Sunday 5 December 2021

1798 Rebellion Project Part 21: Homemade Artillery!

 Something a bit different this week: improvised artillery! I've been planning on painting rebel artillery for a while now. As soon as I read about this particular cannon I knew I'd have to include it in my army!

In Thomas Pakenham's "The Year of Liberty", the author describes a ramshackle cannon used by Henry Joy-McCracken's men in County Antrim. The rebels had possession of an old Irish Volunteers cannon barrel. The barrel had been buried under a church for safekeeping. The rebels had to mount the barrel on an old civilian cart. The gun's "cradle" was hewn from a log.

Pakenham notes the instability of such a weapon, as it was not built to withstand the force of recoil. He notes it was soon put out of action, possibly as a result of this. Furlong's account of the Battle of Vinegar Hill in "Fr. John Murphy" also describes a cart-mounted cannon. As part of the defence of Enniscorthy, a 4 pounder on a cart was used at the town bridge. Furlong refers to it as a "morale stiffener"; it is unlikely to have been very effective. Regardless of its real world performance, this model is a fun way to represent rebel artillery. 

Among the crew is a sharply dressed fellow armed with... socks? He's another character from Antrim as described by Pakenham. He states that a Quaker haberdasher provided the rebels with grapeshot cartridges by filling socks with musket balls. 



The gun is made of a spare Trent Miniatures barrel, coffee stirrers and wheels from Warbases. 








I've also painted another rebel leader. This time it's Michael Dwyer, "The Wicklow Chief". He was a contemporary of Joseph Holt who fought in the Wicklow Mountains. Dwyer is notable for continuing a guerilla campaign until 1803.  

Dwyer was transported to Australia, where he later became a Chief of Police. He was frequently under suspicion of fomenting rebellion among the Irish in Australia, but this is unlikely. Dwyer was ultimately dismissed from his police job for drunkenness. Declared bankrupt, he was imprisoned and became ill, dying in his early 50s.







Go dtí an chéad uair eile, beir bua! 

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