Rodman Smooth Bore Cannon Monument - Carrollton, IL
Posted by: 
YoSam.
N 39° 18.116 W 090° 24.507
15S E 723465 N 4353485
Union, Confederate, then Union again, this cannon got around.
Waymark Code: WM18H0Z
Location: Illinois, United States
Date Posted: 08/03/2023
Views: 0
County of display: Greene County
Location of display: Main St. & Fifth St., courthouse lawn, Carrollton
Display provided by: General William Passmore Carlin
Date erected: September 28, 1901
Text on Monument:
This Monument was erected by
General WILLIAM PASSMORE CARLIN
For Carrollton Post No. 442 G.A.R.
to the memory of the soldiers and sailors
of Green [sic] County, Illinois.
"Rodman gun refers to a series of American Civil War–era columbiads designed by Union artilleryman Thomas Jackson Rodman[1] (1815–1871). The guns were designed to fire both shot and shell. These heavy guns were intended to be mounted in seacoast fortifications. They were built in 8-inch, 10-inch, 13-inch, 15-inch, and 20-inch bore. Other than size, the guns were all nearly identical in design, with a curving soda bottle shape, large flat cascabels with ratchets or sockets for the elevating mechanism. Rodman guns were true guns that did not have a howitzer-like powder chamber, as did many earlier columbiads. Rodman guns differed from all previous artillery because they were hollow cast, a new technology that Rodman developed that resulted in cast iron guns that were much stronger than their predecessors.
"Rodman guns were all nearly identical in design, with a curving soda bottle shape, the only differences being the size of the gun. They were all smoothbore guns designed to fire spherical shot and shell, primarily against ships. The guns were elevated and depressed by means of a lever called the elevating bar. The point of this lever fits into ratchets on the earliest guns cast, or sockets on the later guns. The fulcrum, called the ratchet post, fit on the rear transom of the upper carriage. The ratchet post was cast iron and had several notches for adjusting the position of the elevating bar.
"Only one 13-inch Rodman gun appears to have been made, but it was placed in service. (Ripley 1984, p. 79). Two 20-inch Rodman guns were emplaced at Fort Hamilton, New York. A third shorter 20 inch gun was cast for the USS Puritan using the Rodman technology.
"The other, smaller Rodman guns were placed in seacoast fortifications around the United States. It took 8 men to load and fire a 10-inch Rodman gun, and 12 men for a 15-inch Rodman gun.
"Over 140 Rodman guns survive today and they may be seen at coastal fortifications around the country." ~ Wikipedia
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