Figure 39—COEHORN MORTAR. The British General Oglethorpe used 20 coehorns in his 1740 bombardment of St. Augustine. These small mortars were also used extensively during the War Between the States.

The small mortars called coehorns (fig. [39]) were invented by the famed Dutch military engineer, Baron van Menno Coehoorn, and used by him in 1673 to the great discomfit of French garrisons. Oglethorpe had many of them in his 1740 bombardment of St. Augustine when the Spanish, trying to translate coehorn into their own tongue, called them cuernos de vaca—"cow horns." They continued in use through the U. S. Civil War, and some of them may still be seen in the battlefield parks today.

Bombs and carcasses were usual for mortar firing, but stone projectiles remained in use as late as 1800 for the pedrero class (fig. [43]). Mortar projectiles were quite formidable; even in the sixteenth century missiles weighing 100 or more pounds were not uncommon, and the 13-inch mortar of 1860 fired a 200-pound shell. The larger projectiles had to be whipped up to the muzzle with block and tackle.

Figure 40—THE "DICTATOR." This huge 13-inch mortar was used by the Federal artillery in the bombardment of Petersburg, Va., 1864-65.

In the last century, the bronze mortars metamorphosed into the great cast-iron mortars, such as "The Dictator," that mammoth Federal piece used against Petersburg, Va. Wrought-iron beds with a pair of rollers were built for them. In spite of their high trajectory, mortars could range well over a mile, as witness these figures for United States mortars of the 1860's, firing at 45° elevation:

Ranges of U. S. Mortars in 1861

CaliberProjectile weight (pounds)Range (yards)
8-inch siege451,837
10-inch siege902,100
12-inch seacoast2004,625
13-inch seacoast2004,325