US 18 Pounder

107

• Audio
• In  addition  to  his  6  pounder  light  artillery,  General  Taylor  also  made  use  of  a  pair  of  18  pound  siege  guns.
  The  big  guns  were  actually  brought  to  supply  to  Fort  Texas.
  These  were  huge,  heavy  cannon  pulled  by  teams  of  oxen.
  The  cast  iron  tubes  alone  weighed  in  at  almost  five  thousand  pounds.
  Their  immense  weight  limited  them  to  staying  on  the  Matamoros  to  Point  Isabel  Road.
  Although  they  did  not  possess  the  mobility  of  much  smaller  6  pounders,  their  range  was  much  greater  than  that  of  the  small  field  guns.
  With  an  earth  shaking  roar,  these  big  iron  guns  were  capable  of  launching  a  solid  round  over  fifteen  hundred  yards...more  than  twice  the  effective  range  of  the  6  pounders.
  Here  at  Palo  Alto,  General  Taylor  used  them  to  hurl  volleys  of  explosive  shot  and  shell  over  at  General  Arista  and  his  men,  raining  down  chaos  upon  the  soldados.

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