Cored Shot

I've come across several references on groups to "steel cored shot" fired from 15" Dahlgren guns. This is a myth. The 400lb cored shot has no steel core (which would be heavier than the 440lb cast iron shot); it is simply cast hollow to lower the rounds mass. Since the lost 40 lbs is equivalent to about 6" or so, we can say that it has a 6" void space in the centre of the round, and the walls are 4.5" thick or so.

(See http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=9asFAAAAQAAJ&pg=RA3-PA7 )

Another note on rifle ranges

I've just been rereading part of Urwin's "The United States Infantry", on page 131 there is a discussion about the training of riflemen in the late 1870's. It notes that in 1877 the troops were still training to fire massed volleys at 1-200 yards. Food for thought.

Beaten to the Punch

A while ago I started follow Hattaway and Jones's methodology of analysing combat effectiveness. Now I find someone has already done it. It's worth a read: http://www.civilwardispatch.com/

The conclusions are in line with my initial data with 2 exceptions, Jackson and Bragg. In both these case my initial findings were that they were poor commanders. However, unlike Collie I was using the Lanchester Square Law as an analytical tool. I am not however convinced of that tool's veracity in this situation. Lanchester square breaks down and trends towards Lanchester Linear Law.

One of the reasons I've sat on my initial findings for so long is that challenging Jackson's reputation seems fraught. Perhaps I should polish up the data, publish and be damned.