CIVIL WAR OR PRE-WAR WHITE ARTILLERY SPONGE FOR THE 6-POUNDER GUN

CIVIL WAR OR PRE-WAR WHITE ARTILLERY SPONGE FOR THE 6-POUNDER GUN

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$250.00 ON HOLD

Quantity Available: 1

Item Code: 2026-9430

Civil War artillery implements are hard to find. The rammer/sponge staff is one such item and the actual sponge itself, tacked onto the cylindrical wood head on one end of that staff, is even tougher to find, replaced and discarded when worn out, useless and hardly deemed worthy of preservation after the guns it served were withdrawn from service, and the few survivors usually falling prey to postwar moths. Fastened over a wood cylinder on the end of the staff opposite the rammer head, these were wet by inserting them in the sponge-bucket set on the ground near the muzzle of the piece and thrust down the bore of the cannon after firing and twisted to help extinguish any lingering embers or sparks and prevent a premature discharge of the next round to be loaded, the powder charge shielded only by a cloth bag.

This would have been a familiar sight, instantly recognized by any member of a gun crew, especially “Number 1.” Holding the combination sponge and rammer staff, he would swab out the cannon bore while “Number 3” sealed the vent with a thumbstall to help extinguish any lingering embers from a previous round. He then drew out the staff to reverse it and ram home the artillery round inserted in the muzzle by “Number 2” in the meantime. Being the most liable to being killed or maimed by a premature discharge while ramming the new round home, we can be pretty sure he was taking care of these rather unprepossessing sponges as key pieces in the safety protocol for handling the piece whether in practice firing or in action.

These varied by the size of the gun’s bore and this one is unusual in being for the 6-pounder gun, which was a standard field gun in the Mexican War and saw continued, though less, use in the Civil War. It is in excellent condition and is unusual in being a shaggy white, rather than more closely woven wool, often multi-colored from the use of scrap or shoddy materials in production. It is ready for display on its own in an artillery collection or placement on a sponge-rammer staff that needs one.    [sr][ph:L]

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