Williams gun
The Williams gun was a Confederate gun that was classified as a 1-lb cannon. It was designed by Captain D.R. Williams, of Covington, Kentucky, who later served as an artillery captain with a battery of his design. It was a breech-loading, rapid-fire cannon that was operated by a hand-crank. The barrel was four feet long and a 1.57-inch caliber. The hand crank opened the sliding breech which allowed the crew to load a round and cap the primer. As the crank was continued, it closed the breech and automatically released the hammer. The effective range was 800 yards but the maximum range was 2000 yards.
Approximately 40 were made, to supply seven different Confederate batteries. These were made at F. B. Deane Jr. & Son, Lynchburg, Virginia, Tredegar Iron Works, Richmond, Virginia, and Skates & Co, Mobile, Alabama. At the end of the war, four examples of this gun were captured to send to West Point. The West Point Museum retained one gun. Other examples are now located at the Kentucky Military History Museum the Virginia Museum of the Civil War at the New Market Battlefield State Historical Park, and the Watervliet Arsenal Museum.
During the early trials of the gun, the Richmond Daily Exchange dated May 20, 1862, reported that: "General Floyd attended a trial of the Williams' mounted breech-loading rifle, which is claimed will throw twenty balls a minute a distance of fifteen hundred yards". Some sources say it could fire 65 rounds per minute but accuracy was greatly reduced due to the manual loading. The Union troops did not know what the gun was. Some describe it as a rifled cannon. Others reported that it fired nails, probably on account of the noise the projectile made as it tumbled.
See also
- Agar gun
- Confederate Revolving Cannon
- Gatling gun
- Gorgas machine gun
References
- Article from "The Artilleryman" magazine by Lyle Hegsted.
- Rowland, Dunbar & Howell, H. Grady, Jr., "Military History of Mississippi, 1803-1898", Chickasaw Bayou Press, 2003, Library of Congress Number 2002117732.
- The Machine Gun, Volume 1, George M. Chinn, Bureau of Ordnance, United States Navy, 1951, No ISBN.
- "The Long Arm of Lee" by Wise.
- "Confederate Cannon Foundries" by Gunter and Daniel.
- "Ironmaker to the Confederacy" by Dew.
- "Civil War Collector's Encyclopedia" by Francis A. Lord (contains photo of gun from West Point Museum)
- "Kentucky Cavaliers in Dixie-Reminisces of a Confederate Cavalryman", by George Dallas Musgrove.
- War of Rebellion Official Records
- v
- t
- e
- Arkansas toothpick
- Bayonet
- Bowie knife
- M1832 foot artillery sword
- M1833 dragoon saber
- M1840 army noncommissioned officer's sword
- M1840 cavalry saber
- M1840 light artillery saber
- M1850 army staff & field officer's sword
- M1852 naval officer's sword
- M1860 cutlass
- M1860 light cavalry saber
- Mameluke sword
- USMC noncommissioned officer's sword
- Adams M1851 revolver
- Allen & Thurber M1837 revolver pepperbox
- Allen & Wheelock M1861 revolver
- Beaumont–Adams M1862 revolver
- Butterfield M1855 transitional revolver
- Colt M1836 Paterson revolver
- Colt M1847 Walker revolver
- Colt M1848 Dragoon revolver
- Colt M1849 Pocket revolver
- Colt M1851 Navy revolver
- Colt M1860 Army revolver
- Colt M1861 Navy revolver
- Colt M1862 Police revolver
- Colt Root M1855 revolver
- Deringer M1825 Philadelphia caplock pistol
- Elgin M1838 cutlass caplock pistol
- Kerr M1855 revolver
- Lefaucheux M1854 revolver
- Lefaucheux M1858 revolver
- LeMat M1856 revolver
- Moore M1864 revolver
- Remington M1858 revolver
- Remington M1860 Elliot revolver pepperbox
- Savage-North M1861 Navy revolver
- Smith & Wesson Model 1
- Smith & Wesson Model No. 2 Army
- Spiller & Burr M1861 revolver
- Starr M1858 and M1863 revolver
- Tranter M1856 revolver
- Volcanic M1855 repeating pistol
- Walch M1859 revolver
- Wesson and Leavitt M1850 Dragoon revolver
- Whitney M1857 revolver
- Augustin M1842 musket
- Ballard M1861 rifle
- Brunswick P1836 and P1841 rifle
- Burnside M1855 carbine
- Charleville M1816 and M1822 musket
- Colt M1855 revolver carbine and rifle
- Deringer M1814 Common rifle
- Deringer M1817 Common rifle
- Enfield P1853 rifled musket
- Enfield P1861 musketoon
- Fayetteville M1862 rifle
- Gallager M1861 carbine
- Hall M1819 rifle
- Hall-North M1843 carbine
- Harper Ferry M1803 rifle
- Henry M1860 repeating rifle
- Jenks M1841 Mule ear carbine
- Joslyn M1855, M1861, M1862, M1864, M1865 carbine and rifle
- Lorenz M1854 rifled musket
- Maynard M1851 carbine
- Merrill M1858 carbine
- Mississippi M1841 rifle
- P1839 and P1842 Brown Bess musket
- Potzdam M1831 musket
- Richmond M1861 rifled musket
- Sharps M1848, M1850, M1851, M1852, M1853, M1855, M1859, M1863, M1865 carbine and rifle
- Sharps & Hankins M1862 carbine
- Smith M1857 carbine
- Spencer M1860, M1865 repeating carbine and rifle
- Springfield M1795 musket
- Springfield M1812 musket
- Springfield M1816 musket
- Springfield M1822 musket
- Springfield M1835 musket
- Springfield M1840 musket
- Springfield M1842 musket
- Springfield M1847 musketoon
- Springfield M1855 rifled musket
- Springfield M1861 rifled musket
- Springfield M1863 rifled musket
- Starr M1858 carbine
- Tarpley M1863 carbine
- Volcanic M1855 repeating rifle
- Wesson M1859 carbine and rifle
- Whitworth P1857 rifle
- Adams grenade
- Coach gun
- Congreve rocket
- Double-barreled shotgun
- Hale rocket launcher
- Ketchum Grenade
- Rains grenade
- Rains landmine
- Sea mine
- Winans Steam Gun
- Ager machine gun
- Billinghurst Requa Battery volley gun
- Claxton machine gun
- Gatling I and II machine gun
- Gorgas machine gun
- Pate revolver cannon
- Ripley machine gun
- Vandenberg volley gun
- Williams machine gun
and equipment