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I was curious as to if anyone had information on distances away the echo from the artillery at Gettysburg was heard on July 3rd. I'm aware of certain bits of information, but nothing with regards to how far south it may have been noticed.
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[FONT=Palatino Linotype][COLOR=Black]Nicholas A. Keen
Cannoneer Battery B, 3rd Penna. Artillery
"When our boys went about the citizens they seemed surly and unaccomadating and showed no disposition to grant us any favors, for which I could not blame them because the soldiers I know to be a great nuisance"- Robert Patrick "Reluctant Rebel"
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Harper's Weekly May 4 1861: "War they have invoked; war let them have; and God be the judge between us."
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Re: Artillery Echo
Reference has been made of the sound being heard in Pittsburg, 150 miles away to the NW. Unsure of how far the sound travelled in any other direction.Originally posted by ArtilleryNickBernard Biederman
30th OVI
Co. B
Member of Ewing's Foot Cavalry
Outpost III -
Re: Artillery Echo
I've read of it being heard in Baltimore 60 miles or so to the south.
Dave MyrickComment
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Re: Artillery Echo
Yea I've only read of it being heard farther than those two places, I'm sure there were places farther south and east if it could travel 150 miles west I'm sure no doubt it was heard the same distance in all directions.Comment
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Re: Artillery Echo
The sound could carry quite a long distance. In his journal entry dated Sept. 20, 1863 Reuben Norton tells of listening to the sound of heavy cannon fire at his home near Rome, Ga. It is only a day later that he learns of the fight at Chickamauga, some 50 miles north.
This same phenomenon is mentioned in the Rome Courier as having been witnessed by many in the area. Perhaps it was due to topographical and climatological conditions.Marlin Teat
[I]“The initial or easy tendency in looking at history is to see it through hindsight. In doing that, we remove the fact that living historical actors at that time…didn’t yet know what was going to happen. We cannot understand the decisions they made unless we understand how they perceived the world they were living in and the choices they were facing.”[/I]-Christopher BrowningComment
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Re: Artillery Echo
We also have the opposite effect at such battles as Seven Pines, where Johnston's orders were for his subordinates to attack when they heard D.H. Hill's troops' musketry. Of course, due to climatic conditions, they didn't, delaying an already delayed battle. At Malvern Hill, Theophilus Holmes' deafness combined with the climatic conditions so that he could not hear the violent artillery fire a few miles away. It was so faint that his staff didn't attribute any significance to it. He was so deaf, he couldn't hear it at all. Since he hadn't confided his orders from Lee to his staff, no one paid any attention to the fire. Hence, Holmes' troops pretty much sat out Malvern Hill.
-Dave EgglestonDave EgglestonComment
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Re: Artillery Echo
Yea the same thing happened at Perryville, where both commanders were waiting for the sounds of cannons but never heard them.Comment
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Re: Artillery Echo
I clipped the attached article below (if I did this right) from the LA Times a number of years back and it may be of interest on this subject of sound playing a role in Civil War battles.
Jeff Lawson
[http://www.authentic-campaigner.com/...id=1769&stc=1]Jeff Lawson
2nd Vermont, Co. EComment
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