Author Topic: Question for cannoneers..from a non-cannoneer..  (Read 656 times)

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Offline ironglow

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Question for cannoneers..from a non-cannoneer..
« on: July 06, 2012, 12:28:31 PM »
  Living not far from it, I revisited Old Fort Niagara for the first time in perhaps 15 years.  I noticed a couple cannons that gave pause for thought..and questions..
 
  1) First a field piece with about 4' wheels,  the wheels were under severe negative camber, perhaps 3" narrower at the top than at the bottom... is this for cornering at high speed perhaps ?
 
 2)  See photo below..I have seen the same at Valley forge..deeply dished wheels..why ?  On this gun, there was about 3/8 inch clearance between the trunion and the overstrap..bearing or leather missing..or not a match ?
 
   Behind , see "French Castle (1726) and to the left, the"bakehouse (1755)
If you don't want the truth, don't ask me.  If you want something sugar coated...go eat a donut !  (anon)

Offline GGaskill

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Re: Question for cannoneers..from a non-cannoneer..
« Reply #1 on: July 06, 2012, 12:34:56 PM »
My guess is that they have it assembled with the axle upside down.  The wheels should be mounted such that the spokes are vertical when at the bottom of the wheel.  This is so they are not continuously bending while rotating.
GG
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Offline Leatherneck

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Re: Question for cannoneers..from a non-cannoneer..
« Reply #2 on: July 06, 2012, 12:58:06 PM »
Ah finally someone posts something pre Civil War.
The carriage is the Gribeauval design split trail model. In 1809 the US adopted the French system but still mounted their own calibers of barrels. The most common caliber during the War of 1812 was 6lber and I cant make a good estimation of that barrel itself from the angle the picture was taken.
The reason you saw something similar at Valley Forge is because the split trail carriage was at its height during the 1770s. A number of Gribeauval's first guns came over at Yorktown in 1781 or were shipped to the Cont. Army earlier in the war.
 
This is what it's supposed to look like:

This is a 6lber from New Orleans I believe. The lack of dolphin handles on your pic, leads me to believe the barrel came from another time period.
 
Wheels not matching was a logistical problem during the War of 1812 and the Napoleonic wars as a whole. There is tough an interesting anecdote about US artillery of the 1814 period that came from the British side on the Niagara frontier. They were under such accurate and organized fire that they told the Americans: "We mistook you for the French" (The French being the world reknown experts in this field at the time)
 

Offline ironglow

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Re: Question for cannoneers..from a non-cannoneer..
« Reply #3 on: July 06, 2012, 01:00:05 PM »
  Thanks guys..that gives me some answers..
If you don't want the truth, don't ask me.  If you want something sugar coated...go eat a donut !  (anon)