
Civil War Cannon - Bentonville Battlefield - Four Oaks, NC, USA
Posted by:
NCDaywalker
N 35° 18.502 W 078° 18.565
17S E 744625 N 3910561
At one of the stops on the auto auto-tour of the Bentonville Battlefield, one can visit a replica of type cannon used during the Civil War Battle fought on these grounds.
Waymark Code: WMXF8Q
Location: North Carolina, United States
Date Posted: 01/05/2018
Views: 1
The replica is set on the actual battleground where the battle was fought. Cannon crews set about their grisly task of bombarding the opposing forces.
"The United States Army adopted a new standardized 6-pounder field gun in 1841 as the aptly-designated Model 1841. The weapon's design was centered around an all-brass, 3.6-inch diameter smoothbore barrel (an upgrade from previous iron offerings) measuring approximately 60-inches long (swelled at the muzzle). While listing an overall range of 1,500 yards, the weapon's true lethality was felt at 1,000 yards and under depending on shot selected. The remainder of the design was conventional for the period, involving a mounting assembly atop a two-wheeled carriage with tow arm. A two-wheeled limber (creating the "carriage and limber" arrangement common to the period) was used to haul the ready-to-fire cannon shot. The limber typically provided 105 x 3.58-inch basic shot (6.1lbs, hence the "6-pounder" designation), 30 canister shots and 15 spherical case shots (fitting 48 cast iron balls) across three chests. The American Model 1841 ended up proving comparable in its battlefield effectiveness to its European rivals of the time. It was on full display during the Mexican-American War (1846-1848) which saw a United States Army victory." [1]
Part of the inscription on the information board reads:
"A point approximately 400 yards in front of you marks the center of a line of Union cannons positioned on the Morris Farm on March 19, 1865. These massed guns played a significant role in blunting the final Confederate attacks on the first day of fighting at Bentonville. Four batteries (of four guns each) were arrayed on both sides of a ravine, north of the Goldsboro Road. These sixteen guns held commanding angles of fire across the open fields to your right and behind you. An additional four-gun battery in position south of the road was joined by one gun of the 19th Indiana Battery. The 19th Indiana saw dramatic action earlier in the day at Cole’s plantation, where three of its guns were captured during the main Confederate attack. In the most intense artillery barrage of the three-day engagement at Bentonville, Union batteries on the Morris farm punished Confederate troops with spherical case shot and canister rounds at close range." [2]
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