A rare and impressively designed bronze rail gun, this armament bears several marks which help shape its identity. Foremost, the "Ruelle, 1847" on the right side of the breech identifies the French Royal Foundry near Angouleme which started in 1750, was acquired as a property of the crown in 1776, and made arms until 1890. The swivel cannon is additionally marked with N 18" on the face of the left trunnion, and "1.9H" on the right trunnion. Lastly the numbers "21 01" are split by the peep sight groove.
French bronze guns such as this were purchased by agents of the Confederacy to outfit raiders, both from the Americas and the ones built under secrecy in the United Kingdom. Rail guns portable, and used a conservative amount of powder to produce devastating effect to the crews and rigs of combatant ships. The freedom of the swivel made gunner positions less rigid and fewer men required to load, prime and fire. This particular armament was discovered in America.
The modern-made base display shows the cannon in fine profile, and the piece is complete except for the accouterments for loading and the firing mechanism, most likely a deviation of the percussion cap design of the mid-19th Century. The single-cast tiller arm hard-forged to the barrel is following in the style of the first guns of this type made by Dutch foundries in the 16th Century.
26½ inch barrel with 10¾ inch tiller armBase height 41 inch, 49½ inches to balance point of trunnions
