Letter, 1863 November 3, Talcott to Brooks
National Park Service
Item Details
CreatorTalcott
Dates
Date Created
Descriptive Information
LanguageEnglish
Letter to Brooks from Talcott, including detailed information on Parrott guns in Fort Putnam (Gregg), Battery Chatfield, and Fort Strong (Wagner). Facts are provided for each gun, such as the date of bursting, number of rounds fired before bursting, the number of pieces each gun burst into, and how far the pieces were thrown. Descriptions of any fractures are provided, as well as other observations on the conditions of the guns after bursting.
Transcription[Letter, continued] IV. Oct [October] 30 a [illegible] pdr. gun burst at Battery Chatfield, tearing out a portion of the upper side of the gun from the reinforce band forward some 3 ft. I saw the gun but a few moments after it burst and could detect no flaws in the iron. The part which was blown from the gun was in two pieces, which were thrown some 20 to 25 yards. Pieces of the shell were found in the gun showing very plainly that it exploded there. The fracture extending within the reinforce band, the rough edges of that portion of the iron within the band, were considerably smoother down by the friction before it could escape from the compression of the band. No one was injured. I could not ascertain the no. of times fired. probably about 200 to 250. V. Oct. [October] 30th, a 100 pdr gun burst at Fort Strong on the 189th round. The fracture was much the same as the preceeding one, commencing just within the reinforce band and extending forward some 3 ft. The shell, however, struck Sumter and burst, the shot being as accurate as the average. No flaw could be detected in the metal. The piece which was thrown from the gun fell in the ditch some 20 to 25 yards from the gun. No one was hurt. VI. Oct. [October] 31st. a 100 pdr gun burst at Fort Strong on the 210th round. The gun parted just within the reinforce band and the fracture ran forward on the upper side of the gun. There were some 4 or 5 pieces none of which left the battery. The shell fell in the water but a short distance this side Sumter. That part of the gun left within the reinforce band was cracked back from the fracture some 6 inches. The metal did not appear as good as some of the others. No one was injured. I saw the gun a few
TopicsSouth Carolina--History
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865
Artillery operations
Fort Sumter National Monument (Agency : U.S.)
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865
Artillery operations
Fort Sumter National Monument (Agency : U.S.)
Physical Descriptions
Mediumcommercial correspondence
TypeStill Image
Formatimage/jpeg
Contributing Institutions
Identifiers
Digital Identifiersmt_brooks446_022_004
Permanent Linkhttp://purl.clemson.edu/D92BC8A1479B69E055381A3B3B40164B
Batch ID20180328174717