Double-Barreled Cannon
"Georgia dentist, builder and mechanic, John Gilleland, came up with the novel idea of a cannon that would fire two cannon balls simultaneously. The two balls would be connected by a chain and the resulting projectile would whirl through the air, mowing down attacking Union soldiers like a scythe cuts wheat.
The gun was first tested in April of 1862 aimed at a target of two upright poles. The powder was applied unevenly in both barrels, and casting imperfections in the barrels meant that when the gun was fired, one ball exploded out ahead of the other ball. The chain connecting the balls broke, and the balls not only missed their target, but went off to tear up an acre of ground, mowing down some saplings and ripping into a cornfield according to witnesses.
The next shot tore through a thicket of pine trees leading one witness to compare it to a cyclone or a mowing machine.
On the third shot, the connecting chain again broke and one cannon ball demolished a nearby cabin, knocking down its chimney, while the second veered off and killed an unlucky cow munching grass that happened to be standing in the wrong place at the wrong time.
But possibly most amazingly of all, Gilleland considered the test firing a success. He tried to interest leaders of the Confederate States, but they wisely passed on the idea, evidently coming to the conclusion they were already suffering enough casualties."
CLOSE UP OF BARREL
"Georgia dentist, builder and mechanic, John Gilleland, came up with the novel idea of a cannon that would fire two cannon balls simultaneously. The two balls would be connected by a chain and the resulting projectile would whirl through the air, mowing down attacking Union soldiers like a scythe cuts wheat.
The gun was first tested in April of 1862 aimed at a target of two upright poles. The powder was applied unevenly in both barrels, and casting imperfections in the barrels meant that when the gun was fired, one ball exploded out ahead of the other ball. The chain connecting the balls broke, and the balls not only missed their target, but went off to tear up an acre of ground, mowing down some saplings and ripping into a cornfield according to witnesses.
The next shot tore through a thicket of pine trees leading one witness to compare it to a cyclone or a mowing machine.
On the third shot, the connecting chain again broke and one cannon ball demolished a nearby cabin, knocking down its chimney, while the second veered off and killed an unlucky cow munching grass that happened to be standing in the wrong place at the wrong time.
But possibly most amazingly of all, Gilleland considered the test firing a success. He tried to interest leaders of the Confederate States, but they wisely passed on the idea, evidently coming to the conclusion they were already suffering enough casualties."
CLOSE UP OF BARREL