Another Picture

[callicles]

Okay, things are slow here, so I'll post a picture related to artillery.  What is the hut-looking-thing and what is the purpose of all those rods sticking up in the air?

[Sullivan's Island, S.C. Guns at northeast angle of Fort Marshall].
 CREATED/PUBLISHED
 1865.
 SUMMARY
 Photographs of the Federal Navy, and seaborne expeditions against the Atlantic Coast of the Confederacy, specifically of Charleston, S.C., 1863-1865.
 NOTES
 Reference: Civil War photographs, 1861-1865 / compiled by Hirst D. Milhollen and Donald H. Mugridge, Washington, D.C. : Library of Congress, 1977. No. 0622
 Title from Milhollen and Mugridge.
 Two plates form left (LC-B811-3486B) and right (LC-B811-3486A) halves of a stereograph pair.
 Corresponding print is in LOT 4166-B.
 Forms part of Selected Civil War photographs, 1861-1865 (Library of Congress)

[Selma Brooke Gunner]

Hello All, in my opinion the hut looking thing that you refer to looks to me to be a shield from artillery at the corrner of the fort. it would prevent fired rounds from coming in on the guns and crews along the side of the works. As for the poles I have no idea what they may be, at first I thought that they might be pikes but after looking close i saw that they had no heads on them.

But one very interest piece caught my attention in the picture and that is in the background, a single banded Brook Rifle. not sure but from the slope of the chase and the lenght of the tube I would say most likely a 7in.

Nice picture thanks for posting it. Especially since had a Naval piece in it.

[Dave the plumber]

 I do not know what the poles are for either. But I did notice the stands of grape used to hold up the wood boards to keep sand from drifting in all around the platform.      Also, can any of you guys enlarge and lighten the wood box next to the cannon along the wall ??  It's got something in it, can't tell what..........

[Selma Hunter]

Guys -

I'l bite.  The "shed" is most likely the magazine.  It has what would appear to be sod squares on the top to slow erosion of the sand.  To the left of the banded & undoubtedly rifled 32lb'er is a small covered cabinet containing elongated projectiles.  Also to the left and right of the gun in the foreground are grape stands. 

The "poles" might be placed around the fortifications/moat to repel any attempts by those nasty yankees to place ladders against the front of the fort.  I've watched a thousand old movies where the "defenders" used poles to push the ladders away with long poles just like these.  Makes sense to me anyway. 

I agree that the gun in the background is probably a 7" Brooke tube.  What might at first appear to be a second band is more likely a lanyard dangling from underneath a smallish lock cover.

[John D. Bartleson Jr.]

I believe what is being called a hut is a mound of earth.  The magazine at Moultrie is located behind the guns under the concrete portion of the fort.  The rods look like ink pen markins. Some are inside and outside the fort walls.
John

[6lbgun]

Good morning,
     Here is another picture of the same area at Fort Marshal .  It covers more area at the left.  I believe that Selma Brooke Gunner is correct. The hut like structures are traverses protecting the 7" Brooke from enfilade fire.  Sod being used to prevent erosion on the traverses and the revetment of the parapet.
     I have no idea what the poles were used for.
Dan

[6lbgun]

John,
     Some of them may be pen markings, but it looks like the first two rods on the right are casting shadows.
One on the gun platform and one on the sand beside the rack with shells on it.
Dan

[John D. Bartleson Jr.]

Oops, when I first looked at it I thought it was Fort Moultrie at Sullivan's Island in Charleston, SC.
Where is Fort Marshall?
John

[6lbgun]

John,
     I would have been more correct to call it Battery Marshall.  It was located on Sullivan's Island where Breach Inlet cuts through north of Fort Moultrie.  The battery is where the Hunley started it's voyage.
Dan

[John D. Bartleson Jr.]

Dan,
   I have never been to this Battery.  I believe the Hunley was found off Breachs Inlet.
Regards,
John

[Jine]

"Battery (Fort) Marshall (1863 - 1865), a CSA 14-gun work located on the eastern end of the island at Breach Inlet. No remains."

 That comes from a pretty nice link discovered on another forum this morning, and possibly already known of in these parts:

  http://www.northamericanforts.com/

[CarlS]

Here is the shelves blown up and lightened a bit.  Hard to say but looks like some canister and grape on top and a couple shells on the bottom along with some stacks of canister.

[Dave the plumber]

                seems like exposed shells out there would or could possibly be a potential problem. Surprised they weren't kept in their shipping crates for protection, and ease of handling. I know they were painted from the foundry, that would give them some protection, I guess. Maybe they were instructional shells, or examples.  'Someone points and says go get me one of these from the casemate'.  I have seen other photo's of stacked shells and some crated. I wonder now which were seacoast located and which were inland batteries

[CarlS]

Note, just for fun, I went to the library of congress and downloaded the high resolution version of this image.  I then clipped out the shelving unit from it.  Note that both are attached to my post above.  Note how clearly you can see what is in the shelf from a high res scan.  The shells on the bottom shelf appear to me to be Britten Bolts.  Also of interest, nearly all of what appear to be canister have flat places on their sides as if handled roughly.  See the enlarged and lighted contents of the shelves below.

[CarlS]

Also of interest was the poles or lines on the image.  At first I assumed they were  poles used to hold a canvas sun shield or just there to hold head boards in place.  But then John thought they might be lines on the image and that looke right too.  Turns out they are indeed poles with seemingly no attachment devices, etc.  Just straight smooth poles that were maybe for some other use and found their way stuck into the emplacement's sand.  They certainly appear to be in place to hold the head board and as you see they used some stands of grape as well.  I 've included the end of one which is rounded and an image of the bottom where they stick into the fort wall.  If you look closely a the bottom of the pole in front of the board it appears to be a pike end.  I've zoomed that and lightened it in the 3rd image.   Is that my imagination?  I'm not sure how it could be as that sand wouldn't be able to hold that pike upright like that.