Year: 1861

A letter from Fortress Monroe gives the
following account Of the first trial Of the great
gun "Union.'


The carriage of the gun was turned 80 as
to throw the shot into the bay, the design be.
ing solely to test the gun, which had never
before been fired, and to ascertain its range.
Before going farther it may be well to reca.
pitulate in regard to the gun ITSELF Its
weight is little over two tons and half,
its length is l6 feet diameter of bore, l2 in.
ches, rifed. 1t is mounted on an iron car.
riage, placed on platform of solid mason.
ry. Like all rifed projectiles, the shot is
conical, the solid shot weighing 423 lbs.-
The charge Of powder used varies according
to circumstances from 40 to 45 pounds. The
powder used on this occasion, and which no
doubt will be uniformly used, was the Ro-
man grain powder, the separate grains of
which varied from the size Of walnut to q
hens egg.


All things being ready, the process Of
loading the gun was commenced. First, the
swab, which two men insert, cleans the inte-
tior; then comes man with a red flannel
bag, filled with powder, on his shoulder; it
is the cartridge; and the ramrod, worked by
four men sends it home. Then comes the pro-
cess of getting the shot to its place, mass
of metal that four men carry with difficulty.
1t is looped with a rope, through whick 8
strong piece of wood, several feet long, is in.
serted. 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 trunions
The printing wire performs its Office, the fuse
is inserted, and the lanyard is attached
The Lieutenant gives warning that the gun
has never before been fired, and moves
short distance to the rear, in which he is i'm.
itated by the others.


The man with the lanyard retires TO its ex.
treme length. Ready-irel |" A terrific
crash, sheet of flame, and the trembling of
the earth follow. At the same time there is
a screech and a scream caused by the shot,
black mass, which you 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
hight of a ships mast. The elevation of the
gun was but ten degrees, little more than
blank shot, consequently the distance was
not great, say two miles, the time of flight
fifteen seconds. The terrible engine, the ech-
oes Of whose thunders had scarcely yet died
away over the waters and along the shore,
before the wind: the thing that we would
naturally associate with the idea of glow.
ing, fiery monster, the embodiment of all the
furies, is next the object of attention.
as passive as can be. The Sergeant
miliarly its massive and smooth br
smoke curls slowly from the
chamber from which the 400
Just been vomited, and for
difficult to reconcile the era
trembling earth and the
thing that neither trembl
makes other signs of its tr
most supernatural endow


The next time shell
range, but it fails to ex


The gun was again
shot, and elevated tw


This and the next
same elevation, were
experiment. As you
of the shot, which in
elevation probably of
900 feet, you might
that it was wild,
ster, dashing throu
sun, or an afrlghte
the earth seekings
range was about tb
time thirty seconds.


Two shells with pe
fred into sand bank
five feet from the gun.
idea of what the gun W
batteries. The sand
direction, and the expel
prove that the shell accura
undermine and destroy a san
as rapidly as battalion of men
The shell burst into great
pieces, the parts found weighing
pounds.