Laninga's Travel Blog

One of my more interesting duties as Fort Vancouver volunteer is demo’ing black powder. Last weekend, we did rifle and canon firing. My duties were firing the canon. Pictures below.

The canon is an 1841 Mountain Howitzer, very popular in the day as it was effective, light, and transportable. It could be broken down and carried on two horses or mules. It was optimized for firing explosive shells as well as spherical case and canister. Its range was about 1,000 yards. It was popular in the Civil War, especially in the west because it did not require roads to transport.

The 1841 Mountain Howitzer

Ready for action

Cleaning the barrel

Waiting for the charge to be delivered

Ready for the Fire command

FIRE!

And from the other side….