. The Civil War . one in thehistory of American artillery: it was the only Americanbreech-loading rifled cannon purchased by the War Depart-ment during the Civil War. Unfortunately, the Ellsworth Gun was not as epoch-making in American military history as it was in the histroyof American technology. Fewer than fifty of the cannons wereproduced, and despite their association with some of the warsmore colorful commanders, Elmer Ellsworth, Benjamin , and John C. Preinont, they proved to be rather ill-starred in combat. A number were captured by the Con-federates in the Shenandoah Valley c
. The Civil War . one in thehistory of American artillery: it was the only Americanbreech-loading rifled cannon purchased by the War Depart-ment during the Civil War. Unfortunately, the Ellsworth Gun was not as epoch-making in American military history as it was in the histroyof American technology. Fewer than fifty of the cannons wereproduced, and despite their association with some of the warsmore colorful commanders, Elmer Ellsworth, Benjamin , and John C. Preinont, they proved to be rather ill-starred in combat. A number were captured by the Con-federates in the Shenandoah Valley campaign of 1862against General Premont, and others found their way to out-of-the-way and inglorious theaters of combat. As ProfessorBruce puts it, By 1863 all the Ellsworth guns had vanishedinto limbo or Dixie. Until recently, none has been seen, but acandidate for being one of the long-lost little cannons hascome to the attention of Lincoln Lore, and we are happy tohave the exclusive right of reporting this Courtesy G. L. Dehcatnp FIGURE 1. This is a photograph of the recently discovered barrel of a small cannon. Taken just two months shows a small square hole near the breech in the lower left-hand corner of the picture. Two metal wedges and atray to hold them have been removed to expose the holes. FIGURES 2 and 3 on page 2 show the breech before thewedges and other attachments were removed. Note the number 5 which appears on the trunnion, the metalsleeve around the middle of the barrel from which the cylindrical rods which rested on the carriage protrude. LINCOLN LORE
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1860, booksubjectweapons, bookyear1861
