Implementation and Evolution of Indirect Fire in the Civil War - Essay Example

Implementation and evolution of indirect fire (field artillery) in the civil war The process of implementation and evolution of indirect fire (field artillery) in the civil war in America took various models in parallel with the establishment and expansion of the technology adopted. The American civil war marked the termination of the ancient wars and commencement of the modern and sophisticated war1. During the war, the initial use of pistol, metallic rifles, and cartridges took were noted which created the change in model of warfare undertaken worldwide. However, the military had long relied on the old and trusted other means of weaponry, for instance, smoothbore muskets, troops machining and paper cartridges to facilitate the military precision in the battle field against the enemy2. Typically, extensive technological development in undertaking war and its related hurdles took place during civil war as compared to any other period in history. The Ordinance Department exploited various methods of countering the war challenge and, in essence, this evidenced by adoption of very lethal machinery and weaponry by then. Before 1860, the US government had little interest in promotion of the military arms invention, but numerous experiment were conducted by the ordinance experts under personal desire3. Most of the workers or experts in the ordinance section were majorly retirees or elder officers who were conservative with innovation and mainly used smoothbore field guns, howitzers, napoleons and “Columbiads”. The war provided a challenge to the American inventors which then prompted the commencement of stringent and expensive field trials aimed at deriving new arms. Customarily, most of these initial inventors entailed the use of their own finances in working out their endeavors. It was quite disillusioning at some points when the government rejected some of works presented to it by the experts as this was an indication that all the finances entailed in the process was not recoverable4. In the pre-war era, Bashley Britten, a Briton patented Britten projectile in 1855, August. This method entailed the casting of sabot onto a n iron shell which upon being fired prompted the expansion of the sabot and thus projected the rifling into the cannon barrel5. Tiny variations from Britten’s work were entailed in several subsequent projectiles during the civil war. Britten conducted further experiments which then lead to the patenting of the rifled projectiles and other leads sabots in the years that followed. Crucial insights into the development of the artillery in American were noted on April 12, 1861 after Lieutenant Henry S. Farley pulled lanyard existent on his mortar near Fort Johnson in South Carolina6. The shell raised high over Charleston Harbor then exploded over Fort Sumter, thus initiating the artillery duel of the civil war. Blakely projectile was one of the original riffled projectiles fired on Fort Sumter. The Confederates through the use of the artillery succeeded into forcing the Fort Sumter to surrender, but afterwards they found presents of terrible reduction in the ordinance and other much needed military weaponry7. Notably, myriads of the artillery used in south came from the region’s local federal armories which had been captured by the Confederates earlier before the war commenced. Lootings consisted majorly of the heavy siege and other seacoast artillery pieces as well as some few numbers of the field pieces. The confederacy possessed few antique and virtually obsolete smoothbores that had been relegated to the regional militia and other home guards in the earlier years. In the start, the south had only one cannon foundry hence it was vital to import manufactured artillery from Europe. This saw Britain becoming the chief exporter of the weaponry. Great Britain exported the weapon to south and at the same time traded with the federal government, but typically under very limited conditions8. On the onset of the civil war, the federal government had close to 4000 pieces of artillery, but those in the field were close to only 165 and at the same time, foundries were very much ready to manufacture additional pieces. North had much needed raw material for the manufacture of the superior weaponry and complemented it with some few imports. The south became restricted after the blockade of the imports by the north9. Cannon artillery were grouped into numerous categories according their model and design, weight, length of the barrel, the highest effective elevation, type of the projectiles and even range distance reached by the projectile. The development in the artillery saw the grouping into guns, mortars, howitzers and “columbiads”. Most of the artillery established during this period are also grouped into model type of service entailed on them, for instance , field , mountain and siege garrison10. Typically, field artilleries were light and easy in terms of maneuvering through challenging terrain while those meant for the mountainous regions were easy to break down into parts only to be assembled on their destinations and transported on horsebacks. Siege and garrison artillery were very heavy, but transport to various sites of violence was not quite a challenge especially in position of siege lines or fortifications. Seacoast artillery were cumbersome and heavy and were mainly mounted in forts and other regions adjacent to the river banks and other coastal waterways 11. Guns and howitzers are the most notable weaponry entailed in the civil war. The weapons were used in sets of six for a Union army. Ritualistically, during the commencement of the war, a battery had four guns and two howitzers. Typically, a battery had four, 6 pounder guns and other 12- pounder howitzers, thus 12 –pounder battery contained close to 12 – pounder and other additional 2 – 24 pounder howitzers. In some cases, four gun howitzers were also common for instance in the Confederate army. Augmented batteries were mostly placed adjacent to each other thus creating a strong and tough defensive position suppose the adversary advanced , the artillery and guns would belch forth and shrapnel shells. The propensity of any soldier expecting injury prompted most of them to seek haven in some concealed places. In the same format, numerous veteran soldiers would fall on ground as they held the weapons and fire at the enemy. Recurrently, proficient crews would hasten towards the guns in bid to capture crew before they could reload regularly, the expert fighters would fire dual rounds in one minute12. Guns and howitzers had several differences as guns were designed with long- barrels, and had heavy weapons which ejected solids at long range having long degree of elevation but with the use of powder charge13. Howitzers, on the other hand, had short barrel and typically could throw shots in short range , but in peak or high elevation in small powder charges. Howitzer exhibited ease in terms of maneuvering as compared to guns14. During the commencement of the civil war most of the artillery were smoothbore, but immediately afterwards the groups commenced on re-boring and riffling the used smoothbore so that to accommodate the developed formats of ammunition. The designation of each howitzer and gun took the format in which each model was designed. Thus, in most occasions different weights and classes of weapons were generated and developed annually (Englebrecht, 49). The federal government undertook the production of bronze 6-, 9-; this entailed mostly less than thirty 9 pounder. 12 – Pounders were generated for the filed use and 12-, 18- and 24- pounders were designed for siege and some garrison use. Normally, 32- and 42- pounders were meant for the seacoast defense and for navy purpose, 32-, 42-, and 64- pounders were generated. Confederates facilitate the production of the 6-pounders and some bronze parts which were entailed for the field use. one of the most dependable gun format was the model 1857 that was typically referred to as the Napoleon which derived the name from French emperor Louis Napoleon who aided in the establishment of the design. The 12 pounder smoothbore became effectual, controllable and reliable. It also had a range of 1600 yards in the elevation of five- degrees15. Confederate army utilized numerous seized Napoleons and also designed their own copies to facilitate them in winning the war against their opponents. After the exhaustion bronze, guns were then made of cast iron. During those days, gun was typically classified as a gun- howitzer due to the presence of short barrel, and subsequently light in terms of weight. Other models of gun developed as a standard weapon for the civil war was the Model 1841 which mainly entailed 6-pounder field gun, model 1841 consisting of 32- and 42- pounder. Standard howitzer used in the civil war was model 1841-12 pounder due to its peak trajectory in which mainly fired. The machine could fire a shell of up to 1000 yards in presence of a pound of powder. “Whistling dick” was one of the custom gun designed for the civil war which was banded and subsequently rifled 18-pounder for Confederate siege and typical garrison weaponry. The eventual design of the “whistling dick” emanated from smoothbore model 1839 that had initially been riffled. Due to presence of some erratic riffling some shells fired from the gun created unique whistling sound which facilitated the naming of the “whistling dick16. The gun became portion of the defense arm entailed at Vicksburg in Mississippi around 1863. The artillery facilitated the sinking of the Union gunboat Cincinnati17. The “whistling dick” later disappeared following the capture and surrender of Vicksburg and remains cannot be accounted for until today. Another crucial artilleries were the mortars which were majorly stubby and thus fired very heavy projectiles very high into arc18. Very small portion of powder was entailed in projection of shot to its desired maximum elevation. After the explosion of the shell, fragments having weights close to ten or even twenty pounds plummeted on the enemies with great velocity on the enemies. Fighters and non – fighters quickly derived ways of designing shelters against the fragments and other moving solid bodies. The psych and morale of the troops waiting to confront war were hugely influenced and affected by the effects of the mortar attack. During the night, light fuzzes could easily be traced and paths of the shell could be observed while in flight. In contrary, during the day, the muzzle fire became hard to notice or even detect due to the perception that most of the weapons were hidden form the sight of the enemies specially recognizing the altitude or the topography (Englebrecht,45). The use of the mortars was quite beneficial in regions where the target adversaries were below or above the line of sight. The condition prompted the elevation challenges for the long barreled weaponry however; short mortars could easily function and work effectively. The process of attaining the elevation adjustment could easily be achieved by the use of the ratchet and well installed lever mechanism19. In most occasional moments, the mortar was habitually mounted on the decks of most ships or even on special barges and even on rail road flatcars. Innumerable mortar projectiles were noted by the tong holes and tong ears that are cast into certain metal of various types on either sides fuze hole. This feature facilitated the centering of the ball effectively on the short tube. The design of the seacoast mortars had 10- and 13 – inch mainly consisting of iron20. This defense weaponry was entirely designed for the safeguarding of the river and coastal waterways. These types of mortar entail lug cast along the center of gravity that aids in the process of mounting the heavy and huge weapon (Larry, 35). Normally, the siege and garrison mortars had intrinsic features which informs that they were constructed to be easy, light enough to effect fast transportation by the army during their march. The mortars were also applied as trenches in sieges and during the defense for the fortifications purposes. The 8- and 10- inch weapons were designed by the use of the iron. Bronze Coehorn became noted as a garrison and siege weapon. “Dictator” was one of the popular mortars designed in the war. The weapon had 13- inch model 1861 similar to model 1861 sea coast mortar which became mounted on a specially strengthened railroad car to help in accommodation of weights adjacent to 17,000 pounds. Company G in the 1st Connecticut heavy artillery applied the “dictator” during in Petersburg. The mortar had the power to lob a 200- pound explosive shell for approximately 2.5 miles. The “dictator” was strategically positioned in curved segment of the Petersburg’s21. During the siege, city point railroad was used in a period of three months of the siege. “ columbiad ” was another very heavy artillery that had the capacity to fire shot and shell at relatively very high angles in terms of the elevation with the application of the heavy powder. Archetypally the “columbiads” were specifically grouped for the use on the seacoast defense weaponry and were finely mounted on fortification along the river and common waterways. The initial “columbiads” was invented by Col. George Bomford, around 1811 and weighed close to 50-pounder 22. The implement was entailed in the fight of 1812 and the subsequent was the eventual consideration as obsolete. In the 1844, the production of the weapon commenced in 8- and 10- inch model types. Around 1958, a version of the weapon was produced that had no chamber in breech; this strengthened the gun further. Around 1861, Lt. Thomas J. R gave Fort Pitt Foundry the contract to produce “Columbiads” with the use of special casting technique he had initially developed in 184423. With this process he had managed the derivation of less stress on the gun during the casting hence evading eminent cracks from forming. The gun was a success and it became acknowledged as Rodman Gun (Chaliand &Arnaud, 234). The “columbiads” were mainly made in groups of 8-, 10-, 12-, 13-, 15-, and 20 –inches types and were strategically smoothbore but few riffled models were manufactured. On contrary, the “columbiads” continued manufacturing their “columbiads” by the application of the old methods and even continued with practical’s that entailed banding and rifling the weapon. With the continuous works of the Confederates it was able to fire 225-pound shot length of 1800 yards24. The civil war triggered diverse experimentation hence uncountable weapon artillery was developed. This included varying formats of cannons. Parrot cannon were developed by Robert Parker Parrott who was West Point graduate and was also ordinance officer. The foundry was mainly civilian run and Robert Parker Parrott was the main superintendent. He dedicated nearly forty years in bid of perfecting the rifled cannon its part projectile. Around 1860, Parrott patented his new technique of attaching the band on the breech of the gun tube, but unfortunate was that he failed to attach the band on the tube. Parrots name become associated with ammunition that was fired by the cannon that he had designed.in his design, Parrot had projectile had sabot consisting of iron. In conclusion, the American civil war saw the use of various modifications of artillery which begun from initial stages of artillery design (Grandchamp, 354). Works cited Grandchamp, Robert. The Boys of Adams Battery G: The Civil War Through the Eyes of a Union Light Artillery Unit. Jefferson, N.C: McFarland & Co, 2009. Internet resource. Bacevich, A J. The Long War: A New History of U.s. National Security Policy Since World War Ii. New York: Columbia University Press, 2007. Print. Chaliand, Gérard, and Arnaud Blin. The History of Terrorism: From Antiquity to Al Qaeda. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2007. Print. Kelly, John. The Graves Are Walking: The Great Famine and the Saga of the Irish People. , 2012. Internet resource. Englebrecht, Helmith C. Merchants of Death: A Study of the International Armament Industry. Dodd, 1934. Print. Lieutenant Colonel Peter S. Corpac. Evolving Tactics, Techniques and Doctrine for Fire Support in PeaceEnforcement Operations. Field Artillery Journal, July-August 1999, p. 35. Major General (Retired) J.B.A Bailey, Field Artille;y and Firepower, (Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Lieutenant Colonel James M. Waring and Major C. Phillip Royce, Role and Mission of the FA in TF Falcon, Kosovo, Field Artillery Journal, May-June 2000, p. 26. Dr. Larry Yates, Field Artilleiy in Mi!itaiy Operations Other Than War: An Overview of the US Experience, Global War on Terrorism Occasional Paper 4, Combat Studies Institute, Fort Leavenworth, p.35. Colonels Sean Macfarland, Michael Shields, Jeffrey Snow, The King and!: The Impending &isis in Field Artille;y ‘s ability to provide Fire Support to Maneuver Commanders, White Paper, p. 4 Read More