrel was positioned in the rear trunnion sockets by means of a gyn and the trail was lifted onto the pintle (the large pin directly over the axle) of the limber. This was done so that the gun would travel better, since the weight would be distributed more evenly between the wheels of the carriage and the limber. In effect, with the gun set up like this, it became a four-wheeled cart. The ammunition wagon, of course, carried a supply of powder and shot, so that the gun could be set up and be firing almost at once, after reaching the desired location. Also, if needed, the ammunition could be unloaded, so that the wagon could go back to the supply base for another load.
The pattern for the barrel of the gun is a somewhat idealized one. When the war broke out, the colonies were desperately short of artillery of any kind, and naturally they took anything available. Some were cannons that had been in forts, some were taken from the enemy, some were obtained from the French, and local shops and foundries made some. As a result, it was a real problem to keep them in repair in the field, since there was no standardization of parts. A greater problem was the fact that there was no uniformity in bores, so that a great many different sizes of cannon balls had to be furnished. It must have been frustrating to one of the artillery men of that time to run out of shot while the gun next to him had a pile of round shot that he couldn’t use because it was just a little too big to fit in the barrel of his gun!
Since they came from many sources, markings on the barrels varied a great deal. Some had the royal English cypher and the broad arrow on the English guns, the French were usually rather elaborately carved and had lifting dolphins, while the American-made barrels were sometimes very crude and sometimes quite fancy. Cast on this barrel are the initials U. S., which are enclosed in a laurel wreath; the American eagle clutching a sheaf of arrows; the dates 1776 and 1976 and a floral design embellishing the vent hole finish the decorations.
The limber for the Bicentennial Cannon was a two wheeled cart that was used for transporting the cannon any distance. The large pin located over the axle is the pintle, over which the trail of the cannon was dropped when the cannon was to be moved.
Unseen in the picture (p. 43) is the prolonge, or drag rope, wound around two cleats fastened to the rear of the axle. Clearly seen (p. 44), however, are the two whiffle trees, the pivoted bars to which the harness traces of the horses were fastened when the teams were hooked up to pull the load. A six horse team was commonly used to pull one of these cannons, with a gunner riding on one horse of each team.
The ammunition cart followed the gun and provided the thunder whenever the gun went into battle. This was a one horse cart which was provided with a socket in front into which was fitted a leg or prop so that the horse could be led away during a battle while still keeping the cart on an even keel. Keeping the cart level was necessary to ensure getting all of the cannon balls out of their carrying troughs. The wooden lid of the cart was covered with leather and served as a seat for the driver.
The main portion of the upper part is partitioned to hold the bagged charges of powder. It has a leather cover to keep any sparks out of the powder, and, since the leather, unlike a wooden cover, doesn’t use any nails or metallic fastenings, there is no danger of generating any sparks from iron nails striking against other iron parts. The front portion of this area is used for fuses, priming powder and similar needs.
The Limber’s tool box. Cannon Markings. A seperate Ammunition cartfollowed the cannon.
Underneath are the shot racks, consisting of four troughs in the front and four in the back, each big enough to hold five shots. The troughs are pitched so that the shots roll down to the unloading area at the front and back of the wagon where the gunners can pick them up and carry them to the cannon. Finishing the cart off are two buckets hanging from the rear, a covered leather powder bucket to carry charges to the gun and a grease bucket to keep the wheels lubricated. These three components add up to a magnificent model that truly celebrates the Bicentennial!
Resourse: “The Wonderful, Wacky, Terrible World of Artillery in Miniature” by Ralph Koebbeman