FORT SILL, Okla. (March 12, 2015) -- A well-trained gun crew could fire about four rounds a minute with the Model 1841 6-pound field gun during the Civil War.
Between rounds, the artillerymen had to clean the barrel of black powder, and re-aim the one-ton bronze cannon because it didn't have a recoil system. It could fire piercing, shrapnel and shotgun-like rounds.
These were some of the facts presented by Army Field Artillery Museum Gun Detachment volunteers during their monthly outreach demonstration March 7, at the museum.
The group fired blanks from the cannon, spoke about their respective gun crew roles, and invited guests to touch the weapon and associated hardware as they answered questions that ranged from their authentic wool uniforms to what it was like living at Fort Sill in the late 1800s.
"This is living history. It's helping people experience it first hand," said Frank Siltman, Fires Center of Excellence Museums and Military History director, and a member of the gun detachment. "History is hands-on, it's exciting, it's not just reading a book."
The volunteers also encouraged the guests to visit the Field Artillery Museum, Air Defense Artillery Training Support and Army Technology Preservation Facility, as well as the Fort Sill National Historic Landmark and Museum. There is also an Artillery Officer Candidate School Museum in Robinson Hall here, Siltman said.
SHAPPELL SPEAKS SHRAPNEL
Volunteer Harry Shappell explained the different kinds of ammunition, and that 200 rounds of ammo were carried for each gun. It took 150 horses to transport the six weapons and ammo.
"You also have a battery wagon of spare parts with horseshoes, nails, leather and metal to make parts," said Shappell, a retired warrant officer.
The Model 1841 was an early Army artillery workhorse during the Mexican-American War and later in the Civil War, Siltman said. It was a very mobile gun.
"They (visitors) see what each member of the gun crew does, and all the steps required to load and fire a muzzle-loading cannon," the director said of the demonstration. "We also talk about how the batteries were organized."
Siltman said the volunteers, who all wore replica artillery uniforms, wanted the visitors to see what history was really like.
"It's sad that much of our history in this country is Hollywood history and it's not right," Siltman said. "Much of what you see in movies are costumes and not actually what uniforms looked like."
The demonstration gave the public an opportunity to appreciate the history of field artillery, and the military in general, said volunteer Jeff Nester, who has been a member of the detachment off-and-on since 1989, when he was a FA student officer here. The gun detachment also performs demonstrations with a World War II pack howitzer.
The gun detachment always welcomes new volunteers. Interested people should contact Siltman or Gordon Blaker, FA museum director.
Social Sharing