Yesterday I recieved an envelope in the mail from a fellow member who kindly sent me a copy of the "Selma Coehorn Mortar No. 10" article from "The Artilleryman" magazine, and I'd like to thank him again.
It is a very interesting read, and it was written by Lawrence R. Laboda who is also the author of a book titled: "From Selma to Appomattox: the history of the Jeff Davis Artillery," first published in 1994 by White Mane Publishing Company, Inc., P.O. Box 152, Shippensburg, PA 17257.
As Max has already stated, the author had discovered the Selma Naval Gun Foundry records in Washington D.C. at the National Archives, and from the evidence he found there, it is almost certain that this 24-pdr Coehorn No.10 discovered at Mobile Point, by the walls of Fort Morgan, was manufactured by the Selma Naval Gun Foundry in 1864. This isn't in the article, but it's interesting to note that the Selma Naval Gun Foundry was also variously called "Selma Cannon Foundry," "Naval Gun Foundry and Ordnance Works, Selma, Ala.," and sometimes simply the "Selma Foundry."
There is almost no question that No.10 was fired against Union forces during the siege of Mobile in March of 65, and after its capture by Federal forces it was transported to Fort Morgan where they buried it. What isn't know is whether it was Union soldiers that disabled the mortar by knocking its trunnions off, or if it was done by CSA troops before it fell into Federal hands.
I'm not going to retell the whole article here, but I will say that some day I'd sure like to have a reproduction of No.10.
