Information Panel: 30-Pounder Battery

Quick Facts

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Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits

Positioned here at the end of a towering plateau, this fortification was the first earthen battery built on the mountain by the Federals in the fall of 182. Facing south, its guns "commanded perfectly the summits of Loudoun Heights as well as Bolivar Heights."

A four sided earthwork forms the dominant feature of this battery. Protecting its exterior slope is a dry moat -- the widest, longest, and most uniform moat on the mountain. 30-pounder Parrotts were standard armament here.

30-Pounder Battery Plan
George Kaiser's January 1863 illustration of the 30-pounder Battery shows many features of the earthwork.
1. You are here
2. Rampart
3. Magazine
4. Dry moat
5. Gun Platform

A 30-pounder Parrott rifle on siege carriage, typical of a gun mounted here.
Bore diameter: 4.2"
Length of tube: 136"
Weight of tube: 4200 lbs.
Weight of projectile: 29 lbs.
Range: 2200 yards (1 1/4-mile)