Firing the 30-pounder rifled Parrott cannon: Fort Pulaski, GA
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 20 มิ.ย. 2015
- This video shows a demonstration I witnessed of the firing of a 30-pounder rifled Parrott cannon at the Fort Pulaski National Monument, Savannah, Georgia on June 13, 2015.
I got a good view of the demonstration by sitting on the rampart of the fort. While I had the camera focused on the gun crew, waiting for the firing, I kept saying to myself, “Don’t flinch, don’t flinch!” I managed to keep the camera steady when the shocking blast came. Proud of myself. 😊
The actual report was much louder than it sounds in the video. My digital camera gagged on a sound that loud (automatic gain control). The demonstrators had first fired the 12-pounder howitzer you see in the background. The audience liked that. The 30-pounder report was MUCH louder. The audience REALLY liked that and applauded loudly.
I silenced portions of the video to eliminate wind noise.
No projectile, no (visible) recoil.
The cannon is called a 30-pounder (not 30-pound) because the shell it fired weighed a nominal 30 pounds.
It is called a rifled cannon - as opposed to a smoothbore cannon - because spiral grooves are cut into the inside of the barrel. The grooves cause the projectile to spin in flight, improving its accuracy and range.
“Parrott” refers to Robert Parker Parrott, who invented the cannon type in 1860. Parrott cannons can be recognized by the reinforcing wrought iron band shrunk onto the breech of the guns. They ranged in size from 10-pounders to giant 300-pounder guns. The 20-pounder was usually the biggest Parrott cannon used in the field, i.e., mobile. Bigger guns would be used in fortifications and in the Navy. Parrott cannons had a poor reputation for safety.
30-pounder Parrott rifled cannon:
Bore diameter: 4.2 inches
Length: 126 inches
Weight: 4,200 pounds
Weight of shell fired: 29 pounds (also fired a 24-pound bolt)
Usual charge: 3.25 pounds black powder
Range: 6,700 yards (3.8 miles) at 25 degrees elevation
Flight time: 27 seconds
Full crew: 9
If you like cannon firing, see my video of the 12-pounder howitzer firing at Fort Laramie in Wyoming:
• Firing a mountain howi...
If you are watching this video, you must be interested in the American Civil War. So you’d probably enjoy Book 1 and Book 2 in my Gavin MacKenzie Civil War Naval Adventure series:
The Carolinas: jimjanke.com/carolinas/
Duel at Hampton Roads: jimjanke.com/duel/
----------
Enjoy the video! And I hope you’ll click on my smiling subscribe button.
And visit my website for details on all my Western and Civil War novels, as well as links to information on the Old West, the Civil War Afloat, fiction writing, etc. Look for the "Duel at Hampton Roads" icon at the end of the video. jimjanke.com
I also have a direct link at the end of this video to my video on Fort Pulaski itself and its capture in the Civil War: • Fort Pulaski, GA, and ...
But I have lots of videos in various categories on my TH-cam channel: / stagecoacher
Jim
Some explanation for people who say the crew are rather slow: this is a heavy siege cannon that would only be used from some distance to bombard a stationary target like a city. It would be well entrenched and protected by trenches filled with infantry on its flanks and in front of it. If enemy would try to charge these cannon, the enemy would be prevented from reaching the gun crews by other, smaller cannon like Napoleons which could fire cannister shot to decimate enemy infantry.
Bit the enemy had mortars,so I would be in a hurry even in a trench
If an enemy was in a position to charge this cannon, I think they've got bigger problems too worry about than rate of fire!
There is a lot more between this emplaced cannon and the enemy. The earthworks in front of them, sloped and covered with Abatis, a deep wide ditch that the attacking enemy would have a terrible time crossing, a large long open field cleared of trees and buildings. And, since these soldiers are probably part of a siege like Vicksburg, all of the siege earthworks, approaches, parallels, rifle galleries, advanced artillery positions, troops firing ceaselessly at the enemy defenses to keep their heads down so those siege trenches and earthworks can continue to be dug and these heavy cannon can do their work. Fast doesn't count for much. Accuracy counts. All the rest of this makes that possible.
Consider: theyre not in an actual war and have no reason to hurry
That and they are old as dirt.
Lets see some 20 year old marines or soldiers rapid fire that bad boy
The 30-pound Parrot was essentially a siege weapon, used for reducing enemy fortifications. If the crew was expecting return fire, they would fall back about ten yards after the loading procedure and lay flat on the ground, only the gunner and gun-captain would remain standing and fire the weapon. The gun was usually sited on fixed points, so running the gun back to it's initial position was the only adjustment necessary to continue firing. The piece had a distressing tendency to suffer from tube failures that could mow down the crew in the explosion, again the lying down was a safety measure. The combat load of powder in 1861-65 was much larger than current explosive technology, which also stressed the gun tube, especially after continuous firings.
My understanding is that the parrot gun had a limited service life. The 30 pounder was good for only about 150 firings. That's it! The crews at the time maintained strict records for each gun. Of course, if you only do partial loads for spectator events I suppose that service life could be extended considerably. By the way, is this gun original, or of modern manufacture?
@@ersikillian It was replaced in 1862 mainly by wrought-iron alternatives, being stronger, like the 4.5" Siege Ordinance rifle. Also, I don't get why you think a random guy on TH-cam would know if its an original or reproduction.
Thanks David, that was informative.
@@ersikillian if memory serves, this reproduction piece was manufactured by Steen Cannon and Ordnance of Ashland KY.
Thanks for your knowledge, I'm glad you were able to remember so much from your service in the Civil War.
Went to a civil war re-enactment once. The artillery puts out so much smoke that added to musket smoke very soon obscures a battlefield in drifting smoke. Visibility is so obscured that it is impossible to see what units are doing. Then, I learned why bugles were so important. High and clear, through the smoke all across the field you could hear commands bugled. I realized immediately why the various bugle calls were so important.
Or. Simply read books. I learned the importance of the bugle in combat in a few seconds, by reading an encyclopedia article, when I was a child.
@Robin Robyn oooo good for you if you look down the barrel of a loaded gun you'll find your suprise just pull the trigger to receive it 😉
@@camalam_ You're an ignorant af pos 😉
Art of war.
The spoken word does not travel on the battlefield hence the institution of gongs and drums and banners.
Like whisstling at each other in the kitchen .
Dude ain't said shit but I know what he needs.
Also, the smoke rendered accuracy of rifled small arms down to that of smoothbores. Napoleonic era linear tactics is the only way to hit anything.
Having a projectile in the barrel makes the report *much* sharper and louder. Without a projectile there is not nearly the pressure buildup that suddenly gets released as the round clears the barrel.
And no projectile, no recoil.
@@stagecoacher Not exactly. Obviously if you have enough powder it’ll recoil back, but on a gun this size you’d need to jam that barre with powder if you want recoil with no projectile.
@@xxnvytechxx6417 no, there has to be something keeping the powder under pressure as it combusts for there to be an explosion and to cause recoil... recoil is just literally the same energy as the projectile leaving the barrel, but in the opposite direction.... "every action has an equal and opposite reaction" If you fill the cannon with powder but have nothing sealing it off our putting the combustion under pressure, the black powder will just burn and not explode
@@stagecoacher coil from 10#s ! could not imagine this gun recoil ! th-cam.com/video/ZXtswMYlBd0/w-d-xo.html
@@rezinatebassheadCorrect. You get a lot more kickback / recoil if there's a projectile. I have fired both blanks and live rounds with muzzle loaders, and to get the same recoil as a live round, you need about 2.5 times the powder.
My dad would call the reenactors using that level of powder (about 120 grains, as opposed to a regulation load of 50 grains) "mobile artillery."
Took one of my sons to the 150th at Gettysburg. During the re-enactments the crews were firing field pieces by battery. Impressive even with blank charges. But it was sustained fire and quickly got a sense of how quickly battlefields were obscured by smoke
I was at the 150th; 6th Michigan Vol Cavalry Co E
@@farpointgamingdirect probably have a picture of you and your unit. What was your guidon design? We pretty much hung out in the Union encampment side. Like walking back in time. Had a great long talk with the cook that had a tent set up back there.
I was there too 26th NC INF REGT.@@farpointgamingdirect
They used to call that smoke cover the "Fog of War" not much more that's chillier than that...
The Krakatoa volcano eruption in what is now known as Indonesia was described to sound like a cannon from Perth, Australia, about 3000 miles away. Imagine being 1 mile away from the volcano.
Interestingly, historical records from eyewitnesses who were near the eruption actually said that they did not hear anything. The sound frequency in the area near the eruption is simply too high, beyond the limits of human hearing
Fishermen in the neighbourhood were only eyewitnesses, not earwitnesses, cause they were all bleeding from their ears by the sonic boom i read.
If you were one mile away from Krakatoa when it blew you might well land in Perth.
Some people who were close, were bleeding from their ears and permanently lost their hearing.
@@robertwilliamson922 The BBC did a mini series on the eruption based on eye witness accounts. One group about 18 miles away lost their hearing for about 15 minutes, was very haunting in the context of the show. There was potential for people up to a hundred miles away to suffer permanent hearing damage
Were it a Full Charge and Projectile, that Cannon would had Jumped and rolled. Would love to see that.
Meanwhile, me, wanting to see the 20-inch Rodman or 300-pdr. Parrott firing real rounds:
Would have spoken instead of whispered as well.
I've seen that in person.
It's pretty interesting watching them load it, and fire it.
Ft. Pulaski is a good fort to visit. It's interesting how it was built.
Yes, a great place to visit. Here's my video of a visit. But there's no substitute for an in-person visit.
th-cam.com/video/ZS4lVcCtO1Y/w-d-xo.html
Hearing canon blasts especially in the distance is like one of the coolest sounds ever.
Alex Taylor
Unless you know they are pointed at you
Note the one-handed technique on the "rod." In case of an accidental discharge, you were then still battle-worthy using the one arm you still had remaining!
Sad but true.
Something that I was confused about when he was ramming was the fact that he didn’t really ram it. It was very soft, not even a pat at the end. You’d think with a siege gun you’d want to compact that down for accuracy right?
@@xxnvytechxx6417 He didn't load a ball, so it's just a paper puffing blank gun.
@@cs-rj8ru correct-but with a BIG puff and a loud bark.
I’ve been on that crew. Spent an entire summer volunteering at Pulaski. The most fun you can have dressed in wool during August!
My wife and I visited Ft Pulaski last summer.
Quite an impressive fort.
Can't imagine the ear sheering sounds soldiers of the Civil War had to experience cause there wasn't any hearing protection
WHAT? - civil war veteran
@@user-tj9vp8re4d lol
These guys ain't wearing any either. They really should be. WTF are they trying to prove. Lol
@@82mccord yeah but they aren't using the same amount as powder that soldiers in the civil war did
@@82mccord no where near as loud as they are with a bunch of powder
The actual report was much louder than it seems in the video. The microphone on my digital camera gagged on the blast.
@Geo Thomas It's called AGC, "automatic gain control". Look it up, Einstein.
At the NRA Whittington Center in New Mexico , I watched a 1,000 yard target match between competing Parrot Guns ,with the winner winning by hitting targets over and over again within a couple of inches of the losers. Amazing how accurate they were firing 11 pounds lead rounds.
Thank you for posting this timeless video.
It looks like they can take the fun out of anything.
If the Army was in charge of sex there would be no human on the planet.
Corte...curto....degrade....femenino
This has to be loaded very carefully.One mistake could mean disaster.
Jon Leiend lmao
My thoughts too when I was at alive drill.
I would like to compliment you on the video. I liked that you cut/dampened the wind noise. It shows the load and fire sequence very well.
I just bought a 30lbs 6 inch cannon ball at the pawn shop :). History piece for my room
Thanks Stagecoacher. I'm a history nut. I prefer southwestern history (AL, GA, FL, MS) circa 1540-1830 but I do it all in this time period. The various 'pound' designations come up often. It's a joy to actually SEE a 30 pounder in action! Thanks heaps!
Your fan in Alabam,
Norm
Glad you enjoyed the video! [I think you meant southeastern history. :-) ]
@@stagecoacher Ha! Back in the day( my study period) the region was known as the SW. (Being west of New England)/ Only after we moved across the Mississippi did the 'western' designation go with it.
@@OvGraphics Ok, good point. In the Civil War Wisconsin was considered a north-WESTERN state.
The comments are interesting, you cannot hear a real cannon report on TH-cam, it is not capable of doing that, and your speakers would be instantly destroyed by the actual sound if you could. Also, this is a demo of Civil War artillery. The cannoneer who rushed, even in battle, would have blown himself and his crew to bits within a few shots. They would use batteries of cannon, (dozens) in an actual battle. Pickett found himself facing hundreds of cannons from three different directions at Gettysburg. When they opened up on his column with the first volley, (The largest in the entire war), hundreds of men just liquified on the spot.
Check Vasa cannon project, they actually fire it and not this pathetic 3 grams of gunpowder
@@granola661 At cannon doesn't even roll back when it fires I think that's just a Flash powder they're using
There is a video of firing of a 10 pdr Parrot with live ammo and it sounds quite substantial and the cannon kicks back.
the friggin war would be over by the time these men had reloaded!!!!!!!!!
Hahaha
A month ago, I did a day trip out to Fort Jefferson on the Dry Tortugas, 100 kms west of Key West. The old derelict fort still has four ten-inch Parrot rifled cannon, weighing just over 13 tons each . When the fort was abandoned and stripped of everything that was useful the Parrots were left there simply because removing them was not worth the effort.
The ten-inch Parrots fired a 300-pound projectile 8 kilometres. However, according to something that I read about them, the type had a tendency to explode. The gun crews learned quickly to hide behind something solid and use a very long lanyard.
grew up in Savannah. Visited that fort too. very neat video.
Glad you enjoyed the video.
The powder charge looked very light. No projectile. No recoil, little noise.
While you guys were preparing to shoot, there was a high probability that the war would be over by then!))
30 pound and heavier cannons were mostly used on forts and 6 to 12 pounder were used on battlefield
What a beast of a weapon! Impressive by any standard.
This is why old wars last for many years
Sounded more like a rifle primer going off. Come on, load that up!
I'm a bit surprised that there isn't a dry swap as well. Although leaving the bore a bit wet would reduce the chance of accidental discharge,
JJ: After a single round has been fired, the bore will be so hot the water flashes to steam almost instantly. The swab serves two purposes first and most important: 1. Put out any hot embers which might ignite the next powder bag. 2. Clean the bore of powder fouling to allow the next round to be loaded easily.
A smile as fierce as a 30 Pounder!
Fort Pulaski , very interesting place, highly recommend you visit !
Yes, a great place to visit. Here's my video of a visit. But there's no substitute for an in-person visit.
th-cam.com/video/ZS4lVcCtO1Y/w-d-xo.html
Me: I bet that guy thinks he's so cool not covering his ears
Also Me: He's deaf.
Earplugs?
airpods
For those about to rock... We salute you!
I appreciate the demo in how to adjust the gun, but it ain't goin' nowhere boys, you got the wheels chocked
That feller on bottom right. He is a true young man!!!!! No flinching. No covering ears. Stood there like a man!!
You can always tell an old artilleryman, but he won't be able to hear it.
That's a variation on a Yorkshireman joke, isn't it? You know, you can tell a Yorkshireman, just not much.
WHAT?!?!? I DIDN'T HEAR YOU
I think Pickett would have had a chance against union troops loading their weapons at that pace
Truth be told, the Federal artillery had all the time in the world
I hope you morons realize that they do it that slow to clearly showcase all of the steps taken, so the audience gets whats going on.
Wasn’t it called grape mostly in the naval theater?
1. This is a drill not a speed test. 2. These rifled Parrot guns don't fire anti-personnel cannister/grapeshot.
That’s a siege cannon used against fortifications, not a field cannon used against personnel.
I missed Fort Pulaski when I went to Savannah. We ran out of time. It is on my agenda next time. We did visit Old Fort Jackson.
You will like Fort Pulaski. th-cam.com/video/ZS4lVcCtO1Y/w-d-xo.html
holy moly what a beautiful monster.
It was a drill to demonstrate the actions in loading and firing a canon not an action replay of a battle scene. I have been part of a gun crew with a smaller 12 lb cannon
It’s a demonstration to an audience of how to load and fire. No need to set any speed records
These boys are the synchronized swimmers of artillery
Awesome 👍
Doctors had to use similar tools to examine Kim Kardashian for hemorrhoids
Where is the kaboom. There was supposed to be an earth shattering kaboom.
The actual report was much louder than in the video. My digital camera gagged on a noise that loud.
Marvin the Martian?
lol Marvin the Martian and I know the very cartoon. That makes me very angry. ;-)
Lmao
The creature has stolen the Illudium PU-36 Explosive Space Modulator!
I need one of those.
My neighbors are pirates and I need a banger to board their ships.
Very nice work of cannons.
Can you imagine being the guy pushing the rod? I don’t care if you know it’s unloaded, that’s got to be a little unnerving
Thats why they ram the charge and projectile with their left arm....most people are right handed......
What's the approximate muzzle speed of the bullet?
Is it somehow possible to compare the devastating effect of this gun with any 20th century gun?
Edit: I'm just a huge history nerd, weapons included. :)
probably around 400-560 m/s depending on charge
Heavy artillery, to me, is the most fascinating of Civil War weaponry.
Of all wheeled guns used in the Civil War, the Parrott was the most precise and well-engineered. With a maximum range of up to 1,850 yards, whatever was within its lethal reach was certainly guaranteed to be dead or on fire!
Except for it's unfortunate tendency to blow up occasionally, like the Swamp Angel, an 8" Parrot rifle that shelled Charleston before blowing up on the 36th shot.
@@r.awilliams9815 Maybe that happened because of how furiously they were firing on the city they had no time to allow the weapon to cool before reloading. What you mentioned was likely caused by overheating and stress, I've seen similar occurrences with other large and heavy guns (automatic weaponry included), fired so much the barrels were glowing then afterwards would burst or wouldn't be operable at all!
Really wish theyd actually shoot something.
I want to see that big pup *recoil!*
And hear a proper blast!
"Stop Blowing Holes In My Ship" said Captain Jack Sparrow calmly
That canon would blow a ship into two ship's
@@1forest120 indeed
No recoil, no projectile , no fun ! 13 bravo
No 100lb shells, no fuses, no charge 8 red bag, no CHECK FIRE, fall to the rear of the gun!!, no fun!! 13 ECHO
Outstanding job.
That there is my great grandpas design it is
There was a 30-pounder in the rebel lines at Fredericksburg, tolling like a bell above the rest of the battle noise - so some memoir noted
"Fire 🔥 at will, commander."
Was just at Ft Pulaski this march. Those are actually the cannons used by the union army to retake Pulaski from the confederates.
It decimated like 10ft of brick from about 2 miles away
The 30 pounder Parrott rifles were generally siege weapons used against fortifications, not on the battlefield against troops.
Richard Lahan, so it wasn't a naval gun?
Joel Martin There was a 30 pounder Naval Parrott but it had a shorter barrel for use on naval warships. The one shown here is an Army Parrott.
however both sides used 20# Parrott rifles in the field. The main problem with the 30# was moving it - roads weren't great and this would mire in the mud badly.
Mainly, 10lb and 20lb Parrotts were field artillery. The 30lb gun was largely a siege piece. With a weight of 4200lbs, it was a beast. But it's 6700 yard range (max) was worth it.
Grant actually took some of these on the Vicksburg campaign.
Wete these things actually used in warfare? Or scaled down versions?
Were*
I believe these were full-size. But they may have been replicas. Firing really old iron cannons can be hazardous.
yes things just like this but this would have been used as a Siege Gun or for anti-Naval use such as in a fort protecting a city.
Most likely. The 30-pounder was still considered field artillery, but the most common size cannon for the field by far was the 12-pounder.
Just read the autobiography of W. T. Sherman. He talks about the 30 lb. Parrott Rifle a number of times and seems to have had some affection for it. There was at least one battery that traveled with his army and were on hand to shell Atlanta.
In a completely different part of the war, there were 30 lb Parrotts (along with 4.5 rifles and large smooth bores) on the hill across the river at the first Battle of Fredricksburg. They did fire on Confederate troops in the field on the advance. Two Confederate copies were effectively used against Union troops but both burst, one very close to Lee and Longstreet.
I actually got to fire one of the 32 pounders coast gun up the road from Pulaski at Ft Jackson on the Savannah river. This was back in the 1990's.
Nancy is the name of a cannon they used to fire off at Kennesaw Mt. Ga. Don't recall if it was US or CSA. Loud as a thunder clap! Can't imagine scores of them banging about and echoing off that granite mount. A true killing field. We matched around it after a spell and took Atlanta. Visible from the top 15 or so miles away. Freekin war!!!
2:16 “Fire!!!”
General Lee nearly got killed by one of these - when it exploded.
Wow that’s amazing
As an old US Army Red leg, I love seeing this stuff!
In the mean time Rebel forces delivered 6 rounds of cannon fire on their location.
How efficient. Only took them 2 minutes and 20 seconds to fire it. I could almost cook breakfast in that time.
After of one hours...
Awesome!!!!
Awesome
Is this actual Civil War footage because I just spent like 155 years waiting for them to load it.
:-)
I think it takes about that long to become declassified info. Then they can release it to the public. I wonder what version of the apple iPhone union troops used back then and was it compatible with telegraph?
And they didn't even roll in a cannon ball. Geesh.
I need one of these.
got an annoying neighbour?
Paul Standeven I sure as hell do
So cool
The piece never moved an inch. I was hoping for a full service load with projectile. Oh well, still better than a kick in the basket.
Argyle McGoogin its fake. Not an actual demonstration.
Parrotts were notorious during the American Civil War for bursting their cast iron barrels, with dangerous consequences. I'm sure they didn't want to risk that, so they used a smaller than normal charge for demonstration.
Well i was excited about this until i realized that just a powder charge was put in and no projectile. It took me 10 seconds, maybe less, to come to that conclusion. ho-hum.
Zechnar Williams yeah its fake
You need an actual range to fire a projectile. Fort Pulaski is located in the middle of a navigable waterway. They could have done a full charge though
Back then they exploded under charge, by now they should do that even better. The crew was unlike many crews, correctly positioned for firing under charge
awesome 👌
"What do you mean we don't have any shells? I thought YOU were supposed to bring them!"
This is not "firing" the weapon. It's nothing but a quarter load with no projectile.
I have also gone on elephanta. There I saw 2 cannons on the hill but I did not understand that who built it, that cannons are very big
From that era pounder gun to today's era pounder gun . Technology. Technological advancements
With these big guns, they are so loud you more feel them than hear them. They shake you up inside. I am sure being on the end being shelled was just awful. (Even if you got missed)
Probably so. Modern shells just smack you. You'll feel your ears and sinuses shattered even if they are or are not.
1:39 : oh this cannot end well
Cool place to visit !!
Does anyone know what the choreographed movements with the poles pressed against the wheels was all about?
They were pretending to point the gun.
If they had 500 troops charging towards them, me thinks their time would improve 👀
Probably wrong era but it doesn't remind me of " we filled his head with cannon balls and powdered his behind. And when we got the shot off the Gator lost his mind"
30-pounder is not a field gun, it is meant to indirect fire, siege or fort defense, usually operates under cover, i think that is better to hold a constat rof. and veterans dont have hurry! xD
@@Prozac362 still love that song
That was a slow ass gun drill. I dont know if its the differemce between naval gun crews or whatever but 90 seconds is supposed ti be navel standerd
Safety is more important now a days as there is no war going on and they dont need to worry about loading as fast as possible, If they did try to load as fast as possible, good chance they might mess something up which could lead to something going horribly wrong.
@@PilotTed its better that they get it right then doing it fast. Either way, if these guys were in a real war, no amount of drilling will change the fact that they are like 40 years older than what the soldiers would be at the time.
How far this proyectile will go?
If that takes place at Fort Pulaski those guys should be wearing GRAY.
But the fort was captured by the Union: th-cam.com/video/ZS4lVcCtO1Y/w-d-xo.html
Something tells me that the crews were a lot faster during battle....
Nah your outta your gourd.
Something tells me x2.5 a more realistic speed for a fast charging army
Same here
@Bad Cattitude that's why Usa lose in Iraq and in Afghanistan.
@Bad Cattitude That was just infantry. No crew loaded cannons over and over.
I know they're just reenactors, but good grief, could you get any slower? Ain't nobody got time for that.
Brett Andreas dont worry. they would be far quicker if you were throwing shells at them or were having charging infantry running at them! ;)
My Bronchitis!!
2:21 for 1 shot...LMFAO!!!
Cavalrywould have done rode their asses down.
It is because they are reenactors, they're going slow for safety's sake. In the midst of battle, many guns blew up because of careless mistakes.
Also, did you notice they rammed with one arm each? That was so in case there was a premature explosion, they'd only lose one arm each.
A. Park service requires that drill at that speed.
B. If they fuck up they get fucked up, so no incentive to speed it up for your entertainment.
C. They are not themselves under fire, so no requirement to get the first shot out.
D. That's a big fucking gun. Shit's heavy yo.
Now...how did they do it while being shot at?
Imagine this ponder gun firing continuously 10000 rounds without a stoppage
It would have been even much louder if it was actually firing a shot
2:18 smh
that was essentially a blank. Powder only, (can't tell if it was a reduced load) and no projectile. If it was a live round she woulda jumped. That was the whole sticks thing. They were faking rolling it back up to position after it jumped back from a previous shot. Still fun to watch tho. Thanks for sharing.
That was a sexy sound!
Ahhhh!
Where’s the cannon ball?
Whats the fun in that?
I wanted to see it demolish something. What a tees
......and it was at the 1:30 mark the entire squad were cut down by cavalry.
Aaaannnd Grant makes the mistake of thinking these were deployed alone on the field with no supporting troops.
Also clear field of fire. Say a mile or more of open ground, how long for your cavalry to cover that ground?
Yes. The rifle would have been placed behind a dug-in embrasure, not on an open lawn. Therefore you see the men using handspikes to pantomime the movement into the battery opening after load. There would be flank howitzers covering it left and right and infantry platoons on either side of the redoubt or standing battery.
As shown in the display park, a simple section of infantry at 500 yds could shut down the gun with one volley, no need for the John Wayne horse charge to even get close. These NPS shows are just slow technical demonstrations of the equipment, with requirements of five minutes between rounds. A good crew in battle could fire a Parrott twice a minute. A 12 lb Napoleon about every 15 seconds.
Stand down all in the Peanut gallery. Return to your video game.
Naked
LOL