As you know, the civil war in the United States has become a "testing ground" for many types of weapons and military equipment, among which are tower battleships, submarines, multiple-shot rifles, armored trains and mitrailleuses. It is less known that in the same war, rifled breech-loading guns were first used in a combat situation.
True, these guns were developed and made not in the USA, but in Great Britain, at the firm of Joseph Whitworth. In 1855, Whitworth patented a cannon with a hexagonal bore and a projectile for it. The edges had a spiral twist and played the role of rifling, but at the same time the projectile went along them freely, without braking, so the muzzle velocity of such a projectile was higher, and the flight range was greater than that of conventional ammunition with leading belts.
An additional advantage was that the "faceted" barrel wore out less when firing than a rifled one. But there was also a drawback: the production of such a barrel was four times more expensive than a barrel with spiral grooves. Accordingly, the price of the gun turned out to be much higher. Therefore, the British army refused to buy Whitworth guns, although, in the British navy - a much richer structure - they found application.
The first examples of "hexagonal" were muzzle-loading, but in 1859 Whitworth introduced a line of breech-loading guns, consisting of three-pound, six-pound and 12-pound field guns. In England, they, again, did not arouse interest, but in 1860, the US military department purchased seven breech-loading 12-pounds for review, intending, in case of positive feedback, to acquire a larger batch. However, it did not come to this.
Guns and ammunition for them arrived in the country literally on the eve of the civil war, and for some reason they all ended up in the territory of the seceded southern states. Of course, the southerners actively used this "gift of fate", but it was too small to have any influence on the course of the war as a whole and even on the results of individual battles.
It is known that the Confederates divided rifled guns between several batteries that fought on different fronts, with no more than two such guns hitting each battery. In particular, two guns, which were part of the 3rd corps battery under the command of Captain Hart, took part in the famous Gettysburg battle, but the northerners noticed them only by the specific piercing howl of flying shells. The veterans of the battle said that whoever heard this sound at least once would not forget it to death. Two more cannons were used in the Antietham massacre with the same result.
Having quickly used up the stock of shells that had come from England, the southerners began to make them on their own. At the same time, it turned out that such ammunition, due to their original shape, costs a pretty penny. Someone came up with the idea to shoot from "hexagonals" with ordinary cannonballs, turned into a hexagon. They were much cheaper, but the range and accuracy of shooting sagged greatly.
The range and accuracy of the Whitworths are worth dwelling on. At the time, they were just fantastic. The 12-pound (2.75-inch) field cannon threw projectiles weighing 5.75 kg over 10 kilometers! True, with the then primitive sights and means of observation, shooting at such distances did not make sense, since the artillerymen simply did not see its results. And firing from "hexagonal" across the squares was too expensive a pleasure.
But at the ranges of a direct shot, exceptional accuracy and accuracy of firing of these guns was manifested. The American magazine "Engineering" wrote in 1864 that at a distance of 1600 yards, the lateral deviation of the 12-pounder Whitworth's projectiles from the aiming point was only 5 inches! Such accuracy made the Whitworths an ideal tool for counter-battery combat and "jewelry" work on pinpoint targets. Undoubtedly, if the southerners had not seven such guns, but 20 times more, and even with the appropriate amount of "native" ammunition, the outcome of a number of battles could be much more advantageous for them.
During the fighting, four of Whitworth's guns were captured by the northerners. Two of them are now part of the memorial erected at the Battle of Gettysburg. Their photo is on the screensaver.
The original, muzzle-loading sample of the Whitworth cannon and its projectiles.
A modern replica of the Whitworth breech-loading and its ammunition, including the sharpened core.
"Whitworths" were equipped with hinged bolts screwed onto the breech of the barrel.
The position of the "hexagonals" of the Hart battery at the edge of the forest near the Gettysburg Field. Shell packs are visible near the carriages.
The Whitworth Cannon, captured by the Northerners in Richmond at the end of the Civil War. Perhaps one of those that now stand as monuments at Gettysburg.
