Appletons' cyclopædia of American biography . aval topicsto the Philadel-phia NationalGazette, signed Blue - was commissioned lieutenant in 1837. andin the same year his hitherto exceptionally finesight became so impaired by incessant labor asto threaten entire loss of vision, and an absoluterest was needed. During this period of enforcedinaction Lieut. Dahlgren resided on a farm. In1842 he resumed duty, and in 1843 went to theMediterranean in the frigate Cumberland. re-turning late in 1845 to the United States, thecruise having been shortened by the prospect of awar with Mexico. In
Appletons' cyclopædia of American biography . aval topicsto the Philadel-phia NationalGazette, signed Blue - was commissioned lieutenant in 1837. andin the same year his hitherto exceptionally finesight became so impaired by incessant labor asto threaten entire loss of vision, and an absoluterest was needed. During this period of enforcedinaction Lieut. Dahlgren resided on a farm. In1842 he resumed duty, and in 1843 went to theMediterranean in the frigate Cumberland. re-turning late in 1845 to the United States, thecruise having been shortened by the prospect of awar with Mexico. In January, 1847. Lieut. Dahl-gren was assigned to ordnance duty at Washing-ton, although he desired, and made an effort toobtain, active duty at sea. Then began thoselabors as an ordnance officer which for sixteenyears demanded the most extraordinary energy,and which finally made Dahlgren chief of ord-nance, and gave him the worlds recognition as aman of science and inventive genius. He saw al-most at once the defects in gunnery then 64 DAHLGREN DAHLGREN and soon offered the remedy in the stylo of can-non known by his came, which for so many yearsconstituted the naval armament of the United Stales. It was proposed by him in L850, and thegun according to his design was east in Mayof that year. These guns are of iron, east solid,and cooled from the exterior. They are distin-guished by great thickness at the breech, rapidlydiminishing from the trunnions to the muzzle, andwere the first practical application of results ob-tained by experimental determination of pressuresat different points along the bore. They are chieflysmooth-bores of nine- and eleven-inch calibre; butDahlgren also invented a rifled cannon, and intro-duced boat-howitzers with iron carriages, whichwere unsurpassed for combined lightness and ac-curacy. Under the sole direction of Lieut. Dahl-gren, the ordnance department at Washingtonacquired the most extensive additions, includingthe foundry for cannon,
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, bookidappletonscyc, bookyear1888