“The Cannons’ Flashes Lit Up the Terrible Scene”

“The Cannons’ Flashes Lit Up the Terrible Scene”. The Breakthrough Trail. At various intervals along their lines, Confederate defenders constructed gun emplacements, called redans, such as the one in front of you. Each redan would hold as few as one or as many as six cannons. Virtually every square inch of ground in front of the works could be fired upon from two redans, creating a deadly crossfire for any attacker., Cannons in these redans would be positioned in one of two ways. Guns en barbette were fired from raised platforms over the fortification walls allowing the widest field of fire. Some redans contained openings called embrasures through which artillerists aimed their cannon. Embrasures limited the field of fire but protected the artillerymen in the works., Approximately twenty artillery pieces of various types opened on the Union Sixth Corps on the morning of April 2, 1865. Evidence suggests that two powerful cannons, 3-inch Ordnance Rifles belonging to the Norfolk (Va.) Light Artillery Blues, occupied this redan. The Union Sixth Corps recorded the capture of twenty Confederate cannons on April 2, including the two 3-inch Ordnance Rifles positioned here., Artillery of the Breakthrough, 3-inch Ordnance Rifle , Tube Length: 73 inches , Tube Weight: 816 pounds , Bore Diameter: 3.0 inches , Range: 1850 yards , Material: Wrought Iron, Light 12-pounder Howitzer, Model 1857 , Tube Length: 66 inches , Tube Weight: 1227 pounds , Bore Diameter: 4.62 inches , Range: 1620 yards , Material: Bronze (U.S.)/Iron (C.S.), 10-pounder Parrott Rifle, Model 1861 , Tube Length: 78 inches , Tube Weight: 890 pounds , Bore Diameter: 2.9 inches , Range: 2000 yards , Material: Cast Iron, 6-Pounder Field Gun, Model 1841 , Tube Length: 60 inches , Tube Weight: 884 pounds , Bore Diameter: 3.67 inches , Range: 1520 yards , Material: Bronze, 24-pounder Howitzer , Tube Length: 65 inches , Tube Weight: 1318 pounds , Bore Diameter: 5.82 inches , Range: 1325 yards , Material: Bronze