Author Topic: How to turn a Union Dahlgren into a Confederate cannon  (Read 1157 times)

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Offline lance

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How to turn a Union Dahlgren into a Confederate cannon
« on: April 10, 2010, 03:54:53 PM »
 How to turn a Union Dahlgren into a Confederate cannon, you could use magic or a little bit of imagination.
 I could imagine my Dahlgren is one of the 11" cannons aboard the USS Keokuk, commanded by A.C. Rind. The Keokuk sunk in Charleston harbor after a battle on April 7 1863, the Federals washed their hands of the ship and had a newspaper correspondent inform the readers: "At all events she is useless to the Rebels".       C.S. Navy officers, after a nighttime tour, pronounced recovery of the guns  "positively Impossible". Confederate army officers spurred on by General Beauregard, who excelled in unorthodox operations and had a keen eye for heavy caliber ordnance, hired a man who could do the job. The man they hired was Adolphus W. LaCoste who was known as a Jack-of-all-trades, with a reputation for accomplishing what others deemed impossible. Working only at night, and under the guns of the Union blockading fleet, LaCoste and his men recovered the two Dahlgrens, which weighed almost 16,000 lbs. each, the operation took two and a half weeks. The feat even drew praise from former enemies, for in 1893 Rhind who commanded the Keokuk, and who was now an admiral, told a New York  Times reporter that he considered the accomplishment: "one of the most daring of the war, and in point of skill had probably no counterpart"
But, since it is Confederate History Month here in Virginia, i could imagine my Dahlgren is one of the 9" cannons aboard the C.S.S. Virginia. Which on March 8 1862, sortied out of Norfolk, and being impervious to Union shot, rammed and sank the USS Cumberland and then set the USS Congress on fire.
PALADIN had a gun.....I have guns, mortars, and cannons!

Offline lance

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Re: How to turn a Union Dahlgren into a Confederate cannon
« Reply #1 on: April 10, 2010, 03:57:58 PM »
Here's a pic of me loading "hot shot" into my Confederate cannon, notice the "orange glow":
PALADIN had a gun.....I have guns, mortars, and cannons!

Offline lance

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Re: How to turn a Union Dahlgren into a Confederate cannon
« Reply #2 on: April 10, 2010, 03:59:37 PM »
Here's my Dahlgren firing a shot in honor of Confederate History Month:
PALADIN had a gun.....I have guns, mortars, and cannons!

Offline seacoastartillery

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Re: How to turn a Union Dahlgren into a Confederate cannon
« Reply #3 on: April 10, 2010, 05:58:30 PM »
How to turn a Union Dahlgren into a Confederate cannon, you could use magic or a little bit of imagination.
I could imagine my Dahlgren is one of the 11" cannons aboard the USS Keokuk, commanded by A.C. Rind. The Keokuk sunk in Charleston harbor after a battle on April 7 1863, the Federals washed their hands of the ship and had a newspaper correspondent inform the readers: "At all events she is useless to the Rebels".       C.S. Navy officers, after a nighttime tour, pronounced recovery of the guns  "positively Impossible". Confederate army officers spurred on by General Beauregard, who excelled in unorthodox operations and had a keen eye for heavy caliber ordnance, hired a man who could do the job. The man they hired was Adolphus W. LaCoste who was known as a Jack-of-all-trades, with a reputation for accomplishing what others deemed impossible. Working only at night, and under the guns of the Union blockading fleet, LaCoste and his men recovered the two Dahlgrens, which weighed almost 16,000 lbs. each, the operation took two and a half weeks. The feat even drew praise from former enemies, for in 1893 Rhind who commanded the Keokuk, and who was now an admiral, told a New York  Times reporter that he considered the accomplishment: "one of the most daring of the war, and in point of skill had probably no counterpart"
But, since it is Confederate History Month here in Virginia, i could imagine my Dahlgren is one of the 9" cannons aboard the C.S.S. Virginia. Which on March 8 1862, sortied out of Norfolk, and being impervious to Union shot, rammed and sank the USS Cumberland and then set the USS Congress on fire.

    Lance,   We are glad you brought up the fact that the Confederacy's armorers selected the 9' Dahlgrens as some of the most effective guns to have on board their brand new ironclad, the CSS Virginia.  Those Dahlgrens and a couple Brooke rifles made it one of the most powerful ships afloat.  However, even though it's Confederate History Month, we still have to give some credit to the Keokuk's Commander who sailed his ship to point blank range, about 800 yards, from Fort Sumter in April of 1862.  He wanted to "see what her capabilities are". He discovered they weren't much!  His ship was struck more than 90 times, with many shot passing completely through the vessel.  After 20 minutes he steamed away from the fort and the Federal ship Keokuk limped back to her anchorage near the Morris Island Light House. She sank the next day with her turret tops just barely awash at low tide.

     Thank you, Lance, for the excellent decription of the Confederate cannon recovery story, one of our favorites.  We enjoyed your photos too; it's amazing what great cannon smoke pics you can get when the wind is calm.  Please see one of the two 11-Inch Dahlgren Guns below, that LaCost's workmen recovered in 1862 as we found it in 2004 at White Point Gardens at the tip of the Charleston, South Carolina peninsula, within a few yards of the wartime location of the Gigantic 12.75-Inch Blakely Seacoast Rifle which fired 600 Lb. bolts and 450 Lb. explosive shells.  

Mike and Tracy



Note the "shaved muzzle" on this gun.  This was done due to the minimal clearance of the Keokuk's gunports.  It didn't help that ship's survivability much.  A few extra inches of armor protecting the turrets would have been a great help.  They had only 4" of layered iron. The original Monitor, called the "Erickson Devil" in the south, had 8" in the turret and then 9" in subsequent wartime Monitors.


Smokin' my pipe on the mountings, sniffin' the mornin'-cool,
I walks in my old brown gaiters along o' my old brown mule,
With seventy gunners be'ind me, an' never a beggar forgets
It's only the pick of the Army that handles the dear little pets - 'Tss! 'Tss!

From the poem  Screw-Guns  by Rudyard Kipling

Offline lance

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Re: How to turn a Union Dahlgren into a Confederate cannon
« Reply #4 on: April 11, 2010, 03:44:26 PM »
Mike and Tracy, the wind wasn't all that calm when i took that picture, but at least i know where the shot went, i'll dig it out with a shovel and post a pic of the recovered shell.
PALADIN had a gun.....I have guns, mortars, and cannons!

Offline lance

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Re: How to turn a Union Dahlgren into a Confederate cannon
« Reply #5 on: April 12, 2010, 03:57:41 PM »
Well, i dug for the shot, should have put a stake at the location, horses walking around and moles digging the hill side up didn't help. Guess i'll have to fire a few more rounds.
PALADIN had a gun.....I have guns, mortars, and cannons!

Offline JeffG

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Re: How to turn a Union Dahlgren into a Confederate cannon
« Reply #6 on: April 13, 2010, 07:24:03 AM »
Very cool!  Thanks for the post!! I am a big fan of Dahlgrens! 
Young guys should hang out with old guys; old guys know stuff

Offline Cannoneer

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Re: How to turn a Union Dahlgren into a Confederate cannon
« Reply #7 on: April 13, 2010, 11:17:38 AM »
Lance,
I enjoyed your pics; is that an SBR Dahlgren?
RIP John. While on vacation July 4th 2013 in northern Wisconsin, he was ATVing with family and pulled ahead of everyone and took off at break-neck speed without a helmet. He lost control.....hit a tree....and the tree won.  He died instantly.

The one thing that you can almost always rely on research leading to, is more research.

Offline lance

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Re: How to turn a Union Dahlgren into a Confederate cannon
« Reply #8 on: April 13, 2010, 03:53:57 PM »
Very cool!  Thanks for the post!! I am a big fan of Dahlgrens!  

Thanks,i remember when who got that Dahlgren, still want to build a deck/shooting platform like yours too.
PALADIN had a gun.....I have guns, mortars, and cannons!

Offline lance

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Re: How to turn a Union Dahlgren into a Confederate cannon
« Reply #9 on: April 13, 2010, 03:58:31 PM »
Lance,
I enjoyed your pics; is that an SBR Dahlgren?
Thanks Boom J, yes the Dahlgren was made by SBR, they make a great product.
PALADIN had a gun.....I have guns, mortars, and cannons!