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An English Combatant, Lieutenant of Artillery of the Field Staff., Battlefields of the South from Bull Run to Fredericksburgh; with sketches of Confederate commanders, and gossip of the camps., Chapter 32: (search)
er and ramrod are totally behind the age, and should be discouraged and disused. All that is required of a good gun can be realized by breech-loading, and, from experience, I can do more with such a weapon than any other. It occupies less room in working, and saves the men from unnecessary exposure and loss. In England, I know, the invention of Armstrong is patronized; they may have potent reasons for the preference, but our men prefer Whitworth's weapon. This was written long before Whitworth was patronized by the English Government. I agree with you entirely, Robins, said the Major, in regard to the ramrod; I think it should be abolished. Half the men you see walking about town with arms in slings have been hit while loading, for the enemy fire high, and had we breechloading muskets in our battles, few would have been struck at all. There are other important reasons besides this for objecting to the ramrod. In a rifle, accuracy entirely depends upon the cartridge properl
Robert Underwood Johnson, Clarence Clough Buell, Battles and Leaders of the Civil War: The Opening Battles. Volume 1., Inside Sumter: in 1861. (search)
s expected that the walls of Fort Sumter would be able to withstand the guns which we knew the enemy possessed, but we did not anticipate importations from abroad. During the bombardment a Whitworth gun of small caliber, just received from England, was mounted in one of the Morris Island batteries, and in a few rounds demonstrated its ability to breach the work. Fortunately its supply of ammunition was limited, and the fire stopped short of an actual breach. But a few hours more of that Whitworth 12-pounder would have knocked a hole in our defenses. A breach was not dreaded by the garrison, for, weak as it was, it could have given a good account of itself defending a breach. The greatest danger was a simultaneous attack on all sides. Sixty-four men could not be made very effective at a dozen different points. The possibility of the enemy, under cover of darkness, getting a foothold in force on the narrow bit of rip-rapping between tide-water and the foundation of the scarp
The Annals of the Civil War Written by Leading Participants North and South (ed. Alexander Kelly McClure), The siege of Morris Island. (search)
ork on the night of the 25th of July, and by the 16th of August the batteries were completed. They were eight in number — the nearest one being thirty-four hundred yards from Sumter, and the farthest forty-two hundred and thirty-five yards. Seven of these batteries bore the distinctive names of Brown, Rosecrans, Meade, Hayes, Reno, Stevens, and Strong, mounting the following guns, viz.: one three-hundred-pounder, six two-hundred-pounders, nine one-hundred-pounders, two eighty-four-pounder Whitworth, two thirty and four twenty-pounders; all Parrotts except two guns, and the whole of them rifled. Never before had such a weight of metal been directed against any fortress in one attack since the art of war began. Those who have not engaged in such operations can have only a faint idea of the labor and fatigue attending the construction of the batteries and mounting the guns. The three-hundred-pounder gave great trouble before it was got into position. It was transported more than a m
The Annals of the Civil War Written by Leading Participants North and South (ed. Alexander Kelly McClure), A campaign with sharpshooters. (search)
became proficient in their drill and excellent shots, but from frequent practice could correctly measure with a glance the distance intervening between themselves and the objects at which they aimed. The drill was conducted by signals on the bugle, as the line when deployed was too extended to be reached by the voice, or, when silence was requisite, by the wave of the sword of the officer in command. The sharpshooters were armed with the improved Enfield rifle; the scouts with rifles of Whitworth make, with telescopic sights. In order to preserve the elan of the corps, and to make the service sought after, it was ordered that this body should be exempt from all regimental or camp duty, and from all picket duty except in the face of the enemy. They were also assigned to the right of the column — the front in advance, the rear in retreat. This freedom from the irksome and distasteful duties of the camp, which were always especially detested by the average Confederate soldier-unacc
Jubal Anderson Early, Ruth Hairston Early, Lieutenant General Jubal A. Early , C. S. A., Chapter 17: preparations about Fredericksburg. (search)
n ordered to the vicinity of that place, to watch some gun-boats there and prevent a crossing. Port Royal is some eighteen or twenty miles below Fredericksburg on the Rappahannock. I first took position some six or eight miles from Port Royal on the road from Guiney's depot, but subsequently moved to the vicinity of Buckner's Neck on the Rappahannock a few miles above Port Royal, for the purpose of watching the river and acting in concert with General Hill. The latter, by the use of one Whitworth gun and some other artillery, had driven the enemy's gunboats from Port Royal, and in revenge they fired into the houses in the little village of Port Royal and some others below as they passed down the river. While I was watching the river at Buckner's Neck, which is in a bend of the river, and commanded by high ground on the opposite side, so as to afford a good position for forcing a passage, the enemy hauled some timbers to a place called the Hop Yard on the northern bank, as if fo
Jubal Anderson Early, Ruth Hairston Early, Lieutenant General Jubal A. Early , C. S. A., Chapter 19: operations in winter and Spring, 1862-63. (search)
inian, John Taylor of Caroline, and with the defences on the river extending to Camden, the residence of Mr. Pratt, some distance below Port Royal, passing in rear of that town, which was now nearly abandoned on account of the depredations of the enemy's gunboats and the fear of their repetition. New roads were constructed in rear of the line of defence out of reach of artillery from the opposite bank, for the purpose of facilitating communication between the different positions, and two Whitworth guns under Captain W. W. Hardwick were placed on a high hill in rear of Port Royal, for the purpose of preventing the gunboats which were below from ascending the river; and subsequently torpedoes were placed in the bed of the river some two or three miles below Port Royal under the superintendence of some one sent from headquarters. The enemy established a line of cavalry pickets on the opposite bank of the river as far down as ours reached, and the two were in sight of each other. T
Jubal Anderson Early, Ruth Hairston Early, Lieutenant General Jubal A. Early , C. S. A., Chapter 20: battle of Chancellorsville. (search)
rder to occupy the whole of the line my brigades had to be extended out, as the division was not strong enough to man it fully. During the day the enemy made no attempt to advance against us in force with his infantry, and his skirmishers were effectually kept from the River road by mine, and on the right Rodes' skirmishers, which extended from the right of mine around to the river above the Massaponix, prevented any movement in that direction. There was some artillery firing, and one Whitworth gun from across the Massaponix played with very considerable effect on the bottoms on the enemy's left. Large bodies of the infantry on the opposite slopes occasionally moved down towards the river, where they were concealed from our view by the bank on the south side, which is the highest. I retained my position on the front line during the night, which passed quietly. The next day there was very little change in the appearances in front. The enemy had made strong tetes du pont co
Jubal Anderson Early, Ruth Hairston Early, Lieutenant General Jubal A. Early , C. S. A., Index. (search)
rginia, 75 Wharton, General G. C., 188, 253, 375, 399, 414-15, 423-27, 429-30, 434, 441-443, 445-47, 449, 452, 457-58, 460, 462-64 Wheat's Battalion, 3, 31 Wheeling, 368 White, Captain, Elijah, 134, 255-58, 261, 263-64, 280 White, General (U. S. A.), 136, 137 White House, 361, 465 White Oak Swamp, 77 White Plains, 54, 114 White Post, 167, 397, 406, 411, 414 White's Ford, 43, 134, 137 Whiting, GeneralW. H., 74-76, 78-79, 86, 88, 105 Whittle, Colonel, 67, 72 Whitworth, 198 Wickham, General W. C., 416, 424- 425-26, 429, 433-34-35, 441, 454, 457 Wilcox, General, 58, 60-61, 208-09, 212, 218, 352, 354, 355, 358 Wilderness, 346, 350-51, 359, 363 Wilderness Tavern, 318 Williams, Colonel, 5, 8 Williams, General (U. S. A.), 148 Williamsburg, 65-68, 70, 71, 73 Williamsport, 135, 162, 281-83, 369, 383, 400, 402-03, 409 Willis' Church, 79 Willis, Colonel, Ed., 362 Willis, Lieutenant, Murat, 28 Wilson's Division (U. S. A.), 408-09,
Fitzhugh Lee, General Lee, Chapter 11: Chancellorsville. (search)
justice. The artillery arm consisted of fifteen battalions of four batteries each, besides the batteries of horse artillery, and to each infantry corps was assigned its own battalions of artillery, commanded by its own chief, while the reserve artillery of the whole army was in charge of General Pendleton, Lee's chief of artillery. This arm of the service was well commanded, and was rapidly asserting its claim to the front rank of the artillery armament of an army. Parrott, Napoleon, Whitworth, and Armstrong guns, acquired by capture and foreign purchase, were replacing the 6-and 12-pound howitzers. Longstreet's two absent divisions had returned under their distinguished commander. The cavalry had again been brought together, and was more numerous and effective than ever. At the end of May, Lee commanded a splendid army, numbering present for duty, by the returns of May 31, 1863, 54,356 infantry, 9,536 cavalry, and 4,460 artillery, or a total of 68,352, with over two hundred
Lt.-Colonel Arthur J. Fremantle, Three Months in the Southern States, June, 1863. (search)
e seemed a quiet, unassuming man, and was spoken of by General Ripley as an excellent officer. He told me he expected to be able to open fire in a day or two upon the Yankees in Folly Island and Little Folly; and he expressed a hope that a few shell might drive them out from Little Folly, which is only distant 600 yards from his guns. The enemy's large batteries are on Folly Island, 3400 yards off, but within range of Captain Mitchell's rifled artillery, one of which was a twelve-pounder Whitworth. A blockade-runner, named the Ruby, deceived by some lights on Folly Island, ran ashore at one o'clock this morning in the narrow inlet between Morris Island and Little Folly. The Yankees immediately opened fire on her, and her crew, despairing of getting her off, set her on fire — a foolish measure, as she was right under Captain Mitchell's guns-and whenever a group of Yankees approached the wreck, a shell was placed in their midst, which effectually checked their curiosity. The Rub
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