This is an excellent example of the Civil War artillery lanyard for field guns. This is a standard and essential piece of artillery gear, having a turned wood handle about 5 inches long with good finish and larger turned ends for a more secure grip, complete with full-length cord and original wire hook.

“Number Four” on crew of a field gun placed the T-shaped friction primer in the loaded cannon’s vent, placed the hook in the loop at the top of the primer, and stood back with lanyard played out, waiting for the gunner’s command to fire. A sharp yank on lanyard set off the primer, whose flame ignited the propellant charge, and the shell, shot, or canister round was on its way. The crew would then reposition the gun from its recoil and again perform their assigned tasks of swabbing the bore, ramming home the next round (of projectile and powder charge,) and piercing the bag of the powder charge with a wire pick through the vent to ready the gun for its next shot. Intensive drill and discipline were necessary to make sequence run smoothly when under fire.

This is one of very few we just acquired from a collection assembled when Civil War material still came out from surplus dealers. It would be a key piece in an artillery collection or display.    [sr] [ph:L]

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