A Victorian siege game has to feature the remarkable Armstrong cannon. The Victorian giant, Sir William Armstrong of Elswick, developed this new type of cannon in the 1850's. It would be prove to be an iconic cannon of the era, and I have enjoyed finding them in all sorts of places ...
like here, on the Citadel of Quebec City, last year.
And here in the garden, during the recent siege game.
And this was an interesting find. The United States Navy sailor and artist, David McNeely Stauffer, serving on the Mississippi in 1864 imagined the Armstrong gun to be like this. His imagination of the British uniforms is rather charming ...
the new 600 Pdr English Armstrong Gun, 'Big Will'
Was the artist worried that the Confederates would get one?
"A Monster Gun: Trial of Sir William Armstrong's six-hundred pounder,"
New York Times, December 5, 1863, p. 1.
Sir William Armstrong tested for the first time his new 600 pounder cannon on the English coast at Shoeburyness. The twenty-two ton weapon was designed to fire a 13.2 inch shell over a distance of six miles. During the test, the range was set at around 4000 yards and the giant cannon, served by twenty men, performed well, firing both shot and shell.
