The Civil War was “Boom Time” in a serious way. I recently had the chance to witness the firing of a replica and witness its awesome power. Of course the report of the cannon was the highlight, but seeing the ammunition used in a 12-lb. cannon was equally interesting.
Cannon “cartridges” came as a 12-lb. ball with the black powder packed into a woolen bag attached to the projectile. You’ll see the lead soldier use a double sided ram. The first is a swab that he dipped into a bucket of water and cleaned the barrel so that no burning embers could prematurely ignite the next charge. To the right is a container of canister shot that sent small round balls through the air like a giant shotgun.
The tools of the cannon “loader” were not much different than those of a blackpowder hunter today. Notice the swab end of the ramrod, with a “rammer” on the other end to assure the powder was seated properly. Note the “worm,” which was used to dislodge any fouling that remained in the barrel. On the Union side, a team of eight men operated a single cannon with each person having a single responsibility. The range of the cannon was roughly 300–1,000 yards.
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