Also known as: siege mortar.
| Trajectory | Very high angle, plunging fire |
|---|---|
| Mount | A solid bed, not a wheeled carriage |
| Range | Set chiefly by the powder charge |
| Use | Siege and seacoast bombardment |
High-angle fire
The mortar was the shortest of the cannon, a thick, stubby piece fixed at a high angle to throw a heavy shell in a steep, plunging arc that dropped behind parapets and into the interior of works. It rested on a heavy bed rather than a wheeled carriage, and its elevation being fixed, the range was set mainly by the powder charge.
Mortars from the small coehorn to the great 13-inch seacoast piece were the weapons of bombardment in the sieges of the war.
On this site
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.