Coehorn mortar history book

This illustration from david whites anatomy of the ship book on the 38gun. At the time of the civil war, three sizes of siege and seacoast mortars were common and considered standard. Mortars were used throughout the second world war by all armies and in all theaters. The coehorn was developed by the dutch military commander baron van manno coehoorn in 1692. Files are available under licenses specified on their description page. Americans were already familiar with the british 12pounder 41. The original was light enough to be moved by as few as two men although a fourman crew was more practical for rapid movement. By randomly changing the powder charge and slightly adjusting the coehorn mortar angle, i finally settled in at 350 yards with about a 15 second hang time for the mortar ball. If you are interested in military uniforms, weapons, accouterments, miniatures, books, battles, insignia, vehicles, trench art, relics, fortifications, etc.

Our carriages are exact reproductions of carriages used during the civil. Firing a coehorn mortar at springtown rod and gun club, september 24, 2016. The concept actually dated back to the 17th century, when dutch engineer baron menno van coehoorn introduced a series of light mortars for siege operations. Larger siege and seacoast mortars are sometimes incorrectly referred to as coehorns. American civil war books on 5 discs history battles union confederate civil war artillery in fair oaks, virginia vicinity.

The coehorn mortar was a very useful piece, for it was developed in the 16th century, and there were still a few in use in british colonial garrisons in the 1920s. The original period pieces had a larger bore with a reduced powder chamber. Captain congreve light infantry 3 pdr carriage, british 6 pound pdr, siege and garrison truck 3 pdr, english naval truck, us coehorn mortar bed model 1941, 12 pdr mountain howitzer, us field carriage model. All structured data from the file and property namespaces is available under the creative commons cc0 license. Van coehoorn demonstrated them in may 1701 to william iii and they were first used in action at the siege of kaiserworth in 1702. The american civil war was the bloodiest conflict in american history with military casualties totaling over 1. In the mid19th century, the small portable coehorn found ready use along with larger mortars during the american civil war. Metal carriage for british blakely, whitworth or u. This page was last edited on 10 january 2019, at 04.

As opposed to field artillery which had a low arc, mortars fired their rounds high in the sky so that they could more easily strike entrenched positions. Although a very simple weapon they could greatly enhance the firepower of infantry formations. Home field artillery history the american revolution building an artillery 1775 1783 birth pains. The stokes mortar was a simple muzzleloaded weapon, consisting of a smoothbore metal tube fixed to a base plate to absorb recoil with a lightweight bipod mount. Maximum ranges of the larger pieces, however, ran all the way from the average 1,600 yards of an 18pounder garrison gun to the well over 3mile range of a 12inch columbiad firing a 180pound shell at high elevation. The work submitted by captain roberts, and entitled hand book of artillery, embraces sections on the following subjects. Albert notes in his book that there was a brass one made for enlisted men, but no specimens have turned up as of date. Civil war artillery, battlefields and historical markers. Siege artillery in the campaigns against richmond books.

If you are a reenactor looking for something to make some big noise with, or just a collector of hard to find genuine civil war items, this may be just the thing for you. The coehorn was used by both union and confederate troops during the civil war, as well as several other wars. His mortars were first used at the siege of grave in 1674. At the siege of vicksburg, general us grant reported making coehorn mortars by taking logs of the toughest wood that could be found, boring them out for six or twelve. These weapons were portable in the same sense that a sewing machine with a handle is, which is to say that four men could move one a. The mortar was placed upon this car, top of mortar nine feet above track, and run down on the petersburg and city point railroad, to a point near our lines, where a curve in the track afforded facilities for changing the plane of fire by advancing the car or drawing it back. Heavy mortars are largecalibre mortars which fire a heavy shell on a high angle trajectory. Abbot asked in almost daily correspondence in july and august 1864 for replenishment of his supply of coehorn mortar shells.

The infantry, armed with its own comparatively longrange firearm, was usually able to keep artillery beyond caseshot range, and cannon had to stand off at such long distances that their primitive ammunition was relatively ineffective. Mortars were effective largely because of the high trajectory of their. Tredegar coehorn mortar the tredegar coehorn mortar is the smallest cannon we offer in the tredegar foundry collection. Cast just like the original using gray iron, we insert a steel sleeve with a subbore of 4. This is a working, firing model of the civil war mortar. The good baron, a dutchman by way of sweden is a little known military engineer of the 17th century. Mounting and moving the little coehorn mortar to the sound of the.

The 12 pounder model of 1841 was mounted on on a simple bed and served by a crew of four. The hangtime is the time delay from when the mortar is fired until the ball reaches the target. Manuals pre1898 weapons black powder 18th century artillery manual 18th century small arms manual 18th century coehorn mortar manual 18th century swivel gun manual 19th century artillery manual 19th century carbine manual 19th century percussion musket manual. Coehorn mortar bed, us 24 pdr, cs, 24 pdr, cs 12 pdr please specify price. New fortress construction in a flat or low terrain. Confederate coehorn mortar which was unique in that it could be carried notice the handles by 4 men which made it much more mobile than other siege weapons of the day. The weapon was named after a dutch engineer, baron van menno coehoorn with two os. The coehorn mortar models of 1838 and 1841, were used by both sides during the civil war. Coehorn mortar three 3 person drill in areas administered by the.

When a mortar bomb was dropped into the tube, an impact sensitive primer in the base of the bomb. Known as the dutch vauban he was renowned mainly for his methods of siegecraft and fortification. Confederate coehorn mortar which was unique in that it could be carried. As the war progressed, trench warefare became quite common, and mortars were found to. Dana, commanding garrison, onehalf company ninth unattached company massachusetts volunteer artillery1. The smaller coehorn mortar button was to be used as a cuff button. In eastern tennessee, a 16lbs coehorn mortar round was placed on exhibit at the abraham lincoln library and museum in harrogate, tennessee.

The coehorn mortar model 1838, which was used by both sides during the civil war, was named after the dutch inventor, baron van menno coehoorn 16411704. The coehorn mortar is a most valuable weapon in siege operations. It was a mortar weapon typical of the period but managed a long and healthy combat service life. By the end of the century, however, concerted military opinion in european countries such as great britain held that mortars were obsolete alongside the great advances in cannon technology.

The mortar had fallen out of general use in europe by the napoleonic era and interest in the weapon was not revived until the beginning of the 20th century mortars were heavily used by both sides during the american civil war. Civil war photos, fortification, forts, interesting history, american civil war, old west. Black powder cannon civil war coehorn mortar display. Offered for your consideration is a reproduction civil war coehorn mortar in what i believe is 23 scale, perhaps 12 scale. When fortifications became too strong to breach by direct fire, high angle plunging vertical fire was adopted. The coehorn mortar has always been popular here at hern iron works. The system relied on indirectlineofsight firing and proved effective in displacing dugin enemy troops though range was relatively. List of heavy mortars simple english wikipedia, the free. Search civil war official records fort davis, lieutenant d. Earlier i wrote about the origin and design of the coehorn mortar in. Us model 1838 24 pounder 8 coehorn mortar historical auctions. From earliest times the usefulness of the mortar as an arm of the artillery has been clearly recognized. A gun book detailing the guns record of programs, property information.

Because the coehorns small size its a popular subject for those who want to own their own artillery. All iron, except for the mounting brackets over the trunions and the steel bolts. The cohorn mortar was the smallest of the standard mortars and was named after its inventor the dutch military engineer baron menno van cohorn or coehorn, 16411704. Civil war weapons 18611865 the american civil war divided the united states clearly along a single defined line, pitting brother against brother and involving a myriad of weapon types. His first book on siege techniques appeared in 1682 and was followed by his most important and most widely translated work, nieuwe vestingbouw op een natte of lage horisont 1685. This new design created a revolution because the mortar was able to be more accurate from farther away. My artillery history revisionist moment of the week i guess. I have a coehorn mortar, actually used by union troops during the civil war. Aside from books about gunnery for the few who could read, there were.

This original 24 pound coehorn mortar had a bronze tube weighing 164 pounds and was mounted on a wooden mortar. Furthermore, the coehorn mortar was most needed for an army on the offensive. Stones river national battlefield living history program policy. The coehorn was of dutch design and credited to its inventor, dutch officer baron van coehoorn in the mid1670s. On the american civil war battlefield 18611865, napoleons artillery tactics were no longer practical. Under each of these heads, except the last, the work contains a number of questions and answers. It was designed to be worn inconjunction with the larger size artillery cannon patterns. These weapons have a short range, but are usually less complex than similar sized field artillery. Coehorn is the most widely used on the union side, the confederate army did cast and use iron 12 pdr. On land, a portable mortar named the coehorn after its inventor. Coehorn mortars the coehorn mortar models of 1838 and 1841, were used by both sides during the civil war. Reserve brought along a somewhat novel weapon 24pdr coehorn mortars.