Musket Drill and Cannon Firing Films from Gettysburg National Military Park Visitor Center

[LRnotG]

sharpes rifles will own them pansy troops :P

[charlestonchewy]

No wonder why tens of thousands of men were killed during that time. Reloading was an absolute weakness, unless if you had a place to hide.

[sharpie443]

@charlestonchewy even with a place to hide it was problematic because it's very difficult to load if your not standing. When the french went up against the Prussians and there new bolt action Dreyse needle gun it became clear that being able to fire and reload while prone was a huge advantage. The french were cut down while standing and marching into the fire while the Prussians went prone and made themselves a smaller target. It was a huge technological advancement.

[AUG351]

@charlestonchewy Thats why they made many trenches and fortifiacations in almost every battle not just later in the war. Many times they would grab enemy muskets and have several loaded when the enemy attacked. Many times they also had men shooting from the front of the trenches and wounded men in the back loading to keep up a continuing fire.

[pontofilosofico]

THE GRONARDS DE L'EMPEUR (NAPOLEONIC OLD GUARD) DID 3 TO 4 AIMED SHOTS IN 45 SECONDS OR LESS WITH FINTLOCK MUSKETS... I SAW THAT IN FRANCE.

[pontofilosofico]

watch?v=VSKmfIjiXyI

[Bombajs]

Nice, but artilleryman no 2. forgot use worm before sponge. It is important part of loading.

[mecallahan1]

@Bombajs French's Artillery Manual 1864 list the equipment for a battery down to the number of sponge

and tar buckets. According to that manual, there were only 2 worms for an entire battery and they were

carried on the battery wagon. Worming out between each shot is a modern safety measure, not saying its not good to do it, just that they didn't do it. Did you notice that the number 3 man did not

step out until the fire command was given?

[mecallahan1]

@mecallahan1 After a number of shots, the back end of the powder bags which did not burn up

would build up in the rear of the bore until they started to interfere with the vent, then they would

use the worm. It was also used to remove a unfired round, like a misfire.

[BugMagnet]

I would not have thought that it takes longer to reload a rifled musked than a canon

[poodlemeister22314]

@BugMagnet well, when you think about it, its five guys reloading a cannon, then one guy handling the rifle, though close, it still is faster with the multiples (two heads are better than one kind of deal, but its hard for two people to load a musket for one person lmao)

[walls0stone]

I remember see'n these when I was 10 years younger or more than now... wow

[hoosieryank1967]

Odd, they show the cannon crew loading a live round (with ball), but it doesn't recoil very much at all. Any explanations or am I missing something?

[poodlemeister22314]

@hoosieryank1967 it can't be a live round, coz then the camera would be shot off @ 6:05 That and the bag and ball were two separate pieces of equipment. One rammed down after the other (bag, then ball or canister or other shot)

[poodlemeister22314]

@poodlemeister22314 I know they show it as one piece, but often when I'm at "live" artillery demostrations, the bags and rounds are separate from each other (probably for safety reasons)

[Bombajs]

@poodlemeister22314  Round and canister shoot for 6 and 12 pdr. smoothbore cannons was usually together with powder bag- fixed ammunition. The bag was fastened to sabot. Ammunition for rifled guns was separately.

[AUG351]

@Bombajs I thought the shell and powder bag was usually together and the round shot was usually seperate from the powder bag for 12 and 6 pdr.

[Xytan4]

3 rounds per minute from an individual soldier, but 1200 per minute from a whole group. That explains why they still used the massed infantry ranks. Thanks for this video!

[GeorgeVreelandHill]

Excellent video.

Thank you.

George Vreeland Hill

[tette666]

that voice reminds me of rome total war...

[markmason1000]

you know that bugle theyre wearing on their hat is completely historically inaccurate.That hat was federal property piercing it would get you a fine from your salary

[sean124zv]

wow amazing video man, just what i was looking for

[HypersonicWave]

Very good and educational video. But one thing is missing: Boys had to reload while exposed to counter fire from the enemy! After a few minutes most of them would be lying on the ground either screaming from their wounds or dead.

[greenmagic12]

thanks so much I wanted to know how fast a rifle was reloaded in the cival war. This is the best demonstration that I have found.

[garand1944]

modern style minie balls.

[MrGrinningManiac]

It's Brian Blessed! With a Musket!

[SupaTROopa2]

this looks like an instructional video they would have showed to the cast in the movie gettysburg

[ceredigio]

What year were these films installed? Judging by the differing film quality I guess they weren't installed at the same time. I presume they're not seen anymore due to the move to the new visitor center?

[GettysburgBattle]

I'd assume the artillery film is an older production. I'm not sure of installation date for either film. They appeared in push-button kiosks in "the pit" of the old visitor's center. Artillery played adjacent to the cannon and limber. Infantry played in a small corner in the NE of the pit. Neither program appears in the new museum, although inferior new productions covering the same material now play in the lobby.

[ceredigio]

What year did the old visitors center open? I think the present one opened in 2008.

[starwars4730]

that is so going on my favorites

[ferrero129]

where i am the nothe fort in weymouth uk we got a 6ponder which is broken =/ and a 4 pownder which can fire up to 1 and a half mile and about 9 muskets carbines and nice video

[walls0stone]

yes, he presses it down into the rifle with his thumb..unless the did some camera tricks.

[hollywoodwerewolf]

Lost his percussion cap at the second shot. Was he firing with real bullets?