The 8-Inch Siege Howitzer of USS Pawnee
8-Inch Siege Howitzer Model 1841 at the Washington Navy Yard. This gun is though to have been captured following the December 25th, 1863 engagement at Legareville, South Carolina
An 8-Inch Siege Howitzer, Model 1841 (Olmstead et. al say "Pattern 1840") at the Washington Navy Yard. This is one of two displayed there - but the only one I saw and was able to quickly photograph on my walking tour. Olmstead/Stark/Tucker believes these two howitzers to have been manufactured at Tredegar in 1862.
Both were used in an attempted ambush of USS Marblehead on the Stono River on Christmas Day, 1863. Marblehead responded with accurate fire from her 11-Inch Dahlgrens, and USS Pawnee quickly moved into a flanking position and opened fire with her 100-Pounder Parrott and battery of 9-Inch Dahlgrens. The Mortar Schooner, USS C.P. Williams, also slipped her cable and entered the fray under sail adding twenty 13-Inch Mortar rounds to the bombardment of the Confederate batteries.
The two 8-Inch Siege Howitzers were abandoned by the retreating Confederates. US Navy sailors went ashore and disabled the carriages. On December 28th, 1863, they returned and were able to take the two howitzers. One of them was taken aboard USS Pawnee. It appears in wartime photos taken aboard the ship.
This engagement is extensively covered in the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies, Series1. Volume 15. Beginning at Page 188.
The 8-Inch Siege Howitzer captured following the December 25th, 1863 engagement at Legareville, South Carolina may be seen on the deck of USS Pawnee. This howitzer is currently displayed at the Washington Navy Yard. Library of Congress Photo
USS Pawnee. Note the 8-Inch Howitzer kept - perhaps as a pet - on the deck. Note also the 9-Inch Dahlgrens, cutlasses, and that the main gun deck is lower than the quarterdeck and forecastle deck. Library of Congress photo.
The war in South Carolina. Action at Legareville. The rebel battery attacking the Marblehead silenced and captured. From a sketch by our special artist, W.T. Crane. Page 283, USS Marblehead; mortar schooner C. P. Williams; USS Pawnee Illustration for Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, January 23, 1864. via Wikimedia
This deck view of a US Navy mortar schooner is identified as USS C P Williams in another version of this same photo. Visible in the photo are two 32-Pounders of 57 Hundredweight, two Dahlgren Boat Howitzers, a 13-Inch Mortar, and a light Parrott in the bow. USS C P Williams took an active part in the Battle of Legareville on the Stono and Kiawah Rivers south of Charleston. The little schooner slipped her mooring and sailed into action to support USS Marblehead and USS Pawnee after Marblehead had come under fire from a Confederate battery ashore. Confederate reports credit the impact of the 13-Inch shells with their decision to leave their two 8-inch howitzers on the field and withdraw. C P Williams and her crew sailed up the Kiawah to keep up fire on the withdrawing Confederates. During the December 25th, 1863 action, USS C P Williams fired 18 rounds from her 32-pounders; 20 rounds from her 13-mortar; 15 rounds from her 20-pounder Parrott. rifle, and 10 rounds from her 24-pounder howitzers.
Two 9-Inch Dahlgrens aboard USS Pawnee with the quarterdeck in the background. The carriage for the howitzer can just be seen at right. A 24-Pounder boat howitzer is mounted to fire over the stern. Library of Congress Photo.
The Gangway Headboards of USS Pawnee displayed at the Hampton Roads Naval Museum
Plan of USS Pawnee. Note the extreme shallow draft and unusual arrangement of the main deck which is half a deck higher fore and aft to allow for accommodations. Via the National Archives
The 8-Inch Siege Howitzer at the Washington Navy Yard
