Photo of a Rodman

[Terry C.]

When I was going through some old photos on my computer today, I found some that I had forgotten.

This photo was taken in 2001 at Fort Clinch in Fernandina, Florida.

It's a poorly preserved but original Rodman gun. I don't know when or where it was moved but it wasn't there the last time I went.



There are several Rodmans on the upper deck, but they're all fakes on repro carriages.

[Tropico]

10"  128 lb Projo's ? Boom-Sha-Ka-La-Ka 

[seacoastartillery]

     This original 10" Rodman Gun, Model 1861, in Terry C.'s photo was inside Fort Clinch on the parade ground in December of 2005 when Mike and I visited some forts in Florida.  The guide, in a period, Union, uniform, told us that they received that cannon from Fort Taylor in Key West, Florida years ago.  Someone at Fort Clinch was smart enough to have six excellent replicas of this gun cast and have excellent cast iron carriages made as well.  These six guns are mounted in pairs en barbette on Iron, Seacoast, Front-Pintle, Barbette, Carriages and all face North, North-East, or North-West which covers the entrance to Cumberland Sound where the Saint Mary's River meets the Atlantic Ocean.  Fort Clinch is a worthwhile visit for several reasons.  It never saw any battles, so it is in very good condition and it has several original Civil War cannon including an ordinance rifle.  Also, it shares a very unique construction feature with only one other fort in the United States.  Fort Clinch has a Carnot Wall just like Fort Gaines does on Dauphin Island guarding Mobile Bay in Alabama across from Fort Morgan.  So what!  What is a Carnot Wall? 

     From the photos below, you can see that this unique wall, located in the ditch, protects the earthen, scarp, or main outer wall of the fort from direct artillery fire and also provides for covered musketry positions through an extensive system of loop holes.  Directly behind it is the Chemin-de-Ronde or continuous path-way all around the fort, even through the thick earthen traverse which contains the tunnel,  pictured below, to one of the five bastions from the parade ground.  This would aid essential communication during a battle and would allow reinforcements to be moved quickly wherever needed.  With all these advantages, why were only 2 such forts built in the United states?  In a word, FIREPOWER, or actually a LACK OF FIREPOWER!!  You see, this design prevented the use of the forts most powerful guns, the 10" Rodmans during an infantry or marine assault.  The backs of your defenders were only twenty-five feet in front of the seacoast gun muzzles.  If you used the big guns, you would maim or kill your infantrymen with the muzzle-blast alone.  Only the flank howitzers in the bastions and a single center-pintle gun on top of each bastion could be used to stop an enemy's Coup-de-Main, or quick frontal assault.

 
Regards,

Tracy and Mike

[Terry C.]

This fort has something else that I don't think is very common to CW fortifications...

.. a drawbridge.


I'm lucky enough to have seen this drawbridge in operation, way back when its demonstration was a daily event.

The drawbridge is totally unlike anything from the stereotypical fairy tale, medieval castle. It doesn't actually 'raise', it pivots much like a cannon barrel on its trunnions.

The part that goes 'up' is only half of the span. It is just long enough to completely close off the entrance. The other part of the bridge is inside the fort, it drops into a pit as the bridge tilts.

The preponderance is such that the bridge will quickly close when released (see below), but not so much that the bridge will slam hard.

To be rotated back into the 'open' position, the rear of the bridge must be hoisted out of its pit. This is a two-man operation.

A chain hoist is mounted against one wall, with a shaft overhead to the other side. There is a lift chain on both rear corners of the bridge. When fully raised, the bridge is locked into position by heavy iron supports underneath both rear corners. These are moved into/out of position with a special iron bar. To move the lock, the hoist operator has to pull hard on the operating chain. This can only be done by passing another iron bar through the chain links and hooking it onto a bracket on the wall, then using the bar as a lever to exert extra pressure on the chain. This actually lifts the bridge span very slightly off its pivot, putting the full weight on the locks when the pressure is released.

Closing the bridge requires releasing both locks, then disengaging the hoist, allowing the shaft that drives the lift chains to rotate freely. Two experienced operators can do this in less than a minute.

In this photo you can see one of the lift chains, and the position where the soldier would stand to lock or release the bridge supports. You can also see the handle that disengages the hoist. What you can't see, out of the frame on the right, is the smaller chain that operates the hoist, and the bracket where the iron bars would be stored.

[cannonmn]

Tracy and Mike, I'm going to add you to my list of people who might be able to help me with a Fort Clinch/Fernandina question.  Please go to an old posting at:

http://www.gboreloaded.com/forums/index.php/topic,126791.0.html

and look at reply no. 13, which has my question written out.

Maybe next time you go to Fernandina, you could find someone to ask.  Terry is going to try to help also.  Our problem is that the park people won't return phone calls, and/or just don't know much.  I want to know where the two Spanish mortars were emplaced when Fernandina was taken by Rear Admiral S.F. Dupont in 1862.

[Terry C.]

I haven't forgotten about this, cannonmn, I just haven't been back lately.

[cannonmn]

Thanks Terry, knew you would, I figger if'n we all gang up on 'em we have a better chance!

[seacoastartillery]

Cannonmn,

     Can't promise when we will get a chance to go back to Fort Clinch, but when we do, we will certainly press them for some good info. and on the way out we'll have to zip over to Waycross, GA and take a good look at that really well cared for 24 Pdr. Iron Siege Gun, Pattern 1845 at the Confederate Monument that Terry C. showed us recently.  Here is a quirky fact that may help you in your quest for knowledge about the Spanish cannon in the United States.  They have a really extensive collection at Fort Ticonderoga, NY.  Must be at least 30 there, maybe a few more.  FYI

Regards,

Tracy and Mike

[cannonmn]

Thanks gentlemen.  I was there about 20 years ago and took "film" pix of all the cannons they had then.  The sun was so bright I got a lot of glare no matter how I did it, and now that digital cameras are the way to go, I'll certainly have to go back and get about 5 shots of each cannon.  That's the great thing about digital, the film is almost free, and developing costs even less.