New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1861-09-10
Trial of the Great Union Gun.

Yesterday took place the first experimental
firing with the great gun Union" It was con-
Quoted by Lieut.. Baylor, of the Ordnance Depart
ment, and was witnessed by Major Generals Wool
and Butler, and a concourse OF officers, soldiers
and others. The carriage Of the gun was turned
so as to throw the shot into the bay, the design
being solely to test the gun, which had never be-
fore been fired, and to ascertain its range Before
going further, it may be well to recapitu'ate in
regard to the gun itself Its Weights 81 005 pounds
extreme length, lG feet; length of bore, Is feet II
inches diameter of bore, IL inches, ried. 1t is
mounted on an iron carriage placed on a platform
of solid masonry. Like all ritled pr0jectiles, the
shot are conical, the solid shot weighing 423
pounds, and the shell 352 pounds, with bursting
charge of 45 pounds. The charge of powder used
varies according to circumstances, from 40 to As
pounds. The powder used on this occasion-and
which no doubt will be uniformly used-was the
Rodman grain powder, the separate grains of
which varied from the size of a walnut to q hens
egg. All this being ready the process of loading
head of his black battalion of gunners had already
cleared the decks, wheeled the monster so that
his gage was over the waters and arranged the
platform or staging on which the men could stand
and be up even with the muZzle. First, the swab,
which two men insert, cleans the interior; then
comes a man with red flannel bag, filed with
powder on his shoulder, it is the cartridge; and
the ramrod, worked by four men, sends it home.
Then comes the process of getting the shot to its
place, mass of metal that four men carry with
difficulty.
1t is first rolled into an iron cradle or wide strap
looped with rope, through which piece OF
strong wood, several feet long, is inserted Thus
slung, the men tug the shot up the steps of the
platform, some ten feet high to the mouth of the
gun. Another lift brings it on level, and it is
slid into the muzzle and pushed to its place. The
gun is then elevated by means of an iron bar the
gun being nicely balanced on its trunnions. The
printing wire performs its office, the fuse is in
serted, and the lanyard is attached. Then Lieut..
Baylor, who. though everything has been done
under his minutesJ inspection has moved about
more like modest spectator than the responsible
director, gives warning that the gun has never be,
fore been fired, and moves short distance to the
rear, in which he is initiated by the others. The
men who are to calculate the flight of the shot are
at their table. The flag is up. The man with the
lanyard retires to its extreme length. Ready
says Sergeant Welch. Lieut.. Baylor gives the
word " Ready-fre! - terrific C, ash, a sheet
of flame and the trembling of the earth follow. At
the same time there is screech and scream,
caused by the shot, black mass which yon can
see in its fight yelling like an infuriated devil let
loose from the Internal regions. We count the
seconds and watch to see the shot strike A
column of water away off on the bay shoots up to
the height of ships mast. The elevation of the
gun was but ten degrees--little more than blank
shot hot--consequently the distance was not great
say two miles, the time of flight fifteen seconds
The terrible engine the echoes of whose thunders
have scarcely yet died away over the waters and
along the shore, whose breath, a dark sulphurous
cloud, floats before the wind-the thing which we
Woulu naturally associate with the IDEA OF glow
ing fiery monster the embodiment of all the furies,
is next the object of attention. 1t is passive as
anything can be. The Sergeant pats familiarly its
massive smooth breech, the smoke curis slowly
from the mouth Of the chamber from which the
420-pound shot had just been vomted and for the
instant it is difficult TO reconcile the crash, the
fame, the trembling earth. and the screech, will,
the thing that neither trenbes nor glows mol
makes other signs Of its truly awful and almost
supernatural endowments. The next time shell
is fired at the same range but it fails to explode
And here let me remark that both shot and shell
seemed to me not the thing for the gun. The sof
metal with which they were coated stripped anC
flew in all directions, when only few hundred fee
from the gun, so that one might mistake the pieces
for charge of grape from a howizer. The idei
of filling the grooves and thereby obtaining 70
taiy Hatiolt n4ast nave been inlpeEieutly realized
The gun was again ldaded with solid shot an;
elevated twenty-eight degrees. This and the mex
shot which was at the same elevation, were yer,
fine features of the experiment. As you watch tn
progress OF the shot, which in its circuit attained
elevation probably of not less thanSG0to to 1000 feet
you might easily convince yourself that it WAS
Wild, screaming, roaring monster, dashiug throug
the skies, mad at the sun, or an affrighted sDir
from the bowels Of the earth seeking safety in tn