Comte de Paris, History of the Civil War in America. Vol. 1.
Henry Coppee , LL.D., Ed.

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[301] fertility of inventors stimulated by the war. A few among them were men of real ability and skill, but those who indulged in chimerical speculations were more numerous. Some of them were visionary and ridiculous, and there were a few to whom their inventions brought disaster, as, for example, Mr. James and Major Hunt, the former of whom was killed by the explosion of his gun and the latter asphyxiated by his submarine battery.¹

None of these inventions were subjected to the polygon proof. There was no time for that kind of experiments which alone enabled the expert fully to ascertain the real value of an arm before it is exposed to all the vicissitudes of war. The materiel of the army was thus suddenly encumbered with a mass of different models, all equally new to those who had to handle them on the field of battle. In fact, every inventor who had any patronage could easily manage to have a few of his guns recommended to the principal of some foundry, who was generally his partner. A few shots fired in the neighborhood of the factory were deemed sufficient to determine the strength of the guns; and if chance favored them, the piece was immediately received and added to the diversified assortment which already existed in the Federal artillery. This very variety, however, was at times the means of procuring the opportunity for remarkable inventions to obtain a striking confirmation of their merits on the field of battle.

American genius, quick to turn everything to account, understood at once that, at a time when any delay might prove fatal, it was not expedient to look for a weapon too frail and difficult to repair. It studied, above all, simplicity in regard to the four essential parts in the manufacture of artillery—the founding, the system of rifling, the mode of propelling balls and shells. There were wanting field-pieces that could be rapidly constructed at a moderate cost, easily loaded, so as to be handled by inexperienced hands, and projectiles that could be carried to great distances without injury to the parts intended to be forced into the grooves.

Two guns were adopted which amply satisfied these requirements—the Parrott gun, made of cast iron, secured with ironplated bands at the breech, and one gun constructed at the ironworks of Phoenixville, designated by its calibre, from three to