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Photographer: Craig Swain
Taken: January 13, 2007
Caption: Whitworth Rifle
Additional Description: Located on Oak Hill, near the Peace Memorial are two examples of the Whitworth Breechloading Rifles as used by Hurt's Battery. Another tablet to the Battery stands at that location. The piece is a 2.75-inch Breechloading Whitworth Rifle. An oddity on the field, as most Civil War cannons were loaded from the muzzle. The breech mechanism used a cross brace to open and reseal the powder chamber after loading. Another oddity, the rifling was in the form of a hexagon. The Whitworth had a range of 10,000 yards, in this field configuration, easily double that of most other guns on the field. It is no mistake that these guns were eventually placed at one of the highest points on the battlefield.
Submitted: September 27, 2008, by Craig Swain of Leesburg, Virginia.
Database Locator Identification Number: p36974
File Size: 1.301 Megabytes

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