Map of the Vicinity of Glascow, Kentucky

 

This is a tracing of a map sketched by a Civil War Period Union Engineer showing the approximate contour lines of the area, estimated at 25 feet between contours. The contour levels have been colored to make it easier to use the map. The engineer was Capt. Sydney S. Lyons, acting asst. engineer. An arrow at the bottom of the map points to the city of Columbia.

Mortar Construction

 

Banded Mortar

 

Right Angle Mortar / Cannon

 

Mortars -- Castle Assault

 

Mortars

In the same magazine as the Stonewall Jackson article there was an article in regard to the history of the Mortar. From the earliest known "forerunner to the mortar introduced by the Spanish Muslims in about AD 1250," to the modern day, the article reviews the value of the mortar as a piece of artillery, it's uses, and improvements over the centuries, as well as the development of the mortar as a valued instrument of war.

The mortar provided besiegers of cities a means for lobbing missiles down upon entrenched troops and positions forward of the main target as well as over city walls. In at least one example the besieged Knights Hospitallers of the Order of St. John used mortars to drop 100 lb. stones and other missiles upon the Turk's artillery emplacements on the island of Rhodes in 1480.

Mortar ships were developed in the 17th century and were very handy in putting munitions / missiles into forts on high bluffs coming close enough to the land to avoid the major ordnance of any given fortification. Advances in the 19th century gave rise to the Coehorn Mortar and the use of larger mortars in the Civil War and in mortar pits for fortification development in the latter part of the century. Today the mounting of mortars for rapid field deployment is a tactical necessity.

Pictures of some mortars and their usage will follow.

Reference:--William McPeak, "The Mortar Is Perhaps---," Military Heritage Magazine, Col. Weapons, Sovereign Media, Herdon, Va. Pages 12-15.

General "Stonewall" Jackson's Death

In a "Military History" Magazine that I recently found again in my library, there was an interesting article which discusses the cause of death of General Stonewall Jackson. It has been said in many sources that the cause of the General's death was not the wounds that he received at the hands of his own men, but rather the effects of pneumonia. The article investigates the possibility of still another reason for his death; Pulmonary Embolism. The article is quite interesting and worthy of a review.

The last paragraph of the article is indicative of the final possible result,

"Even with today's advanced technology, it is estimated that as many as half of all pulmonary emboli go undetected by physicians. The current treatment and prevention of thromboembolism is accompanied by the use of blood-thinning agents such as Heparin or Lovenox. Although Stonewall Jackson's death was unpreventable, given the state of medicine at the time, it is more likely that he died from thromboembolism as a direct consequence of his wound and amputation, than from the indirect cause of pnueumonia."

Reference: J.D. Haines, "Stonewall Jackson's Death---," Military Heritage Magazine, June, 2008, Col. - Soldiers, Sovereign Media, Herndon, Va,, pages 8-11.