Informational Thread -- The Athens Cannon

[The Arapaho Kid]

I do Civil War reenactments with an artillery battery here in Washington State.  When I got into this I did a research project on Civil War Cannons and discovered this.

This is The Athens Cannon.  A double barreled six pounder.  This was invented and produced in Athens, Georgia.  The theory behind this cannon was to hurl two, six pound balls, connected by a four foot chain.  This would take out a lot of marching troops, or troops on horseback.  It was used in only one battle and then scrapped.  The reason for the scrapping was....they couldn't get both barrels to go off at the same time.  One barrel would fire and that would drag the ball out of the other barrel and it would go about 20 feet, then the other barrel would, basically, fire a blank.  After the war was over, there were a few of these left, but they were melted down and done away with.  The good folks in Athens grabbed one and placed it in front of their court house as a reminder of that they had done for the war effort.  It is still sitting there today.  As a joke the good folks of Athens have pointed this cannon North.....just in case!

[Silver Creek Slim]

That would have been a nasty implement of distruction if it had worked "right".

Slim

[The Arapaho Kid]

That would have been a nasty implement of distruction if it had worked "right".

Slim

The interesting part I discovered about this was....when they first tested it by shooting it at buildings...it worked fairly well, but then it went into battle and failed.  The Navy used chain shot in their cannons to rip down masts and spars on ships, but they loaded both balls into one barrel and gave it an extra powder charge to project the two balls and the chain.

[Derby Younger]

I've read about that cannon. Another great Military looks good on paper concept. Thanks Arapaho, great pix.

Derby

[The Arapaho Kid]

I've read about that cannon. Another great Military looks good on paper concept. Thanks Arapaho, great pix.

Derby

This cannon would have been a real asset to the Confederacy if it had worked like they had planned, but they just couldn't get both barrels to go off at the same time because of the burn rate of powder.  For some unknown reason, two strips of powder from the same keg burn at different speeds.  They are close, but not exact.  That was the downfall of this cannon.

[Big John Denny]

Some of you might not know but the hated Yankees did experiments with the same principle, with the same results. The only difference was they had two cannons placed side by side.

[The Arapaho Kid]

Some of you might not know but the hated Yankees did experiments with the same principle, with the same results. The only difference was they had two cannons placed side by side.

Whata concept!  Two cannons parked next to each other and they use chain shot.  I wonder if they had the same firing problem....barrels not going off together?

[Big John Denny]

Yes they did. The only bad thing, it didn't kill any of them when they lit them off. Pardon me folks, that just my Reblish upbringing coming out.

[LazyK Pejay]

Another problem was using 6 pounders. During the Civil War there were a number of batteries (especially in the Confederacy) that used them. The problem was range and the size of the round (about the size of a baseball in solid, shell, or case). If the other side had no cannon a 6 pounder would have been useful. However, if the other side had 12 lb Napoleons, 10 lb Parrots or 3" Ordinance Rifles, the 6 lber's would be toast as they would be well within range of the other side before they could be in effective range themselves. They just did not have an effective punch on the field against superior artillery.

Some  6 pounders were used at Gettysburg, but just a few. However, there are a number of them there today. The Park Commission had the rear cascabel ground smooth as well as the rimbase at the shoulder of the trunions, and both the muzzel swell/and face/ring. This made the cannons look like a Napoleon 12 pounders. Since there were not enough of them to go around for all the sites needed at Gettysburg, today folks think they are looking at Napoleons.

Four special made 6 pounders that look like 12 pounders are at VMI. Maj. Thomas J. Jackson (Stonewall) used these four guns while an instructor at VMI in Lexington, VA prior to the Civil War. These four guns are called Mathew, Mark, Luke, and John. The gun carriages have been re-painted the origional red and stand in front of the Old Barracks today. By the way, the bones of Jackson's horse (Little Sorrel) are burried in front of them. The mounted hide is in the museum underneath Jackson Chapel.

LazyK Pejay

[The Arapaho Kid]

6 pounders were effective at close range, light weight and easy to move around quickly.  They made the Athens Cannon because of this.  They wanted something that could hurl a chain shot against marching, or mounted troops, then they could haul out of their firing position quickly.  In my research of this cannon, I read that the horses remained hitched to the cannon when they fired it so they could haul after one, or possibly two shots without taking the time to rehitch.  I think if they could have gotten this cannon working like it should have it would have been very effective against the other side.

[Big John Denny]

Do any of you old soldiers remember the Davey Crocket round developed for the old 105 Recoilless Rifle mounted on the back of a M151. It was an atomic round developed to give an on-battlefield atomic weapon.

The trouble was it had a range of about 1/4 mile and a killing radius of 1/2 mile. Seems the brass thought they wouldn't be able to find many folks who wanted to shoot it, and then die. Go figure.

[The Arapaho Kid]

Do any of you old soldiers remember the Davey Crocket round developed for the old 105 Recoilless Rifle mounted on the back of a M151. It was an atomic round developed to give an on-battlefield atomic weapon.

The trouble was it had a range of about 1/4 mile and a killing radius of 1/2 mile. Seems the brass thought they wouldn't be able to find many folks who wanted to shoot it, and then die. Go figure.

Army logic rides again!  My most favorite (and old) Army weapon was the Bazooka.  That was a real tank stopper.  I knew an old Sergeant that had been a Bazooka gunner in Korea.  He told the story of he and his assistant gunner coming up over a ridge and discovering a North Korean Tank sitting in a little valley and well within range.  They got into position, loaded it up, took aim and launched one.  The round went out and bounced off the turret.  The assistant gunner had loaded a smoke round in and not a high explosive.  He said when that turret began to swing around...they got the hell outa there!

[Old Top]

Arapaho,

Allways hate when that happens.   

Old Top

[Birdgun Quail]

This one is just the opposite of the double-barreled cannon.

One of my favorite military "blooper" quotes on weapons was made by an Army Ordinance Major to a highly classified Congressional committee looking into the cost overruns of the Manhattan Project (the development project of the nuclear bomb).  The Major said to the committee, "Not only will uranium not explode, we can't even get it to burn!"

[Big John Denny]

Well it doesn't actually explode. If fuses and gets real big real quick, kinda like a woman after you marry her. By the way, Arcey told me to say that last part.