Also known as: columbiad.
| Type | Heavy smoothbore seacoast gun |
|---|---|
| Capability | Fires shot or shell at high or low elevation |
| Role | Coastal and permanent fortification defense |
| Advanced form | The Rodman hollow-cast columbiads |
Seacoast ordnance
The columbiad was a distinctively American heavy smoothbore developed for seacoast defense, combining the ability to fire heavy solid shot for battering ships with the capacity to throw shell at higher elevations. Mounted in masonry forts and earthworks, columbiads formed the backbone of coastal defense before and during the war.
Earlier columbiads were cast solid and bored, but the type reached its highest development in the Rodman guns, whose hollow-casting process yielded the largest and strongest examples. Confederate foundries such as Tredegar also cast columbiads for Southern coastal works.
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Sources & further reading
- United States Army, Ordnance Department. The Ordnance Manual for the Use of the Officers of the United States Army. 2nd ed. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott, 1862.
- Gibbon, John. The Artillerist's Manual. New York: D. Van Nostrand, 1860.