Today's KNOWLEDGE ShareHistorical Perspective: The Role of Artillery Fuses at Gettysburg
Today's KNOWLEDGE Share
Historical Perspective: The Role of Artillery Fuses at Gettysburg
Nineteenth-Century cannon shells were often hollow iron balls packed with gunpowder. When the gun fired, a fuse in the shell ignited. When its flame reached the gunpowder charge, the ball would usually explode, showering the vicinity with metal shards. These products were the engineered materials of their day, relying on predictable and consistent burn rates.
In theory, the gunners would cut the fuse to the appropriate length, based on the estimated range to their target and the mussel velocity of their gun. In practice, the procedures were governed by tables and rules of thumb derived from the experience of each gun crew with the supplies available to them.
During the American Civil War (1861-5), fuses for Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia were sourced from the Richmond Armory. However, in March of 1863, this facility suffered a devastating explosion and fire, curtailing production. For the subsequent invasion of Pennsylvania, fuses were hurriedly sent from factories across the South. Due to wartime shortages, the gun crews had no opportunity to train with the unfamiliar fuses.
Lee marched his troops north in June 1863, engaging the Union Army at Gettysburg where they fought for three bloody days. At the battle’s climax, Lee ordered a massive frontal assault against the Union positions on the ironically named Cemetery Ridge. The Confederates preceded their attack a thunderous two-hour artillery bombardment. The 172 massed cannons produced the largest barrage of that war. A veteran artillery officer reported, “For over two hours the cannonading on both sides was almost continuous and incessant, far exceeding any I have ever before witnessed.”
Engulfed in a cloud of dense smoke, the Confederate gunners could not adjust their aim points once the barrage began. They could not see that many of their shells were failing to burst over the enemy’s main line of defense. General Picket’s famous charge that followed was repulsed by Union forces which largely survived the bombardment. Half of his men could not return to the lines afterwards. This devastating failure made Picket’s Charge the scapegoat for Lee’s defeat and the South’s ultimate loss of the war.
In part, the battle turned on inconsistent performance of materials produced by multiple Confederate factories which did not coordinate their fitness-for-use test methods. Unique process conditions at each factory resulted in different burn rates. No central authority monitored and standardized production variables.
Sloppy conditions in one area of the Richmond Armory were allowed to impact other operations in the same facility. Literally, there was no firewall around a dangerous workshop that recycled gunpowder from damaged weapons and shells recovered from nearby battlefields.
In theory, the gunners would cut the fuse to the appropriate length, based on the estimated range to their target and the mussel velocity of their gun. In practice, the procedures were governed by tables and rules of thumb derived from the experience of each gun crew with the supplies available to them.
During the American Civil War (1861-5), fuses for Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia were sourced from the Richmond Armory. However, in March of 1863, this facility suffered a devastating explosion and fire, curtailing production. For the subsequent invasion of Pennsylvania, fuses were hurriedly sent from factories across the South. Due to wartime shortages, the gun crews had no opportunity to train with the unfamiliar fuses.
Lee marched his troops north in June 1863, engaging the Union Army at Gettysburg where they fought for three bloody days. At the battle’s climax, Lee ordered a massive frontal assault against the Union positions on the ironically named Cemetery Ridge. The Confederates preceded their attack a thunderous two-hour artillery bombardment. The 172 massed cannons produced the largest barrage of that war. A veteran artillery officer reported, “For over two hours the cannonading on both sides was almost continuous and incessant, far exceeding any I have ever before witnessed.”
Engulfed in a cloud of dense smoke, the Confederate gunners could not adjust their aim points once the barrage began. They could not see that many of their shells were failing to burst over the enemy’s main line of defense. General Picket’s famous charge that followed was repulsed by Union forces which largely survived the bombardment. Half of his men could not return to the lines afterwards. This devastating failure made Picket’s Charge the scapegoat for Lee’s defeat and the South’s ultimate loss of the war.
In part, the battle turned on inconsistent performance of materials produced by multiple Confederate factories which did not coordinate their fitness-for-use test methods. Unique process conditions at each factory resulted in different burn rates. No central authority monitored and standardized production variables.
Sloppy conditions in one area of the Richmond Armory were allowed to impact other operations in the same facility. Literally, there was no firewall around a dangerous workshop that recycled gunpowder from damaged weapons and shells recovered from nearby battlefields.
source : Tim Oberle
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