The Steam Air Cannon (1861)

The Baton Rouge Advocate of December 12, 1861 contained a description of a most interesting device called the Steam Air-Cannon invented by Henry Cowing. It was described as a locomotive adapted to run on “common roads” that had one or more air cannons attached. These guns had “no report, little if any concussion, not heating, and no smoke …” It was suggested that the gun had applications on warships, or on land for river protection. The cannon was described as breech loading. With the cannon removed, the remainder of the device could be used to dig ditches, throw up embankments, and as a fire engine!

The Land Moniter (1862)

September 1862 found the Daily Times of Leavenworth, Kansas, reporting on the construction, in St. Louis, of a massive Land Monitor – weighing 25,000 pounds. Deployed by a gunner, a horseman and two horses, it would fire 50 shots with “rifle accuracy every five seconds, 600 in a minute or longer intervals. It could sweep a line from to feet to 500 yards, until 5,000 shot had been fired. Reloading for another 5,000 shots would take 5 minutes. It could be brought to bear on any point in less than half a minute,” the article said.

Pity the poor horses who might have drawn the short straw of moving such a massive device into battle!