2 "new" Mullanes

[Woodenhead]

Sorry Alwion, no 'dis' intended. Because I want to firmly establish the idea that those Rifle shells with rectangular grooves where a lathe bump should be were simple rushed thru the production process, I'm continuing this thread with the photo's below. The first two are full length and base views of the previously shown Cold Harbor 20 pounder Read-Parrott. As you can see, it has a thick copper sabot (no apparent pre-rifling) and flat iron base knob. The second set of images below show an identical 20 pounder from Cold Harbor with a distinctive right-angle lathe key where the first one had a depressed rectangle. This is how they were intended to be made. I assume the mandrel would still impart the turning motion to the projectile without the key. I have the same missing and intact combination for 10 pounder Read-Parrotts I believe were made by Augusta in 1863 and sent to Virginia.

The point I want to make here is that this distinctive lathe key combined with a thick cast copper sabot is a marker to help identify a projectile as a 1863 product of the Augusta Arsenal. This applies to 10 and 20 pounder Read-Parrotts and 3 inch Read shells. I don't have the documentation in front of me but I recall they sent at least 1,000 of their projectiles to VA during that year. More were sent in the spring of 1864 but Augusta had reworked and improved most of their designs by then. Other foundries had somewhat similar lathe knobs but a side-by-side comparison will reveal distinct differences. All of this rambling goes toward my goal of being able to pick up just about any field-caliber projectile from Virginia and know from an examination of these kind of "markers" when the shell was made, and in many cases, who produced it. That's what Lee's Thunderbolts has morphed into. I'm counting on the feed-back from this passionate group of artillery enthusiast to help make it happen. Its what Tom would have wanted.

Woodenhead

[Woodenhead]

I forgot to mention the base view of the previous 20 pounder in color is missing its lathe dimple because it was deactivated thru the center.
W.H.

[alwion]

hi Ok I am not as good or knowledgeable about shells or computers to have done this correctly , so have created some interest but also some confusion. so let me try and fix this. 1st picture I posted of two shells was for comparison, , the one was a very mint example found in MD. The other 5 pictures are of the same shell, which I think may be an S&P from what I am understanding from the description. It has a very strong mold seam, and even shows a wire? holding the forms together, has a key which is rectangular, but is so flush could have been impressed, but think it was raised, and a very large vent hole. there is no flame groove.  all these pictures are the same shell, and was wanting to know if this fit the criteria of an s&P mullane

[alwion]

Now on to the fuse: yes looks like a wood and paper time fuse, but it is so hard neither can be scratched with metal. as a mineral collector, that hardness is tough to get in nature in 150 years, is that normal, rust iron diffusing into wood and a paper fuse? even petrified wood in nature is softer

[alwion]

OK on the the sabot. No, I can not confirm this was always part of this shell, was old rubber banded to it. I bought it because I loved the rifling, which I believe carl told me was a 12 groove CS cannon. There is no flame groove, and all 4 holes are the same size. there was another mullane with the exact same rifling and with a ATTACHED sabot at the auction which I was outbid on. I can't speak about the hole sizes, because this thread is the 1st time I looked at the holes, and I can't tell on my other attached mulanes if the ctr hole is the same, but the rifling was identical. didn't Dave attend the auction, maybe he knows who got the other mullane which I think was the same?

[Woodenhead]

Aliwon - here are some images that might be helpful. Samson & Pae were not the only makers of 3 inch Mullanes with large air vents on the side. The first Mullane pictured below appears to have an air vent on its side opposite the seam line. This style is the so-called "Long Mullane" apparently made during spring 1862 as they are often found in early battle sites on the Peninsula. This example was excavated by David Young at Malvern Hill. Absence of a flame groove reinforces early production date. Missing also is any trace of a lathe key. Note the top bourrelet is narrower than the bottom. This clearly was not made by Samson & Pae. I believe, but cannot yet prove, that these long Mullanes were cast by Rahm's Eagle Machine Works. They were the first foundry other than Tredegar to bill the Ordnance Bureau for supplying 3 inch Rifle shells during March, April and May of 1862. Rham supplied about 500 per month compared to an average of more than 2,000 per month by Tredegar.

The final 3 photos below show 3 different Samson & Pae Mullanes to aid your identification. The first full-length view shows the basic shape and design with a short nose and two bourrelets of equal size. Chiseled off the nose is the impression of a fat rectangular lathe key. They all have this feature. Hardly any or possibly none of the other VA Mullanes had lathe keys. The second nose view (Brandy Sta.) provides a better look at the shape of the typical S & P key impression. The fuze opening is the standard 0.9 inch diameter. The last full length view shows the side opposite the lathe key where the round air vent is apparent. I photo'ed this Gettysburg relic at the old Loyal Legion Museum in Philadelphia. One important thing to know about all the projectiles produced by Samson & Pae at this time is their casting, finishing and overall metal quality was excellent. I have never seen pronounced mold seams or sloppy casting. With its highly shilled workforce - many trained in Europe - Samson & Pae was recognized as the superior metal working shop in Richmond. Tredegar repeatedly tried to lure their employees away. When the Navy sought radical new designs like the Mallory and Milled-base bolts, they turned to Samson & Pae. In Jan. 1862, the Ordnance Bureau arranged for S & P to receive 31,000 pounds of good North Carolina pig iron to allow them to produce projectiles without having to rely upon Tredegar to supply them with their leftover iron like the other Richmond foundries. So Aliwon, when you examine a clean S & P shell, the quality of the iron and workmanship should be obvious.

I don't think the gash in the nose of your Mullane had anything to do with a lathe key. I suspect the metal peeled back when it impacted. Can you send a couple of full length views? What is the diameter of your fuze hole opening?

Woodenhead

[alwion]

Maybe this picture is better, same size bourrelets, large vent and definite lathe lug is 90 degrees from mold seam. That being said, there is also a casting flaw shown , so maybe not s&p. 26mm fuse hole ( 1 to 1 1/16") little hard to measure

[Woodenhead]

After all this back and forth, I'm beginning to believe you have what I theorize was a Samson & Pae Mullane. Your lathe key looks about the same as the ones I have shown. It was removed with a chisel. Bourrelets are pronounced and equal in size, and from what I can see of the three pins, they are noticeable thicker than those on Tredegar and long body Mullanes. Of course, the casting flaws on yours makes my prior exclamation about the superior quality of all S & P shells somewhat suspect, "I'm only human after all!"
With no flame groove, it is possible yours was among the first made in June 1862. Imagine the rush to get projectiles in the hands of the Rebel batteries as Lee was preparing to launch the bloody 7 Days battles at the end of the month. I would not be surprised if many of these shells bypassed inspection and went straight to the field. What made me think your shell was different was the distortions caused by taking a close-up with a wide angle lens. If you could back off the shell a couple more feet and shoot the full length again, that would help me match it to the others I photographed. My email is mike@odonnellpublications.com

W.H.

[alwion]

although alot of repairs, most of Bedal's collection was self hunted, anyone remember where?

[Woodenhead]

Sick and tired of all this Mullane talk yet? How about it Carl, et all. Too bad! Here is another distinctive pattern from the late summer, or early fall, of 1862. While not an especially rare style, it is not one of the common versions like Tredegar's or the long-nose types. These 3 inch Mullanes were the only ones cast nose-down in vertical molds. They have no mold seams and you can see where the air vent bump was chiseled flat on the base view of the second Mullane pictured below. Also unique to this pattern are the three pins cast integrally with the shells. It looks like short pieces of ramrod iron were positioned in the sand mold rather than drilled later as was usually the case. Obviously, the hole for the center bolt was drilled and tapped after the casting. Finding these with and without copper fuze plugs dates their production around the time Samson & Pae put the first copper plugs in 3 inch Rifle shells during August 1862. The timing of this event is well documented in contemporary production records and backed up by field excavations. That same August, Tredegar made the last of its 3 inch Rifle shells which were flush-bolt Mullanes with copper plugs. An unknown foundry made the illustrated style concurrently, apparently employing an existing Tredegar Mullane as a mold pattern. It is a crude match. The overall quality of the casting and the iron is notably poor. What stands out on both of these examples, and a few others I have examined, is the distinctive arrowhead or "bullet" shape of the narrow flame grooves.

I had the good fortune of digging the first Mullane shown below at Fredericksburg during the 1980s. It was the trip with Pete George I mentioned earlier where I found three salvaged shells together on the highest point behind Stonewall Jackson's lines where the Whitworth gun was placed during the battle. It had a wood fuze plug and is about the ugliest Mullane I have ever seen. Those small shops reliant upon Tredegar for their pig iron usually got the absolute worst left-overs. A look at the base view makes it clear that the pins were cast with the shell. The second Mullane below looks a little better. It was found in the Shenandoah Valley (probably Jackson's spring 1862 Valley Campaign) and now belongs to Jerry Imperio.

An important point I want to make here is that this crude pattern also fits the criteria for being a product of Samson & Pae. Both styles were made around the late summer 1862 introduction of copper fuze plugs, and examples of each are found with and without. My determination that the finely cast pattern well-documented and illustrated earlier in this thread was made by that respected Richmond foundry will remain supposition until one turns up with letter "H" or "C" stamped into an upper bourrelet, or initials "S & P" struck into the body. Samson & Pae were marking a limited number of their shells at that time. S & P was recognized for the quality of their work. In early 1862, the Ordnance Bureau went out of its way to make a large supply of good iron ore from the North Carolina mines available to the firm. Tredegar had a near monopoly on the output of the Virginia mines.

Evidence that the two examples pictured below might represent the efforts of Samson & Pae are the shaped air vents. Very similar air vents were cut into a series of rare 3.5 inch Mullanes produced by Samson & Pae at this time. Furthermore, the fuze plug in Jerry Imperio's Mullane, below, looks exactly like the earliest fuze plugs found in late 1862 Samson & Pae field ammunition, i.e., thin flange with spanner holes drilled all the way through. That could be explained by the possibility that Samson & Pae alone were manufacturing the copper plugs used by several shops at that time.

[Woodenhead]

As a follow-up to my previous posting, here are two examples of 3.5 inch Mullanes cast and finished by Samson & Pae at the same time their 3 inch Mullanes were made. Note the narrow bullet-shaped flame grooves here resemble those on the previously illustrated 3 inch shells. It doesn't necessarily follow that S & P was responsible for both patterns, but it has to be considered in our ongoing pursuit of who made what shells. {For the reasons previously stated, I believe emike's 2nd Mullane shown at the start of this thread was an example of S & P's 3 inch with the Tenn sabot.] Thanks to the monthly production records available in the Citizens File, we know for a fact that S & P made these 3.5 inch projectiles as replacements for the imported Britten ammunition. Naval ordnance records list a limited quantity of CS copies of the lead cup Britten shells was supplied by Samson & Pae at the start of 1862 for $2.50 a piece. Col. Biemeck has found at least one example. Then, on July 15, 1862, the respected Richmond foundry billed the Ordnance Bureau for making "13 Blakely Shot," followed by another 12 on August 18th. Again, the price was $2.50 each. The second projectile pictured below is one of those 25 Mullane bolts. Note the unnecessary flame groove filed into the bottom edge. No more solid iron bolts were ordered because they had been deemed useless for all rifled field artillery. Extremely rare, this example came from Gettysburg, while additional bolts are owned by West Point and the Atlanta Historical Society. Dickey/George 1993 Edition (page 210) shows a similar 3.5 inch bolt excavated in eastern Tennessee. One fine 1980s day, I was taking pictures at Nick Harris' Falmouth relic shop when an unknown digger came in with two plastic buckets filled with mostly Confederate shells for sale from the Brandy Station area. When he dumped the contents on the wood floor, another of these S & P bolts rolled free. He didn't know what it was.

The first Mullane shell pictured below (see 1993 Dickey/George page 211) was excavated at Brandy Station by Steve Hall about 30 years ago. Typical of Samson & Pae's high production values, it was finely finished with deep-cut lathing on the bearing surface and most of its bottom machined smooth. [Bottom of their 3.5 inch bolt, below, finished in similar manner] Cast nose-down in a vertical mold, the seam line is obvious about 2/3 of the way up the ogive. It had a thick lathe key broken off close to the (wooden plug) fuze opening. Apparently, all of the bolts and the first of these shells had the typical long bolt and wooden dowel. However, surviving intact examples suggest that many of these shells made later had flush bolts securing the copper disc sabots. At this time, S & P was making many large caliber Mullanes and Brooke projectiles with flush bolts. Note the narrow flame groove filed into the bottom edge. On September 15, 1862, they billed the govt. for casting the first 16 of these followed by another 133 by the end of the month. By Nov. 1862, Samson & Pae had switched to making 3.5 inch shells utilizing Dr. Read's cast-in cup. Production of the S & P 3.5 inch Reads continued until late 1864 when metal shortages forced a halt. At that time the Blakely Rifles remaining with the Army of Northern Virginia were retired to the reserve yard in Richmond. Gen. Wade Hampton's request for their return in Feb. 1865 was denied, according to the Ordnance officers, because of a lack of the proper ammunition.

[CarlS]

Mike,

Wonderful info and thanks for the images of some really rare and nice examples.  Very interesting information and thank you for taking the time to post it.

[Dave the plumber]

Mike,        this is all good stuff. As I said to you in Richmond, i'm amazed at the volumes of  information that survived the war and the burning of Richmond. I would have thought, at the fall of the Confederacy, that all these records basically would have been worthless as part of the lost cause, as everyone wanted to rebuild and just get on with their lives ; not save shipping and production records from the war.
         Thank you for enlightening us, and putting all this information into a chronological order. Finish "Lee's Thunderbolts", I'll buy a copy !!

[Woodenhead]

I want to finish the story of the 3.5 inch shells made by the Rebs for the imported Blakely Rifles. Below are three views of an intact flush-bolt Mullane from Chuck Jones' excellent collection photographed during the 1990s while working on his Fuzes book. It looks like it was dug about 50 years ago. It doesn't have Samson & Pae's deep-cut lathing, like the previously illustrated 3.5 inch Mullane, but not all S & P field projectiles (10, 20, 30 pdr. Read-Parrotts and their 3.35 inch Reads for VA State rifled smoothbores) included this feature. It did have their distinctive large lathe key (broken-off) adjacent to the fuze hole smooth for a wooden plug. On the nose view you can see the circular mold seam about 2/3 way up the ogive from a vertical pour. Same seam placement on the previous 3.5 inch shell. The elite Richmond foundry billed the govt. for the first 149 of these in September 1862, followed by 177 "12 pdr. Blakely Rifle shell" (at $2.50 each) during October. Most, and possibly all, of these had the Tennessee sabot. A majority had wood fuze plugs. An unknown quantity of the first ones had long pins and center bolts. We know that from the one intact 3.5 Mullane bolt at West Point. Also, some of the excavated 3.5 inch Mullane shells had extra long pins strongly suggesting the missing center bolt was long. Only Samson & Pae made 3.5 inch ammunition in Virginia. A sufficient number of invoices from S & P, Tredegar, Rahm and the other foundries have survived to confirm this.

At some point in late October or early November of 1862, Samson & Pae made a new pattern for a 3.5 inch Read shell to replace the obsolete Mullane design. Remember, at the end of August 1862 the Richmond Arsenal announced the official replacement of the disc sabot with Read's cast-in cup. Sometimes a month or two was required for the foundries to make such transitions. The description and cost of the new 3.5 inch Reads was the same as the Mullanes so we have to look for other clues to date the change-over. It had already happened by Dec. 3, 1862, when Samson & Pae wrote Maj. Stansbury, then commanding the Arsenal, "Having contracts for shells with the Ordnance Dept. which have copper cups," please send 10,000 pounds of copper "to enable us to execute our orders for these projectiles." Production totaling two or three thousand  continued almost every month until late 1864. All had the same pronounced lathe key (never intentionally broken-off) adjacent to the fuze hole and none had segmented interiors. A very similar looking smooth-sided 3.5 inch Read was made by the Augusta Arsenal beginning around mid-1863. That version never had a lathe key and the interior is always segmented. A few of those Deep South projectiles were fired in Virginia by the Army of Southern VA and North Carolina when they reinforced the Army of Northern VA at Petersburg.

Note: the last 3.5 inch Mullane pictured below was one of two dug at Brandy Station by the Great Syd Kerksis during the 1950s or 60s. It is typical S & P product with lathe key, flush-bolt and evidence of deep-cut lathing on the bearing surface peeking thru the rust.