A virtual examination of artifacts of the American Civil War
by Harry Ridgeway
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Ridgeway Civil War Research Center, A virtual examination of artifacts of the American Civil War |
| Civil War Artillery | |
by Harry Ridgeway |
| Rifled artillery projectile, Hotchkiss design, Federal manufacture, bursting shell, pattern without flame grooves, rounded nose "case shot" iron balls Sayre's detachable nose, lead band sabot, Hotchkiss lead time fuze, James 14 pounder rifle, 3.8in. Projectile was manufactured in the Federal arsenals following the invention of Andrew Hotchkiss. The pattern consisted of three parts, a nose section containing the explosive charge, a cast iron cup fitted on the bottom, and lead band sabot cast around the middle, on firing the cup would compress the lead band sabot expanding it into the rifling. Some of these shells were "common" or standard rounds, explosive charge only, or "case shot", filled with balls. This is "case shot", with a time fuze it was designed to be used against troops by spreading large volume of fragments and balls over the open field of fighting. Lead balls were packed in sawdust only, early production, or black asphalt matrix, later production. The nose is rounded to accomodate the extra load of balls and the casting in the nose is thin to encourage breakage forward in the nose. There are two chambers in the nose, all of the powder is in the lower chamber, all of the balls are in the upper chamber, there is an iron seperator bolt in the middle, with a hole and a narrow metal channel to allow the flame to pass from the fuze to detonate the powder in the lower chamber. On detonation, the exploding powder in the base was expected to push the seperator bolt and the balls forward and out the weak top section of the nose. Nose was fitted with a detachable nose, an invention of Sayre, this would make the loading easier but left a weak spot around the nose, the nose is blown off most fired examples, this design was a failure. Fuze employed was a Hotchkiss brass time fuze, with slots and a flange, Jones pg. 87. Projectile measures: diameter 3.7in ., length 7.25in . (excluding fuze) unfired sabot, 6.75in. fired sabot compressed, weight 14lbs. Research Center: Artillery4366-Hotchkiss, Ref: Dickey & George, Field Artillery (1993 Edition), pg. 180.    Details click: http://relicman.com/artillery/Artillery4366-Hotchkiss.html. |
| A0586...Rifled artillery projectile, Hotchkiss design, Federal manufacture, bursting shell, pattern without flame grooves, rounded nose "case shot" iron balls Sayre's detachable nose, lead band sabot, Hotchkiss lead time fuze, James 14 pounder rifle, 3.8in. Projectile was manufactured in the Federal arsenals following the invention of Andrew Hotchkiss. The pattern consisted of three parts, a nose section containing the explosive charge, a cast iron cup fitted on the bottom, and lead band sabot cast around the middle, on firing the cup would compress the lead band sabot expanding it into the rifling. Some of these shells were "common" or standard rounds, explosive charge only, or "case shot", filled with balls. This is "case shot", with a time fuze it was designed to be used against troops by spreading large volume of fragments and balls over the open field of fighting. Lead balls were packed in sawdust only, early production, or black asphalt matrix, later production. The nose is rounded to accomodate the extra load of balls and the casting in the nose is thin to encourage breakage forward in the nose. There are two chambers in the nose, all of the powder is in the lower chamber, all of the balls are in the upper chamber, there is an iron seperator bolt in the middle, with a hole and a narrow metal channel to allow the flame to pass from the fuze to detonate the powder in the lower chamber. On detonation, the exploding powder in the base was expected to push the seperator bolt and the balls forward and out the weak top section of the nose. Nose was fitted with a detachable nose, an invention of Sayre, this would make the loading easier but left a weak spot around the nose, the nose is blown off most fired examples, this design was a failure. Fuze employed was a Hotchkiss brass time fuze, with slots and a flange, Jones pg. 87. Projectile measures: diameter 3.7in ., length 7.25in . (excluding fuze) unfired sabot, 6.75in. fired sabot compressed, weight 14lbs. Ref: Dickey & George, Field Artillery (1993 Edition), pg. 180.   Projectile measures: diameter 3.7in., length 6.25in. (excluding fuze), weight 9.8lb., sabot nose and case shot balls are missing. Lead band sabot separated on firing, Sayre detachable nose also blew away. Projectile is disarmed open top exposes interior. Recovered: Virginia campaign. |
A1836...  Projectile measures: diameter 3.7in., length 6.25in. (excluding fuze), weight 9.8lb., sabot, nose top, and case shot balls are missing. Lead band sabot separated on firing, Sayre detachable nose also blew away. Projectile is disarmed open nose exposes interior. Recovered: Remington, Virginia. |
| Ridgeway Civil War Research Center, A virtual examination of artifacts of the American Civil War. Artillery Research center, artillery, click: http://relicman.com/artillery/Artillery0000-Index.html.     Research center, artillery, click: http://relicman.com/artillery/Artillery0000-Index.html. |
| Civil War Relicman, Harry Ridgeway, Civil War artillery, Relicman sales catalog. Click here: http://relicman.com/artillery/RelicmanSalesArtillery1.html.     Artillery for sale: http://relicman.com/artillery/RelicmanSalesArtillery1.html. |