Blakely Rifle
Blakely rifle or Blakely gun is a series of rifled muzzle-loading cannon designed by British army officer Captain Theophilus Alexander Blakely in the 1850s and 1860s.Hazlett, James C., Edwin Olmstead, and M. Hume Parks. ''Field Artillery Weapons of the American Civil War, rev. ed.'', Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1983. , p. 196.On May 14, 1860, Captain "A.T. Blakely" presented a paper published at pages 316324 in Volume 7 of the ''Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy (18361869)'' entitled "On the practical application of a principle announced to the academy by R. Mallett, Esq.; and some remarks on rifled cannon" with a reply by "Dr. Hart" and further reply by Captain Blakely, available on JSTOR open access as ''Remarks on Artillery'/ref> Blakely was a pioneer in the banding and rifling of cannon but the British army declined to use Blakely's design.Ripley, Warren. ''Artillery and Ammunition of the Civil War.'' New York: Promontory Press, 1970. . p. 148. The guns were most ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Prince William County, Virginia
Prince William County lies beside the Potomac River in the Commonwealth of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 482,204, making it Virginia's second most populous county. The county seat is the independent city of Manassas. A part of Northern Virginia, Prince William County is part of the Washington metropolitan area. In 2020, it had the 24th highest income of any county in the United States. History At the time of European colonization, the native tribes of the area that would become Prince William County were the Doeg, an Algonquian-speaking sub-group of the Powhatan tribal confederation. When John Smith and other English explorers ventured to the upper Potomac River, beginning in 1608, they recorded the name of a village that the Doeg inhabited as ''Pemacocack'' (meaning "plenty of fish" in their language). It was on the west bank of the Potomac River, about 30 miles south of present-day Alexandria. Unable to deal with European diseases and firepower, the D ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ed Bearss
Edwin Cole Bearss (26 June 1923 – 15 September 2020) was a historian of the American Civil War, tour guide, and United States Marine Corps veteran of World War II. Personal life On 26 June 1923, Edwin Cole Bearss was born in Billings, Montana. He was raised working on his grandfather's ranch near Hardin, Montana, and attended a one-room school in Sarpy, Montana. On 30 July 1958, Bearss married author and teacher Margie Riddle of Mississippi (born ), and the two had three children: Sara in 1960, Edwin Jr. in 1962, and Mary in 1965. In 2002, the couple lived in Arlington, Virginia. Margie died , and Bearss died on 15 September 2020. Education Bearss was accepted to St. John's Military Academy in Delafield, Wisconsin in 1937, and graduated from Hardin High School in 1941. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service from Georgetown University in 1949, and his Master of Arts (with a thesis on Patrick Cleburne) in 1955 from Indiana University Bloomington. Bea ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Whistling Dick (cannon)
Whistling Dick was a cannon used by Confederate forces during the Siege of Vicksburg in the American Civil War. Named for the sound made when it fired, the cannon is believed to have been a rifled 18-pounder gun, which may have had banding on its breech as reinforcement. Historian Warren Ripley believes that Whistling Dick was most likely a Model 1839 gun, which would have been mostly obsolete by the time of the siege. The cannon believed to have been Whistling Dick dueled with Union Navy ships on May 22, 1863, before being transferred to a different location on May 29. The piece would have been captured by Union forces when the siege ended on July 4, 1863, and its fate is unknown. A cannon at the United States Military Academy was incorrectly identified as Whistling Dick, but historian Ed Bearss demonstrated that the USMA piece was actually another Confederate cannon from Vicksburg, the Widow Blakely. Description and use Historian Ed Bearss notes that the history of Whis ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ulysses S
Ulysses is the Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ... name for Odysseus, a legendary Greek hero recognized for his intelligence and cunning. He is famous for his long, adventurous journey home to Ithaca after the Trojan War, as narrated in Homer's Odyssey. Ulysses may also refer to: People * Ulysses (given name), including a list of people with this name Places * 5254 Ulysses, an asteroid Places in the United States * Ulysses, Kansas * Ulysses, Kentucky * Ulysses, Nebraska * Ulysses Township, Butler County, Nebraska * Ulysses, New York * Ulysses, Pennsylvania * Ulysses Township, Pennsylvania Animals * Ulysses butterfly (''Papilio ulysses'') a butterfly endemic to Australasia * Ulysses (horse) (born 2013), a thoroughbred racehorse Arts and enter ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Major General (United States)
In the United States Armed Forces, a major general is a two-star rank, two-star general officer in the United States United States Army, Army, United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps, United States Air Force, Air Force, and United States Space Force, Space Force. A major general ranks above a Brigadier general (United States), brigadier general and below a Lieutenant general (United States), lieutenant general. The U.S. uniformed services pay grades, pay grade of major general is O-8. It is equivalent to the rank of Rear admiral (United States)#Rear admiral, rear admiral in the other United States Uniformed services of the United States, uniformed services which use Naval officer ranks, naval ranks. It is abbreviated as MG in the Army, MajGen in the Marine Corps, and in the Air Force and Space Force. Major general is the highest permanent peacetime rank that can be conferred upon a commissioned officer in the uniformed services (except when General of the Army (United States ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mortar (weapon)
A mortar today is usually a simple, lightweight, man-portable, Muzzleloader, muzzle-loaded cannon, consisting of a Smoothbore, smooth-bore (although some models use a Rifling, rifled barrel) metal tube fixed to a base plate (to spread out the recoil) with a lightweight bipod mount and a Sight (device), sight. Mortars are typically used as indirect fire weapons for close fire support with a variety of ammunition. Historically mortars were heavy Siege, siege artillery. Mortars launch explosive shell (projectile), shells (technically called Bomb, bombs) in high arching Projectile motion, ballistic trajectories. History Mortars have been used for hundreds of years. The earliest reported use of mortars was in Korea in a 1413 naval battle when Korean gunsmiths developed the ''wan'gu'' (gourd-shaped mortar) (완구, 碗口). The earliest version of the ''wan'gu'' dates back to 1407. Ch'oe Hae-san (1380–1443), the son of Ch'oe Mu-sŏn (1325–1395), is generally credited with inventi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mississippi
Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the southwest, and Arkansas to the northwest. Mississippi's western boundary is largely defined by the Mississippi River, or its historical course. Mississippi is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 32nd largest by area and List of U.S. states by population, 35th-most populous of the 50 U.S. states and has the lowest per-capita income. Jackson, Mississippi, Jackson is both the state's List of capitals in the United States, capital and largest city. Jackson metropolitan area, Mississippi, Greater Jackson is the state's most populous Metropolitan statistical area, metropolitan area, with a population of 591,978 2020 United States census, in 2020. Other major cities include Gulfport, Mississippi, Gulfport, Southaven, Mississippi, South ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Siege Of Vicksburg
The siege of Vicksburg (May 18 – July 4, 1863) was the final major military action in the Vicksburg campaign of the American Civil War. In a series of maneuvers, Union Major General Ulysses S. Grant and his Army of the Tennessee crossed the Mississippi River and drove the Confederate Army of Mississippi, led by Lieutenant General John C. Pemberton, into the defensive lines surrounding the fortress city of Vicksburg, Mississippi, leading to the successful siege and Confederate surrender. Vicksburg was the last major Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi River; therefore, capturing it completed the second part of the Northern strategy, the Anaconda Plan. When two major assaults against the Confederate fortifications, on May 19 and 22, were repulsed with heavy casualties, Grant decided to besiege the city beginning on May 25. After holding out for more than 40 days, with their supplies nearly gone, the garrison surrendered on July 4. The Vicksburg campaign's successfu ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Fort Pulaski National Monument
Fort Pulaski National Monument is located on Cockspur Island between Savannah and Tybee Island, Georgia. It preserves Fort Pulaski, the place where the Union Army successfully tested rifled cannons in 1862, the success of which rendered brick fortifications obsolete. The fort was also used as a prisoner-of-war camp. The National Monument includes most of Cockspur Island (containing the fort) and all of the adjacent McQueens Island. Construction After the War of 1812, US President James Madison ordered a new system of coastal fortifications to protect the United States from a foreign invasion. Construction of a fort to protect the port of Savannah began in 1829 under the direction of Major General Babcock and later Second Lieutenant Robert E. Lee, a recent graduate of West Point. The new fort would be on Cockspur Island, at the mouth of the Savannah River. In 1833, the facility was named Fort Pulaski in honor of Casimir Pulaski, a Polish soldier and military commande ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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United States Military Academy
The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, commissioned officers in the United States Army. The academy was founded in 1802, and it is the oldest of the five United States service academies, American service academies. The Army has occupied the site since establishing a fort there in 1780 during the American Revolutionary War, as it sits on strategic high ground overlooking the Hudson River north of New York City. West Point's academic program grants the Bachelor of Science degree with a curriculum that grades cadets' performance upon a broad academic program, military leadership performance, and mandatory participation in competitive athletics. Candidates for admission must apply directly to the academy and receive a nomination, usually from a member of United States Congress, Congr ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |