Mackinaw's Dahlgren Cannons-- Part 2: "It Was Almost As Dangerous to Shoot As To Be Shot At"

 The Iron Marsilly carriage was much more durable and safer than wooden carriages to hold the cannons.  Wooden ones were often made of elm wood and  would splinter if his by an enemy shell.  Wounds from these wooden splinters were serious and even fatal for Union gun crews.

Also a danger from Civil War cannons was the possibility of them bursting when fired.  Crews always feared their guns bursting almost more than taking a hit from enemy fire.  It was almost as dangerous to shoot as to be shot at.  No Dahlgren big gun, not the  nine inch or fifteen inch, every burst, even when firing with a full charge.  Quite a few Union Parrott 100-pounders blew up during the bombardments of Fort Fisher.

Appropriately, Mackinaw's three Civil War Dahlgren guns face the waters of the Straits of Mackinac.  Each cannon weighs  approximately 9800 pounds, two or three times the weight of a car.  On the end of the right trunnion is the date in which the cannon was  cast, i.e. 1863; on the left trunnion  is the letter "P" for "proved" with the inspector's initials, i.e., "W.R.T." for William Rogers Taylor.

I looked William Rogers Taylor up and found that he eventually became an admiral in the Navy and had commanded the USS Juanita at the battles of Fort Fisher.  That really makes him an object of interest for me, of course.

--Old B-Runner