Artillery

[hireddutchcutthroat]

Re: Artillery

http://www.geocities.com/mountedarty/

CHAS is a fully mounted Arty battery here in NoCal. They have limbers, caissons, battery forges, battery wagons the works and it is all horse drawn. It is pretty amaizing to see them in action.

[artillerycorp 1st Ill]

Re: Artillery

Gentlemen,

I may be able to help to give an idea of cost for a battery to run for a year. The unit I belong to has 4 full scale guns for its use. 2 belong to the club and two are privately owned. We have close to 35 members on the rolls 20 of which we see on regular bases. We all pay dues each year and we participate in parades, living histories and school demonstrations to raise funds. On an average year it cost the battery $3,000 to $4,000 a year to run. This covers maintenance on the guns and trailers, powder, primers, insurance, office fees, registration for events and other little incidentals.

Steven Curtis
1st Illinois Light Artillery

https://www.taylorsbattery.org

[billwatson]

You forgot to mention

... the need to buy a farm to house the horses.... Up to $3 million depending on how big ya wanna go. :-)

[K Bartsch]

Re: Artillery

http://www.geocities.com/mountedarty/

CHAS is a fully mounted Arty battery here in NoCal. They have limbers, caissons, battery forges, battery wagons the works and it is all horse drawn. It is pretty amaizing to see them in action.

With all due respect, they don't look particularly authentic to me. Lots of kids and some interesting uniform combinations. Their site implies they are essentially a coalition of several gun owners, and they only have one caisson. They have four guns, but only three limbers. No battery forge or battery wagon, only a "supply wagon" and an ambulance. The harness they use looks like a hodgepodge as viewed on the images from their site. I take umbrage at their claim they are "the most authnetic mounted artillery unit in the country" Oh well, opinions vary and these are just mine.

That said, it is quite a feat to even field a single gun and limber safely drawn by six.

Cordially,
K. Bartsch

[hireddutchcutthroat]

Re: Artillery

With all due respect, they don't look particularly authentic to me. Lots of kids and some interesting uniform combinations. Their site implies they are essentially a coalition of several gun owners, and they only have one caisson. They have four guns, but only three limbers. No battery forge or battery wagon, only a "supply wagon" and an ambulance. The harness they use looks like a hodgepodge as viewed on the images from their site. I take umbrage at their claim they are "the most authnetic mounted artillery unit in the country" Oh well, opinions vary and these are just mine.

That said, it is quite a feat to even field a single gun and limber safely drawn by six.

Cordially, K. Bartsch

Tis true there physical impressions need work like the day is long. The website is not up to date, they do field a battery wagon, forge, caisons, and always have at least 3 to 4 mounted guns. .

"I take umbrage at their claim they are "the most authnetic mounted artillery unit in the country." I do as well.

"That said, it is quite a feat to even field a single gun and limber safely drawn by six." That is why I posted the site. I dont like chicks in bad uniforms as much as the next guy, but you have to admit, mounted arty is really cool.

[K Bartsch]

Re: Artillery

Absolutely no offense taken or intended. Just kinda tweaks my sensibilities when folks put a bumper sticker on their website about being the best in the land, along with those pics and knowing we don't exactly have a mounted artillery super bowl or BCS championship game or anything like that :wink_smil -- not that such a thing would settle the bragging rights anyway!

Cordially,
K. Bartsch

[hireddutchcutthroat]

Re: Artillery

Absolutely no offense taken or intended. Just kinda tweaks my sensibilities when folks put a bumper sticker on their website about being the best in the land, along with those pics and knowing we don't exactly have a mounted artillery super bowl or BCS championship game or anything like that :wink_smil -- not that such a thing would settle the bragging rights anyway!

Cordially,
K. Bartsch

No offense taken, I totally agree with you. It would rub me wrong even if there impressioms were top notch.

25 Time Hardkewl Champions of the World! :wink_smil

[Linneus Ahearn]

Re: Artillery

Here in the PNW we want to field a gun drawn by horses. We already can field a supply wagon but for the artillery fielding one gun is the first step, then a cassion, then a forge wagon, etc.

We have plenty of cannons owned by individuals in the artillery (unmounted), at least 9 and all are full scale. Only one of these has a limber and two others are being built... (I have heard this for 5 years now and so I won't hold my breath.)

The cavalry side here is working on gathering and training the horses to pull these cannons. Each horse is owned by individuals who have worked very hard to put them in training for this job. It's a cooperative effort and very expensive. We hope to offer the use of these horses to the units owning a correct cannon and limber, the horses will include correct harness and our drivers who have trained and taken tests with the horse team. The drivers must be horsemen and understand their equipment and horses. In my opinion this is one way artillery can afford to do this properly and as safe as possible without becoming a corporation who owns the items used. What I would really like to find is sponsorship for the team but that is not in the cards right now. Any ideas?

[Outrider]

Re: Artillery

One of my most memorable expieriences in reenacting came last year when myself and a fellow Critter Company trooper were asked to drive an artillery team pulling a caisson. That was really a cool expierence and ALOT of hard work. Made me appreciate being in the cavalry more. Riding one horse into battle is one thing riding six hitched together is something else altogether.
Good luck with it we need more horse-drawn artillery.

Patrick McAllister
Critter Company
W.I.G.

[K Bartsch]

Re: Artillery

And Patrick,
Didn't you love the part about not being finished cleaning harness and having the animals trailered-up 'til at least three hours after the last infantry guy left for home or the LH in Port Gibson? Mounted artillery is without a doubt the most expensive, potentially dangerous and labor intensive facet of this hobby (at least until someone launches a repop Monitor-class ironclad and takes her to sea.) Mounted artillery can also be the most fun form of reenacting out there. If I ever hit the powerball the Paulson Bros. will be hearing from me. I'm buying a 12 lb field howitzer and all the trimmings -- 2d deadliest piece of ordnance on the CW battlefield -- eclipsed only by the 24 lb field howitzer!

Only question is whether the wife would let me set it up inside the house. I'm thinking right there in the entry foyer would be sweet. Heck, I've had to look at her unused NordicTrac set up in our house for years. Handy little item to hang things on though. :wink_smil

cheers,
K. Bartsch

[Vuhginyuh]

Re: Artillery

This is an open comment to any group or individual interested in artillery.

Look at Charlie Child's site. Look at the crew there. LOOK LIKE THAT.
Then buy the tubes and all the hardware to run them.

I have seen more than a few beautiful guns ruined because the uniforms around them were after-thoughts and budget cuts.

[BHoover]

Re: Artillery

I am just curious. But how much does it cost to get involved with artillery? What do the expenses go to when starting...ect?

Biggest factor is whether you want to do horse-drawn or not. Horse-drawn you are talking 6 figures so that puts most people out of the picture. For a static gun, you can buy it ready made, or do the work yourself. It's possible to buy reprints of the original blueprints that the govt put out for bids during the war, so they can be made as authentically as one desires.

In the case of my gun, the carriage was made by one person, the wheels by another, most of the metal work was cast by a third person, the tube was created by yet another person, and I'm sure I've left out some of the people who worked on it. I think there was only one item on the whole gun that we could buy off the shelf (a small piece of jack chain). Many people cut corners by using modern items, but with me it's a personal thing to have it as accurate as possible.

By having a lot of the work done by friends, I have about $10,000 in the gun and trailer. Probably would have cost me nearly twice that to buy it ready made. What I tell people is that it's about like buying a tricked out bass boat. Just depends on what your hobbies are I guess!


Bruce - you must sign all of your posts with your full name - Mike Chapman

[hireddutchcutthroat]

Re: Artillery

This is the impression that I am puting together when I win the lotto. This way I dont need to deal with horses, all I need is an island and a masonary fort. :tounge_sm

[Bushrod Carter]

Re: Artillery

Hey Robert,

Can I be on that gun crew? I want to be the dude who has the job of pointing at the target, NOT one of the four dudes it takes to lift the projectile!

I could go as far as committing to buy a red hat cord. :tounge_sm

Patrick Craddock

[K Bartsch]

Re: Artillery

How about those two dudes in the bottom right carrying the powder cartridge in that huge pass box. "Whole lotta Goex going on!"

K. Bartsch