Alamo Artillery

[neferetus]

In the divers accounts of the battle of the Alamo, the fort is mentioned as having service of from 14 to 21 cannon. In this thread we will discuss the extant tubes currently on display at the Alamo itself and elsewhere.




THE GUNNADE
Believed to have one been positioned in a 'fortin' (gun emplacement) near the center of the West Wall, the gunnade fired through a window port, rather than through an embrasure.

Per Scottish military author, Stuart Reid:

The terminolgy used here has always intrigued me. The gun in question is unquestionably a carronade or 'smasher' - a cheap and cheerful short range iron gun originally produced at the Carron irinworks in Scotland.

Very popular in large sizes with the Royal Navy and equally popular in smaller sizes with merchant ship owners who needed to fend off privateers - who tended to range up in little Baltimore clippers rather than multi-deck galleons.

Given the way that both sides usually tried to get military supplies into Bexar by sea and up the trail from Copano and Goliad the presence of a sea gun is easy to understand.

What I don't understand is where the term 'gunnade' comes from.

My understanding is that a gunade (the generally accepted spelling) is a term that is sometimes applied to a carronade with two trunions, instead of the carronade's single mounting fixture (not sure of the terminology; it's like a clevis) on the underside. Some authorities hold that a carronade with two trunions is still a carronade. Not sure where the term "gunade" comes from and when it came into use.

The Alamo gunade has, or rather had, two trunnions, one having been broken off.

Typical range for a 12-pdr carronade would be around a thousand yards; given the caliber of the tube, I wouldn't expect much accuracy at that range.

[neferetus]

In THE ALAMO (2004) the 'gunade' is correctly positioned at the fortin along the West Wall. It is here, when the soldados are charging upon the small lunette that guards the fortin, that James Butler Bonham (Mark Blucas) is killed. It is my understanding that Blucas also filmed another version of Bonham's death inside of the Alamo church, where tradition has it, he served on the battery in the apse, along with Almaron Dickinson.

While the gunade used to be on display in front of the north door of the Alamo Museum and Gift Shop, it has been relocated in recent years to the 'Cavalry Courtyard'.

[Bromhead24]

I thought i read that the Mexican army threw it in the river only to be discovered many years later when they were dredging the river.

[neferetus]

bromhead24 said:

I thought i read that the Mexican army threw it in the river only to be discovered many years later when they were dredging the river.

Yes Bromhead, when General Andrade was getting ready to evacuate San Antonio in May, 1836, he received orders to demolish the fortifications of the Alamo before withdrawing. This included either spiking some of the cannon, or else knocking off the trunnions from others, so that they could never be mounted again.

While some were buried in the trenches about the compound, others were unceremoniously dumped into the river. Some of the older bronze guns may even have been melted down.

When Sam Maverick was building his homestead on the NW corner of the Alamo compound in the early 1850's, he discovered some Alamo artillery that had been buried there. Whether true, or not, St. Mark's Episcopal Church on Jefferson St. in San Antonio claims that Maverick forged the church's bell from one of the Alamo cannon he'd found. Two others guard the gates of present-day La Villita. I wish that these guns would be returned to the Alamo compound for display.

[neferetus]

THE 18 POUNDER?

When I first saw this cannon, back in 1973, it was located by the acequia bridge, just off the north transept of the Alamo church. At that time, it was labelled simply 'OLD SPANISH CANNON'. Like most of the other Alamo cannon, this tube was relocated to the 'Cavalry Courtyard'.

Later, because of its size, people began to suspect that this gun might be the fabled '18 pounder' with which Travis answered Santa Anna's demand for surrender.

Then confusion set in. According to Scottish military author Stuart Reid, when he consulted Rene' Chartrand of Parks Canada about the tube in question, he got this reply:

'Your gun would be, I presume, an old Spanish gun. From 1743, the offical calibres for Spanish army artillery were: 4, 8, 12, 16 and 24 in brass.

By and large, the Spanish artillery was identical for calibres, and related in design, to the French Vallieres system of artillery (1732) and the Gribeauval (1765). There was also some experimentation with 3 and 6 pdrs being cast in Mexico in the 1770s.

The Spanish Navy added a 36 and its cannons were of iron, again the same calibre as French marine artillery.

Any way, assuming it is Spanish, your Alamo gun sounds like a 16 pdr to me.

Similarily, the Spanish or French "13 inch mortars" are actually 12 inch.'

Stuart Reid added:

In short, thanks to the French pound being 490g and the British/US one being 454g, a French/Spanish/Mexican 16 pounder was exactly the same as a British/US 18 Pounder.

ALAMO TRACES author Thomas Ricks Lindley, on the other hand, had this to say, back in late November, 2005:

[neferetus]

One of the La Villita Alamo cannon.

[Bromhead24]

Good info Nef

[Greg C.]

were those cannon really at the battle?

[neferetus]

admin said:

were those cannon really at the battle?

Four of the six guns now on display at the Alamo are believed to have been in the battle. Tom Lindley believes that the 2 guns with their trunnions intact were most likely not. Whether they were involved in the revolution at all, is yet another question.

The two guns in La Villita are supposed to be Alamo guns. The one below---with trunnions intact---is probably not an Alamo gun.

[neferetus]

Here the other cannon in the Cavalry Courtyard that Tom Lindley says is not an Alamo gun. According to Tom (via Davy Webb) the two guns were captured during the Mexican War and then donated to the Alamo by Sam Maverick

[Bromhead24]

looks like there is a ball in the muzzle...is that your family in the photos?

[neferetus]

bromhead24 said:

looks like there is a ball in the muzzle...is that your family in the photos?

Nope, just some touristy types. Isn't that the Alamo docent sitting there coughing?

[neferetus]

Another Alamo cannon, by the north door of the Alamo Giftshop/Museum.

[Greg C.]

how were they found?

[neferetus]

Ned Huthmacher and Mo Jones by two more Alamo cannon by the north door of the Alamo Museum/Giftshop. October, 2005.

[Bromhead24]

have you ever been in the library?
When i was there last, it was by appointment only..back in 92

[neferetus]

bromhead24 said:

have you ever been in the library?
When i was there last, it was by appointment only..back in 92

Yes, when I was there in 1986, the DRT Library at the Alamo was actually having a book sale and I was able to pick up some interetiong old pamphlets that were a little worse for wear, yet still nice to have.

Later, in March, 2005, I donated a copy of ONE DOMINGO MORNING to the DRT Library and gave another one to Dr. Bruce Winders there.

[neferetus]

Another nice shot of the gunade.


The informational plaque on the gunade.

[Bromhead24]

I bet that thing had a good bark when fired..

[neferetus]

This very small caliber cannon tube, currently on display in the
Long Barrack, was supposed to have been found somewhere south
of the Alamo.


I'm only speculating here but, due to the gun's small caliber, might
it have been the one Gregorio Esparza was supposed to have manned
in the east Sacristy window?