central_va, #45:
"Welcome to Free Republic, you will have no problem here.
We've had some knock down drag out fights over the years on this very subject.
Soon the Lincoln Coven will descend on your thread.
But don't worry it won't be pulled." HMS Surprise, #81: "Klan? You sir, are a MORON."
In fact, the Pro-Confederate Lost Causer division outnumbers pro-unionists here several to one.
And every few weeks they post yet another thread hoping to rewrite history to suit their political agenda.
It's one more Pickett's Charge, once more the old ghosts rise up from Seminary Ridge to assault the Cemetery and win the battle that will justify all their ancestors' dreams...
And this time will be different...
This time Ewell will take Culp's Hill, and throw the Union into confusion.
This time JEB Stuart's cavalry will penetrate the Union rear opposite Pickett's Charge, throwing the Union into chaos.
This time Alexander's artillery will fire into the Union forces, not over their heads.
And this time even Old Longstreet will make his end-run to the south, cutting off the Union's retreat and utterly destroying their forces... HuuRaw!
Yes, this time... the Confederacy will win the battle, will win the war, and most important, will win the debate against those damnyankee "Lincoln Coven" Union defenders.
They may be few in number, but they can't be let escape unharmed... ;-)
But here's the thing, HMS Surprise, your thread can and will be pulled, even here on Free Republic, if or when our pro-Confederate propagandists, having lost the battle in the field, and lost the debate on the merits of historical facts and reason, now turn to the only weapon they have left: their Rebel Yells of insults, threats and foul language against those who won't let them dream their dreams and tell their lies in peace...
Generals' order: move out of the woods.
Troops line up:
Divisions form up. Dress those ranks!:
Once more, assault the cemetery:
Let me reiterate, pull the damn thread. If your argument descends to “klan” I will apply the appropriate moniker. Moron fits like a glove. The South lost a war, America lost its soul. The proof is all around you. Except for this issue all here agree, but when people point to the nexus of what we have today, many run and hide their brain. A. Lincoln was not a Marxist. The Civil War and its aftermath paved the way for the marxist/socialist/statist agenda. Tell me, without trying to scare me with electronic bulletin board hokum, how that was a good thing?
This time Alexander's artillery will fire into the Union forces, not over their heads.The way I understand it the fuzes were defective:
A week after the battle, Lt James Dinwiddie working for the Ordnance Dept conducted tests on the various fuses supplied from around the Confederacy at the Richmond Labratories. His findings showed that while those fuses manufactured in Charleston and Selma were made of eceptional quality, the rate of burn for those fuses was markedly less. In his findings compared with those fuses as previously supplied to the ANV from the Richmond arsenals it was found the fuses from Charleston and Selma burned at a rate of one second longer for the same length of fuse. The result of course was that those fuses in shells intended to explode over the Federal position at Gettysburg ranged anywhere from 150 to 200 yrds further to the rear before exploding. A 4 " fuse would burn at the rate as one cut to 5 "
Although this is no excuse the gunners could see the problem better than anyone else, but for some reason nobody compensated.
The Bormann fuze is named after its inventor, Belgian Army Captain Charles G. Bormann. The Bormann time fuze was employed by the United Stated Ordnance Department as early as 1852. The time fuze is contained in a tin and lead disk (4). This disk has time markings indicated in seconds and quarter-seconds graduated up to 5 1/4 seconds. The artillerist used a metal punch to pierce the thin metal at the desired time marking. This exposed a section in the horseshoe-shaped horizontal mealed powder train (3), which is covered by a thin sheet of tin. When the cannon discharged, the flame from the explosion ignited this powder train. It would burn in a uniform rate in both directions, but one end would terminate in a dead-end just beyond the 5 1/4 second mark (Confederate copies are 5 1/2 seconds). The other end would continue to burn past the zero-mark, where it would travel through a channel (1) to a small powder booster or magazine (2). This powder then exploded, sending the flame through a hole in the fuze underplug (5) to the powder chamber of the projectile. The purpose of the brass or iron fuze underplug was to form a solid base of support for the soft metal fuze, which could have easily been damaged during firing.
|
Federal 5 1/4-second
Bormann time fuze
|
Confederate 5 1/2-second
Bormann time fuze
|