Subdeacon Joe Posted September 14, 2012 Share Posted September 14, 2012 http://www.bivouacbooks.com/bbv5i2s4.htm and if you scroll to the bottom of the article you will find "Bivouac Banner" and "next article" buttons for more reading. Enjoy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger Mountain Charlie SASS #43172 Posted September 14, 2012 Share Posted September 14, 2012 Remind me to tell you about my sharpshooting days at the Battle of Shiloh sometime. Them .58 calibers mini balls do some work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Utah Bob #35998 Posted September 14, 2012 Share Posted September 14, 2012 A tragic, fascinating, personal, historic and compelling conflict. I never tire of reading about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger Mountain Charlie SASS #43172 Posted September 14, 2012 Share Posted September 14, 2012 Certainly was an interesting time in history. A lot of technology came out of that war. If it wasn't for Fort Sumter we probably would have to play SASS with cap and ball revolvers. It would have been after the turn of the century before the SAA would have been produced. OMG, we would all be soot lords with dirty faces. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Apache Hawk 60642 Posted September 14, 2012 Share Posted September 14, 2012 Certainly was an interesting time in history. A lot of technology came out of that war. If it wasn't for Fort Sumter we probably would have to play SASS with cap and ball revolvers. It would have been after the turn of the century before the SAA would have been produced. OMG, we would all be soot lords with dirty faces. An just what da heck is wrong wif shootin' cap an ball pistol any how ? Ifin' all of us was "Lords Of Da Soot" , it wood be like heaven ! ! ! lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger Mountain Charlie SASS #43172 Posted September 15, 2012 Share Posted September 15, 2012 I do not have a problem with the CAP nor the BALL. It is the SULPHUR and CHARCOAL that make the difference! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yellowhouse Sam # 25171 Posted September 15, 2012 Share Posted September 15, 2012 Imagine the gut wrenching fear, the bile rise up, and yet draw up the courage to march lock step with your lifelong friends and your family into the maw of death....sometimes dealt by lifelong friends and family! It just never ceases to amaze me what they had to endure! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger Mountain Charlie SASS #43172 Posted September 15, 2012 Share Posted September 15, 2012 To stand shoulder to shoulder and walk across a field while they rained death and destruction on you does boggle the mind. Some of those guys did it for four years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yellowhouse Sam # 25171 Posted September 15, 2012 Share Posted September 15, 2012 To stand shoulder to shoulder and walk across a field while they rained death and destruction on you does boggle the mind. Some of those guys did it for four years. yep and unlike whats depicted in movies the artillery they had was pretty dang awesome in its shock and awe value. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger Mountain Charlie SASS #43172 Posted September 15, 2012 Share Posted September 15, 2012 Watching one of those Napoleons six pounders blow holes in the skirmish lines would cause a serious pucker factor I would imagine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yellowhouse Sam # 25171 Posted September 15, 2012 Share Posted September 15, 2012 Watching one of those Napoleons six pounders blow holes in the skirmish lines would cause a serious pucker factor I would imagine. And cannister! But it is reported that lines stayed the course for the most part. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger Mountain Charlie SASS #43172 Posted September 15, 2012 Share Posted September 15, 2012 I know. That is what is so amazing. One would think that some General would look at the tactics and say whoa Nellie. We need to rethunk this operation. But Jackson pushed his men to the limits and they adored him for it, or at least the history accounts describe it that way. Same with Marse Bob. Not so much with the Northern Generals, except maybe Little Mac. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yellowhouse Sam # 25171 Posted September 15, 2012 Share Posted September 15, 2012 I know. That is what is so amazing. One would think that some General would look at the tactics and say whoa Nellie. We need to rethunk this operation. But Jackson pushed his men to the limits and they adored him for it, or at least the history accounts describe it that way. Same with Marse Bob. Not so much with the Northern Generals, except maybe Little Mac. That tactic worked so well they couldn't wait to try it out when charging Maxim machine guns 60 something years later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger Mountain Charlie SASS #43172 Posted September 15, 2012 Share Posted September 15, 2012 Yep, and the body counts were staggering, especially in the 1916 campaign on the Somme. It nearly left England a neutered country. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subdeacon Joe Posted September 15, 2012 Author Share Posted September 15, 2012 And the casualty rates - 30%, 50%, even 60% were not uncommon. Heck, 30% might be "very low." But, since you were "shoulder to shoulder" with friends, neighbors, and family, you went. How could you go home and face people if you ran? Charlie, the 6 pounders were pretty much obsolete by that time. Yeah, the Confederacy used them some, they used anything they could get the munitions for, and they saw some use by both sides on the western theater. But the work horses for both where the M1857 12 Pound Napoleon and the 10 Pound (3") Parrott Rifle. Coming in close behind was the 3" Ordnance Rifle. It was favored over the Parrott because it was wrought iron rather than cast. As far as I know, and talking with lots of others who know more, there were only two Ordnance Rifles that blew up during the War. Both near the muzzle, which make me suspect that the cause was the shell blowing up in the tube rather than a tube failure. Parrots tended to blow up with some regularity, and just in front of the wrought iron reinforce. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger Mountain Charlie SASS #43172 Posted September 15, 2012 Share Posted September 15, 2012 Back in the day, I served a 3/4 scale ordnance rifle that actually had a smooth bore sleeve. It was built over in Idaho by a fellow that did that sort of thing. It was an awesome looking gun and I did see some relics originals down in Nevada. They were interesting guns. I believe that we had five or six cannon that we took to competition from the PNW. One was an original brass cannon off one of the revenue cutters of the Coast Guard that was loaned to a member that served in the Coast Guard. IIRC the Rockbridge Artillery had a repo Parrott Gun but I do not recall the size. I think it also was 3/4. They were the best of the bunch as far as accuracy. I think we were at the bottom of the list. You soot lords that think your smokewagons are something, try a cannon sometime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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