Battle of Lone Jack 2003-Artillery Article

I recently received your newsletter via email. I have looked at it in the past, but youre most recent photos of the night fire of the cannons was somewhat disturbing. I have done artillery for quite a few years now, and from your pictures in the edition of your newsletter I am not sure where to start on what I see. Does safety mean anything to you?

These pictures show a very unsafe cannon crew to say the least, to start with, you never work a gun in short sleeves, since it is night, it appears they are working under the light of candle? (Fire and powder goes together as well as Budweiser and powder) the round being fired was not just powder, if I had to guess I would say that it had a little steel wool in it. The thing about steel wool is this, you have a powder charge in the barrel already and now you are going to push steel against steel down a barrel on top of the powder?

While some may think this to be safe, there are too many ifs involved. What if the powder charge broke open upon being seated and while pushing steel against steel causes a spark in which sets off the powder charge prematurely while someones short sleeved unprotected arm has a rammer in his hand that is still in front of the barrel that has just sent his hand and arm sailing across the field. What a nice picture you could have gotten. Sorry if I seem a little unruly, but as National Civil War Artillery Instructor on safety, I have come to the realization that all it would take is for one idiot to make such a mistake and ruin this hobby for the rest of us. I dont think these pictures depict what we really are trying to tell the public or anyone else for that matter that sees them, that this is what we all do nor is it the correct or safest way to do it.

Mark