Patrick Riley's King Howitzer
Fort Meigs, 2006
Surviving King Howitzer
West Point Military Academy, West Point, New York
British 8-Pounder
The
2 ¾-Inch
Sources:
Don
K. Berkebile, “The 2 ¾-Inch
Don
K. Berkebile, “A Note On King Howitzers, “Military Collector &
Historian,” the Journal of The Company of Military Historians, Vol. XVII, No.
4
This interesting, yet little known piece of U.S. ordnance has, for a number of years, been an object of curiosity and mystery to several COMPANY members. Our attention was first brought to this artillery piece at the 1953 COMPANY meeting in Philadelphia, where Herb Glass exhibited one he had borrowed from the West Point Museum. Shortly afterward efforts were begun to uncover the history of this howitzer. While the story is not yet complete, many interesting facts have been learned; perhaps other COMPANY members will discover the remainder of the details. To date, nine surviving originals have been located, all in government collections. From these nine examples we learn that there were two distinct types, and probably two variations of one type. The lighter type, of which four remain, is approximately 16 inches long, has a bore of 2.85 inches and weighs 38 pounds. The heavier gun is nearly an inch longer, has a 3-inch bore and weighs 60 pounds. Both are cast of bronze and have chambered bores. It may be safe to assume, from evidence which will be mentioned later, that all bores were originally 2.85 inches. The light howitzers have slightly raised pans, and differ in a number of ways from the heavier ones. The breech of the light tubes is smaller in diameter than the muzzle section and no sights were ever attached to them. Several of these are marked "D. King, Germantown," have "U.S." on each trunnion and a "U.S." on top the barrel. They also have the abbreviation "No." on top, with no number following, and the large letters "Z.C." chiseled in. What these letters signify is still a mystery. One of the light howitzers, while similar in pattern to the others, is unmarked, has a slightly different pan and smaller trunnions. This may be either the earlier 1792 type or possibly a foreign piece from which the U.S. versions were copied. The five heavier howitzers all bear the inscription "D. King, Philada. 1793." All of them either have sights or show evidence of having had them, and one has a large "U.S." chiseled on top between the trunnions. The sights, made from iron, appear to be an afterthought since the rear one is set into the breech reinforce in such a manner as to partly obliterate the word "Philada." All bear a number, on one trunnion, in Roman numerals. The pans on these resembled those of the light howitzers, but rather than being raised, were chiseled into their surface. Each has a pronounced indentation on the under side, just forward of the vent and at right angles to the bore, possibly due to the manner in which they were mounted. Many of the surviving specimens can be traced back to Watervliet Arsenal, the first being delivered from there to West Point in 1842, while two have been received at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma, as late as 1935. Possibly all nine now in collections were once stored there. None of the howitzers have any authenticated histories, except the tradition that one of Fort Sill's pieces saw service at Fallen Timbers.
It is interesting to note that the Ordnance Section at the International Exhibition in Philadelphia in 1876 displayed nine "3-inch" howitzers, probably the same nine now known, and the only ones extant. Comparatively little is known about Daniel King, the founder of the howitzers. In 1759 he was located at the upper end of 2nd Street in Philadelphia, and some time later at 68 South Front Street. In 1776 he was appointed to the Committee of Safety and is known to have cast a number of cannon of various types. Still later, on the ratification of the Constitution, King entered a float in the parade held in Philadelphia on 4 July 1788, in celebration of the event. On his float was built a small furnace which was in full blast throughout the procession, during which time Mr. King finished a 3-inch howitzer. At the end of the parade he mounted this gun and fired it along with the other artillery pieces on Union Green. Small cannon of this type developed the ancestors of the mountain howitzer of a somewhat later day. The heavy, horse-drawn guns could not always be transported to the positions where they were in demand; further, the heavier guns had greater range than was actually needed in close wilderness fighting. These circumstances resulted in a slight trend toward a light piece that could be strapped to a packsaddle and carried on horseback, and several variations of such light cannon were in use at least as early as the Revolutionary War.
On 30 November 1776, Major General Schuyler requested, for the Army of the Northern Department, a number of light cannon on traveling carriages, among them, four 3-inch howitzers. The following June, General Fraser, with the advance guard of Burgoyne's expedition, marched with four light 6-pounders and four light 3-pounders, the latter "constructed for being occasionally carried on horseback."6 Three of the 3-pounder guns are still to be seen, one in the collection of Fort Ticonderoga, one in the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania, and the third in the Smithsonian Institution. The first is thought to be mounted on its original carriage. The next reference to a cannon which may have been one of this type is found in a communication from Colonel Josiah Harmar to Major John Hamtramck, dated at Ft. Washington, 27 August 179(?). He wrote, "I shall expect Major Dougherty here shortly; when I shall take his opinion about a carriage for the howitz; perhaps it will be most advisable to send it to head quarters to be mounted, as you have a sufficiency of artillery without it, [at] Post Vincennes." We can only surmise that this might have been a 2 3/4-inch howitzer. At least there seems to be a problem about how to mount the piece; had it been a more common 5 1/2" or 8" howitzer, one would be inclined to think it would probably have been mounted on a conventional howitzer carriage, causing no further difficulty.
In March of 1792, with St. Clair's defeat on the Wabash still a poignant memory, Anthony Wayne took command of the newly organized Legion of the United States. He lost no time in procuring equipment and supplies, and on 31 May the amount of $442.67 was entered in the quartermaster records "to pay for 16 Howitzers & 16 Carriages." Considering the small cost of the pieces, there can be little doubt that they were the 2 3/4-inch howitzers; besides, the number is in agreement with that shown in a missive Wayne had sent Secretary of War Knox, on 27 July 1792. "Pray what has become of our sixteen little Howitz's," he inquired, "we have plenty of round pebbles that will answer in the place of shot for practicing and our Artillery men--have everything yet to learn." Eight of the tubes were received at Pittsburgh a short time later, for Wayne acknowledged their arrival on 10 August, noting that they were "without wheels or Carriages." Considering the eagerness with which Wayne awaited the howitzers, there can be little doubt that he was not long in putting his artillerymen to practice with them. Writing Knox on 13 September he said he was delighted with them, but suggested that should more howitzers be contemplated, they should be made with bores an inch larger, so that the hand could be introduced into the bore to place the charge of powder in the chamber, thus making loading both easier and faster. Knox quickly replied that it was not necessary to insert the hand into the bore in loading, advising that he would forward some samples of fixed ammunition, and that 2500 shells were already on the way. Unfortunately the gunners soon found that the design of the little howitzers was inadequate, the trunnions either bending or breaking off with the first discharges.
Sometime during the summer Wayne sent several of the damaged pieces back to Philadelphia13 and asked that replacements be cast. Knox assured him on 12 October that they would be replaced; in fact an entry for four additional howitzers dated 31 August in the quartermaster record book seems to indicate that Knox had already made arrangements to have the replacements cast. In view of the fact that the greatest weakness of the howitzers lay in the trunnions, and since surviving examples of the light howitzers bear two different trunnion diameters, it is logical to believe that the last four pieces cast in 1792 had the heavier, though still insufficient, trunnions. Following the entry of the four howitzers, and two carriages for same, there is under the same date an item of $11.00 for "lettering howitzer carriages & painting covers." Another entry mentions "white lead and Prussion[sic] blue for carriages," but since the term carriage was generally used at that time in reference to anything with wheels, it is not certain that this paint was used on the 2 3/4-inch howitzer carriages. The most complete account of the trials of the light howitzers is found in a letter General Wayne wrote to the Secretary of War on 15 January 1793. Here, too, is the first reference to the heavier type: The Gentlemen of the Artillery have uniformly been out of temper with the little howitz -- in fact the trunnions have generally give way -- being(?) no proper proportion to the Caliber --& the metal of an improper & infamous quality -- were those pieces one third heavier with iron & every thing in due proportion -- they wou'd be superior to any other kind of Ordnance yet invented for the Nature of our service. I must therefore request that you will think of this business & order Sixteen more of the proper Construction & proportions[--] let the piece be Sixty pounds weight in place of 37 or 39--& the Irons &c in proportion so the ... Carriage & all complete may weigh from 212 to 224 lbs net which will not be too heavy for a pack horse: From your letter of the 5th Instant I shou'd suppose that Colo. Procter must be at or near Pittsburgh its proper that he shou'd be a witness of the defects of those pieces--it wou'd appear that in proving them, they were placed in the ground dismounted therefore neither the Carriages or trunnions had any trial, otherwise the trunnions wou'd most certainly have given way -- for they actually will not bear 4 Ounces of powder with a single three pound shot -- this has been fully proved yesterday -- heretofore they were only fired with powder except those sent to Philadelphia disabled last summer one of which gave way in the same manner with about the same quantity of powder & a single three pound shot. I really feel interested in having those pieces replaced but let them be tried in Phila. before they are sent forward ...Regarding carriages for the howitzers, all that is known is that they were a type of wheeled carriage. The first carriages were too lightly ironed,16 and experiments were going on from time to time in an effort to improve them. Wayne, writing to Knox again from Legion Ville on 31 January, tells of Colonel Procter's work with the carriages: In the interim the Colonel is interestedly engaged in making some improvements upon the new carriage for one of the Howitz--that remains fit for tender use--& I have not a single doubt, but that he will produce a conviction to the Artillery Gentlemen -- that those kind of pieces are the best calculated for our present service than any that have heretofore been invented; they only want -- a proper reenforce & a proportional trunnion, with a small alteration in the Carriage to render them very complete!
17) Three weeks later, at the request of Knox, Wayne submitted a report discussing the defects of the howitzers. This report has not been found, but on the same date, Wayne requested that the Secretary order sixteen new howitzers, of the same caliber18 but of a new design, "agreeable to the enclosed proportions." This plan has not been found either, but from examination of existing pieces, it is obvious that it must have showed a design like that of the heavier howitzers. Wanye's fondness19 for the little howitzers, which by now he was affectionately calling his "Flying Howitzers," was again evidenced by his statement that they were "the only kind of Artillery than[sic] can be transported with ease & used with effect against savages in a Mountainous Country cover'd with Wood & without the benefit of Roads."
20) Numerous bits of correspondence dated early in March mention the new lot of howitzers to be cast, yet they shed little light on the matter. They do make clear the fact that Colonel Procter was much involved with the howitzers, and was probably more familiar with their use and construction than any other person. Wayne wished that Procter could be in Philadelphia with Knox "in order to superintend & expedite the Casting & marking (?) the improved howitzers," and he informed Knox that Procter could give him any necessary information that was needed respecting them. The Colonel, in the meantime was instructing the young, inexperienced artillery officers in the use of the howitzers, and in the work of the Ordnance Laboratory, where they were preparing the shells and portfires. On 9 March an entry was made in the quartermaster record book estimating the cost of the 16 new howitzers at 144 pounds, and the cost of 16 carriages at exactly the same figure.23 It seems unlikely that the cost of a tube should equal exactly the cost of the carriage. Possibly the clerk entering the items received only a total figure, as seen on the first lot of cannon, and wanting to show two separate items, divided the total in half. A month later, on 9 April, he made an entry of 30 pounds for "3000 fuses for 2 3/4" howitzers." The work was completed by early summer, for Knox advised on 28 June that all howitzers had been forwarded. On 8 August General Wayne acknowledged the arrival of ten of them at Hobson's Choice near Ft. Washington, and informed Secretary Knox that the damaged pieces of the 1792 contract were being made serviceable once again by "hooping & making Iron trunnions" for them.
24) After August of 1793 the subject of the howitzers disappears from the Wayne correspondence. A general inventory of military stores, however, dated 16 December 1793, shows seven 2 3/4" howitzers on hand at Philadelphia.25 Of these, two were mounted, two were dismounted, and three were damaged, probably the ones sent back during the summer of 1792. The inventory fails to account for the balance of the cannon, but does list "16 howitzer packsaddles with pillows," on hand at Ft. Washington. New tubes, carriages, and packsaddles appear to have been ready for the coming campaign. As in the case of the lighter howitzers, no details have been found concerning the new carriages. Wayne had earlier mentioned wheels, and later evidence indicates they were mounted on a small sort of field carriage;26 thus a reasonable assumption would be that the carriage was a smaller, and perhaps modified version of a regular howitzer carriage. Toussard, in 1809 illustrates a howitzer carriage in which the gun may also serve as a mortar. This is effected by having a removable board spanning two fixed transoms under the breech. With the board in place the quoin rests thereon, positioning the tube at any of the more moderate angles; removing the quoin and resting the breech on the board, the piece is elevated to 30°, and by removing the board the angle of fire then rests at 45°, allowing it to serve as a mortar.27 With the tube on[sic] in this latter position it is obvious that the under side of the barrel strikes the forward transom, which was probably ironed to prevent excessive wear, in exactly the same location where the original pieces are so deeply dented. The entire unit, tube and carriage, was intended to be loaded on single horse.28 Whether this practice was followed has not been shown. No inventories have been found revealing what items of equipment accompanied the Legion as it moved out of Greene Ville on 28 July 1794.
Some historians do not concede that the list included artillery pieces, saying there was no need for artillery at Fallen Timbers, yet who could foresee in July just where or how the campaign would end. An entry, moreover, in the little known journal of Thomas Underwood, apparently a militia artillery officer, attests to the fact that artillery was used in the Fallen Timbers fight. Under the date of 20 August 1794, he wrote: "on the margin of the river, Lieutenant Percy Pope commanded Capt. John Prices company of artillery and he was the first officer that fired a shot from our howitzers. Several of the first shots was with shell then he commenced with grape and cannister shot."29 Additional references from the journal of an unidentified officer, thought possibly to be General James Wilkinson himself, allude to pieces which seem to be the 2 3/4-inch howitzer.30 An entry of 23 August records the funeral ceremony held in honor of those killed at Fallen Timbers; after the dead march was beaten, "3 times 3 shells" were "discharged from the Granade mortars," during which firing three artillerists were badly burned. Although this could refer to a Coehorn mortar, no other references have been brought to light that indicate Wayne had any pieces of that nature. Several days later, on 27 August, as the returning army "gained the point opposite Fort Defiance at 8. O Clk and as the C in C [Commander in Chief] approached the miamis[sic] River, Capt. D B [DeButts] his A D C [Aide de Camp] rode forward and desired Major Hunt to salute him, which was done from the little howitzers."
31) Here is evidence that some of the cannon were also at Ft. Defiance; were these perhaps the ones of 1792 that had been repaired? With their campaign service now behind them the howitzers seemed destined for a quiet life of garrison duty. Knox, writing General Wayne on 31 March 1794, had previously given some hint of this when he directed Wayne to "order as respectable a detachment as you can to take post at Fort Massac32 and erect a strong redoubt and block house with some suitable cannon from Ft. Washington." There is some question as to whether any of the "Flying Howitzers" were immediately sent to Massac, yet at least one of them probably put in a long "hitch" at that post, for in May of 1808 an Englishman touring America saw "On the esplanade, ... a small brass howitzer, and a brass caronade two pounder, both mounted on field carriages."33 Proceeding southward, he reached Ft. Adams34 in August where he found two more "small brass howitzers mounted 'en barbette.'" Correspondence of February and March 179(?) reveals that eight 2 3/4" howitzers, released from the area from Ft. Washington to Defiance, were earmarked for use at the posts of Michilimackinac, Detroit, Miamis and Niagara.35 Lying scattered at various posts in 1802, a total of 39 appear on the general inventory, three more than the 1792-3 contracts specified.36 Therefore at least three pieces are of unknown origin. Were these foreign cannon of a similar nature, or were they tubes of the same pattern cast by other founders during the Revolutionary War?37 These questions , and others, regarding carriages and possible use during the War of 1812 or other wars, remain unanswered. Will the answers be found in some old journals, as yet undiscovered, in War Department records, or in some fragile papers written in the hand of Colonel Procter? Perhaps some reader may someday find the clues and be able to complete the story.
REFERENCES
1) The nine pieces are distributed as follows: West Point Museum, two light; Carlisle Barracks, one light; Fort Sill Museum, two heavy, one light; Smithsonian Institution, one heavy; U.S.Naval Academy Museum, one heavy; Annapolis Naval Station, one heavy.
2) "No. 47--Nine 3-inch 5 pounder howitzers, ..., made by D. King, Germantown, Pa.," Report of the Board on Behalf of United States Executive Departments at the International Exhibition held at Phila., Pa., 1876, I, p. 679. The caliber is rather contradictory here, the "5 pounder" being obviously an error.
3) Further confusion is added to the story here by the fact that there were two Daniel Kings in Philadelphia. In the 1790 census Daniel King, Jr., brassfounder, is listed as living at the So. Front Street address. Which one cast guns in 1776 has not been determined, but it would seem that the father was probably too old to be working in 1793.
4) J. L. Bishop, A History of American Manufactures, 2 vols., Philadelphia, 1864, I, p. 574.
5) Bulletin of the Fort Ticonderoga Museum, III, No. 4, p. 190.
6) Bulletin of the Fort Ticonderoga Museum, VIII, No. 1, p. 7.
7) Of the Ticonderoga cannon all is thought to be original except the wheels and axle. A replica carriage has recently been constructed for the Smithsonian piece, using that of the Ticonderoga as a pattern.
8) G. Thornbrough, editor, Outpost on the Wabash, 1787-91, Indianapolis, 1957, p. 250.
9) Estimate of Monies wanting in the QMD, Vol. 148, National Archives, Record Group 93.
10) Richard C. Knopf, Anthony Wayne, A Name in Arms, Pittsburgh, 1960, p. 50, hereafter Knopf, Wayne.
11) Ibid., p. 65.
12) Ibid., p. 104.
13) Ibid., p. 172; also, American State Papers, Military Affairs, I, p. 52.
14) Estimate of monies wanting in the QMD, Vol. 148, NA, RG 93.
15) Knopf, Wayne, pp. 171-172.
16) The bore size and powder charge of the piece, in comparison to its weight, cause the recoil to be out of proportion; thus the iron of the carriage had to be comparatively heavy. In recent experiments with the piece mounted on a light "grasshopper" mount, the recoil caused the tube and carriage to fly end over end through the air. Similarly, Louis de Tousard noted in The American Artillerists Companion, 3 vols., Philadelphia, 1809, II, p. 168, that, "Small howitzers, called a bombetters, cast by order of Marshall de Maillebois, when commanding the army of Italy, were found in the arsenal of Antibes: they proved unmanageable, not so much on account of the uncertainty of direction as from the percussion which the man experienced in the firing, notwithstanding the cushions against which he supported the recoil."
17) Knopf, Wayne, p. 179.
18) Ibid., p. 191. The fact that he ordered them of the same caliber tends to indicate that the larger bore of the heavier howitzers must have been the result of excessive wear, since only the heavier ones were capable of much service.
19) Wayne appears to have been somewhat obsessed with his howitzers, as he continually praised their merits. An unknown antagonist speaks sneeringly of Wayne in his journal of the campaign, From Greene Ville to Fallen Timbers, edited by D. L. Smith, Indianapolis, 1952. Speaking of a dinner hour discussion on 1 September 1794, concerning 10-inch shells, he writes, "to the astonishment of all present he [Wayne] added 'indeed they are [at] best but harmless things'--this observation after he had been for two years harping upon the irresistable effects of his Granades, ..." p. 314.
20) Knopf, Wayne, p. 192.
21) Ibid., p. 194.
22) In the collections of the Smithsonian Institution is a 3-pounder shell unearthed at Legion Ville. It has a 7/16 inch fuze hole and approximately a 1/4-inch wall.
23) Estimate of Monies wanting in the QMD, Col. 148, NA, RG 93.
24) Knopf, Wayne, p. 264
25) American State Papers, Military Affairs, I, p. 52.
26) William Stevens, The Young Artillerists Pocket Companion, 3 vols., New York, 1797. While this work does not mention any howitzers of less than 5 1/2 inches, one copy is known with a written entry which states that howitzers with bores less the 5 1/2 inches will be mounted on carriages similar to those of the light 3-pounders.
27) John Muller, in his Treatise of Artillery, London, 1780, wrote of this versatility of howitzers, and wondered why they were not more used at that time. Muller wrote that "the shells may do execution likewise as shots, and besides grapes of shots, or shells, might be fired out of them to more advantage than out of guns, especially in a siege where the distance is but small; ..." Again, Muller wrote, "As howitzers are easier carried from one place to another than mortars, ... the use of the former would be more convenient than the latter in all cases, except in throwing shells upon powder magazines." pp. 83-84.
28) Knopf, Wayne, p. 171. The carriage was expected to weigh about 160 lbs. Tousard, Artillerists Companion, II, p. 170, wrote that the French made use of a wheeled carriage weighing about 120 lbs., which was also carried on the back of an animal.
29) Thomas T. Underwood, Journal of Thomas T. Underwood, Cincinatti, 1945, p. 18.
30) D. L. Smith, editor, From Greene Ville to Fallen Timbers, Indianapolis, 1952, p. 302.
31) Ibid., p. 307.
32) Knopf, Wayne, p. 317. Ft. Massac was situated on the Ohio River near Paducah, Kentucky.
33) F. Cuming, Sketches of a Tour to the Western County, Pittsburgh, 1810, pp. 251-252.
34) Ibid., p. 300. Ft. Adams was located on the Mississippi about forty miles below Natchez.
35) Knopf, Wayne, pp. 479-480.
36) American State Papers, Military Affairs, I, p. 157.
37) They appear to be foreign cannon of a similar nature. Quarterly Returns of the Civil War period, Classification of Ordnance & Ordnance Stores, still carried the 3-pounder howitzers. Also under foreign patterns are listed 3-pounder bronze howitzers, origin not given.
A NOTE ON KING HOWITZERS:
At the 1965 Annual Meeting of The company, Member Robert Mulligan provided some interesting addenda to the article on the 2 3/4 inch U. S. (King) Howitzer, which appeared in the MC&H XIII, pp. 1-7. In reading Catharina V. R. Bonney's A Legacy of historical Gleanings, he noted an account by Colonel Solomon Van Rensselaer of the New York volunteers, and a veteran of Wayne's 1794 campaign, who had seen two guns which almost certainly must have been "King" howitzers. In early October of 1812, Van Renssalaer was permitted to make several visits to the British headquarters at Fort George, opposite Fort Niagara on Lake Ontario, to attend to the wants of American prisoners of war. Of this experience, he wrote the following: On my last visit there, the very day before the action, while returning to my boat, accompanied by Col. McDonald, Major Evans and other officers, attracted by the appearance of a body of Indians a short distance to our left, I expressed a desire to obtain a nearer view, as I might know some of them. This gallant and accomplished officer immediately led the way. On our route we passed two beautiful brass grasshoppers, or howitzers, of a small size calculated to be carried on packhorses, the wheels about as large as those of a wheelbarrow. I remarked, "these at all events are old acquaintances of mine." They had formerly belonged to Wayne's army, and were used against the Indians, in 1794, in which battle he was engaged. After the defeat of the Indians, these pieces had been left at Detroit, where as Col. McDonald stated, they were taken by Gen. Brock and brought down, with a view of being sent to England, as a curiosity. I observed in a jocular manner that I felt partial to those pieces, and we must try to take them back. He replied in the same pleasant humor, that they must try to defend them. Little did he suspect that every thing was arranged to make that trial, or that the next day, he and his chivalrous chief were doomed to fall, and I to be grievously wounded. These brass howitzers were among the British trophies of victory at Detroit on Hull's surrender.
1) How accurately Van Renssalaer observed in comparing the wheel size to wheelbarrow wheels is uncertain, but some of the older type wheels, which turned on gudgeons, have been measured and found to be from 20 to 22 inches in diameter. This is about nine inches smaller than the wheels on the replicas carriages, although the total weight of the latter compares favorably with the original weight given by Wayne. It should be remembered that much of the weight in my carriage is in the wheels.
Don H. Berkebile
1) Catharina V. R. Bonney, A Legacy of historical Gleanings, Albany, 1875, I, p. 252