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Background Information
Artillery (cannon) played an important part in the Battle of Stones River and was responsible for almost 80 percent of the casualties. Cannons are organized into batteries. Union batteries usually consisted of six guns while Confederate units normally had four. A battery was organized into sections, having a right, left and sometimes a center. It took seven artillerymen to load and fire one cannon. Each assigned number had a special task for servicing the piece
The gunner was usually a sergeant who was in charge of giving the orders to the rest of the crew. His first command upon hearing “Commence firing” was “Load!”
The crewman at position number one would dampen the sponge rammer in the water bucket and insert it into the cannon barrel while position number three uses his thumb (with the thumbstall) to cover the vent which creates a vacuum. This action would ensure that all sparks were extinguished from previous shots so no misfires would occur while loading a new round.
Simultaneously, position number five has received instructions from the gunner about the type of round to retrieve from the limber chest where numbers six and seven are preparing the cartridge. Number five puts the round in his haversack and takes it to number two. Along the way he shows it to the gunner who checks it for accuracy.
When five arrives with the cartridge, two takes it and positions it at the front of the barrel. Then number one rams it to the back of the barrel with the wooden end of the sponge rammer.
The gunner steps clear and observe the scene then gives the command “Ready!” The number three crewman uses a priming wire and inserts it into the vent which pops open the cartridge bag. When he steps away number four steps forward and inserts the friction primer into the vent. It is attached to the lanyard (string). Number three holds the lanyard in place while number four takes
up the slack. Once the lanyard is at tension, the gunner surveys the scene and on his command “Fire!” number four pulls the lanyard and hopefully the cannon fires.
The steps were repeated until the command “Cease firing!” was heard.
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