Cincinnati daily press. [volume] (Cincinnati [Ohio]) 1860-1862, 1861-05-17
Interesting Facts About the spIIrInr of


The process says the New York Tribune,
by which it is sought to render cannon i'm
medistely unseIviceable, has, by recent
events, been brought prominently before the
public attention. 1t is an operation which
may be done quickly. The officer in com.
mand of battery, perceiving that he will
be driven off without being able to bring
awsy his guns, spikes them, SO as to render
them useless to the captors, as well as to pre-
vent them from being turned against him
while retreating, or on the line on which he
intends to fall back. The commander of a
fort, on abandoning it, as in the Instance of
Anderson at Moultrie adopts the same
measure. Frequent cases are on record of
an attacking party capturing battery and
being in turn driven from it, though not
without first spiking the guns
When Paul Jones undertook the destruc-
tion of the English shipping ct Whitehaven,
his hrst movement on landiBg was to seize
the forts, and render the guns useless in the
same way. The only defenses of the harbor
thus rendered harmless by a stroke daring
which required but few minutes to accom-
pbsh, he could proceed unmolested TO the
work of destruction. The great point
achieved by spiking gun is to make ii un-
seryiceable for the time being. Even tenn
porary interruption of its fire is of the utmost
Importance. But no spiking yet invented
has been able TO do more than temporarily
disable the guns, though various contriv-
ances have been suggested, some, however,
making its restoration to service more diff
cult than others.
A faverite mode of spikiug is by drivinga
rat. tail file into the vent, and breaking it off
If the spike be an ordinary nail made Of soft
iron, the drill will readily remove it, while
the hard steel Of the file will require far
greater time and labor. The steel spike,
rough and jagged, with soft point is also
used. If broken off even with the surface of
the gun, and the point clinched inside by
the rammer, removal is made more difficult.
If the spike happens to be SO small as TO fl
in loosely, it may be driven cut by gunpow-
der but if it be made Of hardened steel,
with an accurate fit 70 the vent aud is
criveu in with great forea, neither drill nor
powder will remove It.
A patent spike wes brought out in En-
gland during the Crimean War, which
claimed to make gun permanently unserv-
iceable. 1t consisted of rod of finely. tenn
peTed steel, turned to fit the vent, but to
move freely in it, and terminating in q
torked spring in the bore the gun. twas
cOntended that this spike could not be drilled
out, because it would turn with the drill.
But though this were true, yet its inventor
forgot the important fact that the forked
points in the bore could be cut off by a sin
gle blow on cold chisel. When q spike is
SO fixed as TO render extraction very liGi-
cult the remedy is to drill a new vent
which may be done without impairing the
usefulness of the gun. To do this a compe-
tent mschinist will require some three hours,
or more or less, according to the size of the
gun. But all epiking at the vent is admit
ted to be only temporary expedient TO
render artillery unserviceable at the moment.
Yet even this has often been found product
i've Of the most important results
When time is afforded, such as the delib.
crate abandonment of a military work.
spikiDg at the mUzzle is some times adopted,
and when thoroughly done, with far greater
embarrassment to those who subsequently
come into possession. A shot is driven into
the bore by wrapping it with felt, or
using iron wedges, and employing an iron
rammer TO drive the ball home. When this
is done to an iron gun, the only method of
unspiking it is TO bore hole in the breech
and drive the ball out, closing the hole with
g screw. To do this, the gun, in most cases.
must go back to the foundery. In brassguns,
which usually have vent pieces, these can be
taken out and the ball expelled by wedges.
Various modes for destroying cannon
are adopted. Shells are some times ex-
ploded in them, while heavy charges are put
in Others, over which sand or shot is rammed
70 the muZzle, and bursting follows. One
piece is some times fired against another,
muzzle to muzzle, or the muzzle of one to the
chase of the other. In iron guns the truu.
mons are broken Off with brass ones, fire
is lighted under the chase, aRd when struck
with heavy sledge while heated, the gun is
bent and disabled. Had time been allowed
Colonel Anderson to destroy the cannon in
Fort Moultrie before abandoning it, there
can be little doubt, from his long experience
as an artillery officer, that he would have
left TO the rebels a Legacy of crippled guns
unit for any thing but the foundery.