upon "curious moving Platforms" which were probably similar to the
traversing platforms standardized by Gribeauval in the latter part of
the century. United States forts of the early 1800's used casemate and
barbette carriages (fig. 10) of the Gribeauval type, and the
traversing platforms of these mounts made training (aiming the gun
right or left) comparatively easy.

Training the old truck carriage had been heavy work for the
handspikemen, who also helped to elevate or depress the gun. Maximum
elevation or depression was about 15 deg. each way--about the same as
naval guns used during the Civil War. If one quoin was not enough to
secure proper depression, a block or a second quoin was placed below
the first. But before the gunner depressed a smoothbore below zero
elevation, he had to put either a wad or a grommet over the ball to
keep it from rolling out.

Ship and garrison cannon were not moved around on their carriages. If
the gun had to be taken any distance, it was dismounted and chained
under a sling wagon or on a "block carriage," the big wheels of which
easily rolled over difficult terrain. It was not hard to dismount a
gun: the keys locking the cap squares were removed, and then the gin
was rigged and the gun hoisted clear of the carriage.

A typical garrison or ship cannon could fire any kind of projectile,
but solid shot, hot shot, bombs, grape, and canister were in widest
use. These guns were flat trajectory weapons, with a point-blank range
of about 300 yards. They were effective--that is, fairly accurate--up
to about half a mile, although the maximum range of guns like the
Columbiad of the nineteenth century, when elevation was not restricted
by gun port confines, approached the 4-mile range claimed by the
Spanish for the sixteenth century culverin. The following ranges of
United States ordnance in the 1800's are not far different from
comparable guns of earlier date.

_Ranges of United States smoothbore garrison guns of 1861_

Caliber Elevation Range in yards

18-pounder siege and garrison 5 deg. 0" 1,592
24-pounder siege and garrison 5 deg. 0" 1,901
32-pounder seacoast 5 deg. 0" 1,922
42-pounder seacoast 5 deg. 0" 1,955
8-inch Columbiad 27 deg.30" 4,812
10-inch Columbiad 39 deg.15" 5,654
12-inch Columbiad