Civil War Heavy Explosive Ordnance: A Guide to Large Artillery Projectiles, Torpedoes, and Mines

Armstrong

120 Armstrong Sir William G. Armstrong designed a family of rifles and projectiles in the 1850s that were highly prized by the British government. In fact the British government controlled the company that produced the rifles and projectiles—Elswick Ordnance Company—and would not allow any to be sold to foreign countries until they completed their rearmament program in 1861–1862.1 The British government withdrew from the company in 1862, and Confederates began to buy Armstrong rifles and projectiles.2 In 1864, the Confederates acquired several large caliber Armstrong rifles and projectiles. Included in these shipments were two 8-inch Armstrong rifles, which were mounted at Fort Caswell and Fort Fisher. Each rifle weighed nearly eight tons.3 Tests done in England indicated these rifles would pierce the armor of the Monitor-type gunboats.4 With the Armstrong rifles came an impressive array of advanced projectiles, including shell, segmented shrapnel, armor-piercing bolts, and armor-piercing shells. The Armstrong projectiles used a shunt rifling system with brass lugs mounted in a spiral shape along the length of the projectile body. According to Col. William Lamb, the commanding officer of Fort Fisher, the 8-inch Armstrong rifle was “the most effective gun in the work” at Fort Fisher, but the Confederates had only 13 of the British-made shells prior to the first attack in December 1864.5 Local Confederate foundries manufactured two kinds of bolts before the second attack, which Colonel Lamb described as “useless.”6 These bolts eliminated the shunt rifling lugs, probably due to manufacturing difficulties. General Abbot misidentified one of these kinds of bolts as for the 8-inch Blakely rifle. However, all recoveries of both patterns of Confederate-made bolts were from the Armstrong rifle site (Purdie’s Battery) at Fort Fisher, and none was recovered from the Northeast Bastion position of the Blakely rifle. At least two designs of Armstrong field artillery projectiles were supplied to the Confederacy late in the war. One was from a breech-loading rifle that fired into General Abbot’s position near Bermuda Hundred, Virginia.7 A cache of shells for this rifle was found in the twentieth century at High Bridge, Virginia, along the Appomattox retreat route. The Confederates also obtained a complete battery of muzzle-loading shunt-type 12-pounder rifles at the very end of the war, which was apparently captured in the retreat from Richmond without ever being fired.8 General Abbot had a high opinion of the large caliber Armstrong rifle. In his book, he stated, “This gun [the 8-inch Armstrong rifle at Fort Fisher] was the most elegantly finished off artillery I ever saw. With its mate, captured at Fort Caswell, it no doubt constituted a valued present to the confederacy, whose waning fortunes transferred it to our hands.”9 Confederate agents in London purchased a 10-inch and two 8-inch Armstrong rifles ARMSTRONG 121 and projectiles for the CSS Stonewall, a formidable ironclad ram built in France.10 Because of various embargoes, the Stonewall left Spain only on March 24, 1865, and got only as far as Havana by the end of the war.11 The Cuban government turned the Stonewall over the U.S. government in November 1865. The Stonewall was also armed with one 10-inch (300-pounder) Armstrong rifle and two 8-inch (150-pounder) Armstrong rifles.12 Based on projectile documentation, the Stonewall may also have been armed with one or more 6.4-inch Armstrong rifles. On board the Stonewall were the best types of Armstrong’s projectiles. These are documented in this book. Had the Stonewall reached the western Atlantic before the war ended, it could have had a devastating impact on both the blockading fleet and the Monitor-type gunboats. As fate would have it, the Stonewall arrived in Havana for refueling after the war ended. 1 Ripley, 138. 2 Ibid. 3 Navy ORs, series II, vol. 2, 741. 4 Ibid. 5 William Lamb, “The Defense of Fort Fisher,” Battles & Leaders, vol. 4, 647. 6 Ibid. 7 Abbot, 106. 8 Ibid. 9 Ibid. 10 Ibid., 267. 11 Silverstone, 151f. 12 Navy ORs, series II, vol. 1, 267. 122 RIFLED PROJECTILES ARMSTRONG 123 CS 8-inch Armstrong Convex Base Bolt Diameter: Length: Weight: Gun: 8-inch Armstrong Rifle 7.90 inches 13.25 inches 155 pounds Rarity: 9 Sabot: None Fuze: None Rifling: None Provenance: Fort Fisher. No other battlefield recovery sites...