Page 244 - 4091-BOOK1

LOT 242
Rare Civil War U.S. “O’Donnell’s Foundry”
6-Pounder Wiard Rifle with Carriage and
Caisson - NSN, 6 , black finish. These unique
rifled artillery pieces were invented by Norman
Wiard and were made from cast “semi-steel” initially,
and later from conventional iron to reduce costs. Wiard also
designed these cannons’ distinct carriages which were designed
to use readily interchangeable parts. Approximately 60 Wiard rifles were manufactured c. 1861-1862. These are split between various calibers. Of these, around 24 of the 6-Pounders are known to survive, mainly at battlefields
and historic sites. They were long reported as manufactured at O’Donnell’s Foundry in New York City, however, more recent research has suggested they were made by other contractors. In “Revealing the Makers of the Wiard Rifle” in “Artilleryman Magazine” Vol. 36, No. 3, Capt. (ret.) Steven W. Knott of the
U.S. Navy demonstrates that “The American Annual Cyclopedia” from 1861 indicates the steel was made by rolling mills in Troy, N.Y., and Trenton, N.J., and the tubes were forged by Tugnot & Dally of New York and then bored by Plass & Co. (Carpenter & Plass). Knott indicates that the details are also confirmed in a letter from March 14, 1863, from William L. Miller of Carpenter & Plass to the Ordnance Bureau, and Tugnot & Dally ran the Franklin Forge, then “one of the largest steam-powered hammer forges in the world.” Relatively little is known about these scarce artillery pieces in actual combat, but the 6-pounders had an incredibly effective range of up to 7,000 yards, and some are reported to have been used by Major General Daniel Sickles’“Excelsior Brigade”, and at the Battle of Stones River and Shiloh by the Ohio Light Artillery.
242