The Army Pattern 7-Inch Brooke Rifle at Fort Sumter

Possible Army Pattern Brooke Rifle at in the ruins at Fort Sumter in 1865. This is a detail of a larger photo which may be found on the Library of Congress website: https://www.loc.gov/item/2018670974/

A photograph which shows two heavy cannons amid the rubble at Fort Sumter in 1865 may show the Army Pattern 7-Inch Single Banded Brooke Rifle which was part of the fort’s armament on April 7th, 1863.

All surviving Double and Single Banded Brooke Rifles have what may be called the “Navy Pattern” breech which was adapted from the design of US Navy Dahlgrens. However, Tredegar records make reference to five examples of 7-Inch Single Banded Brookes manufactured as the “army model with ratchet breech” (Olmstead et al., The Big Guns. Appendix C88. Pg. 224). References to “Army Brookes” appear occasionally in the records.

Colonel Alfred Rhett, Commander of Fort Sumter, wrote to Lt. N. H. Van Zandt, CS Navy, on May 23rd, 1863:

“I have the honor to inform you, that in the engagement of the 7th April, two Brooke Guns, one of the Navy pattern, the other the Army Gun were used in Fort Sumter.

Charge in each gun was 13 pounds of powder (9 large grained, 4 ordinary cannon powder). Projectile - the wrought Iron Brooke bolt-weight, a little less than 120 pounds. Both guns were mounted on the 10-inch Columbiad wooden carriage.

Forty two shots were fired from one and forty four from the other. Thirteen pounds is the highest charge the recoil of the Gun will admit with safety upon these carriages.

The effect of these was decidedly greater upon the Iron Clads than any other we had, as was seen with good glasses during the engagement and by observation on the wreck of the Keokuk.” (Ironclads and Big Guns of the Confederacy. Pg. 133)

What did the “Army Model Brooke” look like?

I had seen the 1865 Fort Sumter photo before, and I had dismissed it as one of the handful of Columbiad castings which had been bored as a rifle. Some of these, apparently, were later banded after showing a tendency to burst (Ripley, pp. 83-84). However, examining the surviving example of a 6.4-Inch Columbiad-Rifle in Mobile, Alabama showed that cannon to follow the pattern of a standard 10-Inch Columbiad in almost every respect except it’s bore. Also, no such “rifled Columbiad” was recorded as part of the armament of Fort Sumter - which is very well documented for the entire war. The mushroom breech also means that it is not one of the rifled 32 or 42-pounders present at the fort.

A bit of online sleuthing yesterday showed that Craig Swain wrote on his old website of the cannon in the photo: “The exterior shape is suggestive of Brooke Rifles. Perhaps this is a function of the photo’s perspective, but the gun’s chase has the cone shape typical of Brooke Rifles. The trunnions, rimbases, and sight base are also similar to those features seen on surviving Brooke Rifles.” (“Confederate Single Banded “Army” Brooke in Fort Sumter photo?” on To the Sound of the Guns. 12 January 2014. Accessed via web.archive.org).

As Swain goes on to point out, everything from the band forward in the 1865 strongly resembles the surviving Single Banded Brookes of CSS Atlanta at the Washington Navy Yard. The banding of both can be seen to be composed of five individual rings. The form of the barrel begins to taper just in front of the band, forming a conical shaped chase.

Therefore, we might surmise that the Army Brooke looked like the Navy Single banded Brooke from the muzzle to the rear of the band. The breech replaced the Dahlgren-style Navy Breech with the “Mushroom Knob” ratcheted breech of the Confederate Columbiad.

What advantage would such a breech have? Columbiads had such a breech to enable high elevations. The ratchets were used for large changes in elevation. Then fine adjustments were made by turning the screw at the base of the pawl assembly on the carriage. The “mushroom knob” shape had been invented by Rodman to easy the lifting of these giant cannons. A lifting rope fits securely around the breech. For Army use the mushroom knob and ratchets may have offered some advantages. Indeed, at least two Double Banded 7-Inch Brookes were cast with the “Army breech” in 1863 and shipped to Charleston in April of 1864 (Olmstead et al., pg. 225).

I would join Swain in identifying the cannon in the 1865 photo as an Army Pattern 7-Inch Brooke Rifle. Furthermore, it seems likely that the cannon pictured is Tredegar Number 1722 which was cast in December 1862 and shipped to Charleston in March of 1863. Number 1722 is the only one of the five Single Banded Army Brookes initially sent to Charleston. Numbers 1679 and 1757 were sent to Mobile. Number 1731 was sent to Jackson, Mississippi. Number 1758 was sent to Wilmington (Olmstead et al., pg. 224).

Compare the Fort Sumter cannon to the 7-Inch Singled Banded Brooke Rifle of CSS Atlanta at the Washington Navy Yard. (See more photos of the Atlanta Brookes.) Note the very similar shape to the trunnions, rimbases, and mounting point for the sight over the trunnions.

Above: Two photos of a 6.4-Inch Rifle cast by Tredegar in 1861 displayed in Mobile, Alabama. Externally, this cannon matches the shape of the 10-Inch Columbiad. The only feature that this cannon shares with the Fort Sumter cannon is the “mushroom knob” ratcheted breech. The chase is not conical as is the Brooke. The sight above the trunnions is a “button” form seen on other 1862-produced Columbiads.

Why, then, would a cannon as valuable as a Brooke simply have been abandoned in the rubble? Mike Ryan, writing in the “Historic Guns of Forts Sumter and Moultrie” notes that during July the Brookes at Fort Sumter were used to fire on US Army positions on Morris Island at long range. After five days of heavy firing, the Brooke on the southeast corner of the fort “developed a crack along the breech and beneath the bands” (Ryan, pg. 75). Swain observes of the 1865 photograph: “Notice the water seepage between the last two bands. This may indicate some damage, which would be in the area of the vent.” As large portions of Fort Sumter were reduced to rubble in August of 1863, the damaged Brooke may have simply been left to fall amidst the rubble.

The above photo appears to show a Columbiad which has been banded. Note how the barrel tapers quickly around the trunnions and only tapering very slightly on the chase. Ripley stated that this was probably “the 10-Inch Bored to 6.4 and rifled then banded later when this innovation exhibited a tendency to burst” (pg. 84). This photo also shows the elevation arrangements of a Confederate Columbiad. Library of Congress Photo: https://www.loc.gov/item/2018671963/

To those who are more familiar with Fort Sumter and the rubble still around it in the harbor I would add the question: Is there any chance that this Brooke is still somewhere in the waters (or mud) around the fort?