Fire In The Hole #1
by Gary Keesler
Title
Fire In The Hole #1
Artist
Gary Keesler
Medium
Photograph - Digital Art Photography
Description
Union soldiers fire back at the Confederacy on the Gettysburg, Pennsylvania battlefield.
The American Civil War, also known as the War Between the States or simply the Civil War, was a civil war fought from 1861 to 1865, after seven Southern slave states declared their secession and formed the Confederate States of America (the "Confederacy" or the "South", which grew to include eleven states).
The "Fire In The Hole", image came from 12-pounder Napoleon Cannons, primarily used at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania as well as other wars from that time period.
The famous twelve-pound cannon, "Napoleon" were the most popular smooth bore cannon used during the Civil War.
It was named after Napoleon III of France and was widely admired because of its safety, reliability, and killing power, especially at close range.
In Union Ordnance manuals it was referred to as the "light 12-pounder gun" to distinguish it from the heavier and longer 12 pounder gun (which was virtually unused in field service.)
It did not reach America until 1857. It was the last cast bronze gun used by an American army.
The Federal version of the Napoleon can be recognized by the flared front end of the barrel, called the muzzle-swell.
It was, however, relatively heavy compared to other artillery pieces and difficult to move across rough terrain.
Confederate Napoleons were produced in at least six variations, most of which had straight muzzles, but at least eight cataloged survivors of 133 identified have muzzle swells.
Additionally, four iron Confederate Napoleons produced by Tredegar Iron Works in Richmond have been identified, of an estimated 125 cast.
In early 1863 Robert E. Lee sent nearly all of the Army of Northern Virginia's bronze 6-pounder guns to Tredegar to be melted down and recast as Napoleons.
Copper for casting bronze pieces became increasingly scarce to the Confederacy throughout the war and became acute in November 1863 when the Ducktown copper mines near Chattanooga were lost to Union forces.
Casting of bronze Napoleons by the Confederacy ceased and in January 1864 Tredegar began producing iron Napoleons.
From the first shot fired on this day, I instantly became immersed as the battlefield began to fill the air with smoke from the 12 pounder guns.
One can only imagine what it may have felt like to the ordinary man or boy now on the battlefield fighting for the cause and now fighting for their lives.
To see more The American Civil War, please visit my galleries URL listed below.
Experience Amazing!
See My Entire Collection,
Join My Mailing List To
Enjoy Special Discounts!
Copy & Paste This URL At:
Gary-Keesler.ArtistWebsites.com
Copyright ©
Gary Keesler producer of PoconoPhotoShoot.com
Fine Art America Logo will not appear on your finished product.
For Image Licensing
Copy & Paste This URL At:
http://licensing.pixels.com/profiles/gary-keesler.html?tab=artworkgalleries
Uploaded
July 7th, 2014
Embed
Share
