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99 Grape Stands and Quilted Grape For both smoothbore and rifled artillery, grape stands and quilted grape served a different purpose from case shot and canister. Quilted grape and grape stands were designed to damage ships’ rigging and spars or fortification equipment, with the fragments from this damage causing major casualties to gun crews. Some confusion exists about the use of grape stands and quilted grape. As general antipersonnel weapons, grape stands and quilted grape in field calibers had been largely replaced by canister by the time the war began. It appears that early in the war grape stands replaced quilted grape for calibers below 8 inch. Quilted grape were used in all calibers above 8 inches, including the 15-inch size, which has been documented aboard Monitor-type gunboats1 and in postwar Bannerman catalogs.2 However, the Confederates captured a large supply of 32-pounder quilted grape when the Southern states seceded and had others manufactured during the early years of the war. These were deployed to river and coastal gun positions. A number of these 32-pounder quilted grape were excavated near Fort Huger, North Carolina, some years ago, and others reportedly were recovered in gun positions along the Mississippi and elsewhere over the years. Prior to the war, quilted grape had been the primary form of grape used. They were made in calibers up to 11 inches and down to 1.75 inches.3 One consisted of a base plate and a center bolt or pipe, surrounded by rows of four to six balls, stacked three to five rows high. Sailcloth (navy) or burlap (army) inserted between the base plate and the first row of grape shot was then pulled around the balls and it was tightened by cord or wire running diagonally between the balls. The top was wired tightly together around the core bolt or pipe. The navy then painted or tarred the sailcloth to keep it from rotting in the dampness and salt air. Based on a review of period photographs, it appears that the army did not paint theirs. One of the quilted grape documented in this book is painted white. This conforms to the 1860 Navy Ordnance Instructions.4 However, all other quilted grape noted have been painted black. One 12-pounder navy canister has also been noted painted white.5 Both Union and Confederate ordnance manuals specified the use of tapered wooden sabots for grape stands for the 8-inch seacoast howitzer, providing however that the sabots could be attached with a bolt through the sabot and stand or using a separate wooden sabot.6 Grape stands consisted of two plates the diameter needed for the caliber of the cannon, a long bolt, three or four rows of three iron grapeshot, and two rings to hold the grape shot in place. The rods for most rings were circular in cross section. However, about forty 32-pounder Confederate square-banded grape stands were recovered from Drumgould’s 100 LARGE SMOOTHBORE PROJECTILES Bluff near Vicksburg a number of years ago. Others in that caliber have been recovered elsewhere. One square-banded 18-pounder grape stand without battlefield provenance has been documented. Also, a 12-pounder grape stand with square bands has been documented as well. These are not known in any other caliber. Grape shot for quilted grape and grape stands had to be cast precisely to fit within the diameter of the projectile. The standards published for these grape shot were as follows7 : 15" 11" 10" 9" 8" 42# 32# 24# 18# 12# Grape Stand # Balls 9 9 9 9 9 9 Max. diameter 3.60 3.17 2.90 2.64 2.40 2.06 Min. diameter 3.54 3.13 2.86 2.60 2.36 2.02 Avg. wt. (lbs.) 6.1 4.2 3.2 2.4 1.8 1.1 Quilted Grape # Balls Unk. 15 15 18 18 12 Avg. diameter Unk. 3.55 3.34 2.80 2.50 2.50 Avg. Wt. (lbs.) Unk. 6.0 4.9 2.9 2.1 2.1 As mentioned in the Preface, this section on grape stands has been expanded to cover the field calibers, because they were not comprehensively covered in the earlier field artillery reference texts. 1 “Inventory of USS Passaic, USS Nahant, USS Catskill, and USS Lehigh, January 1864,” U.S. Navy Records Box 137. 2 1927 Bannerman’s Catalog. 3 McKee and Mason, 132. 4 Kerksis and Dickey; 234. 5 Naval Academy collection, Annapolis...

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