From the good folks at Historical Marker Database.
From a plaque at the Fort fisher, NC, Museum.
"The most effective gun in the fort" wrote Col. William Lamb about the 150-pounder Armstrong gun mounted at Purdie Battery midway along the sea front of the fort. (I wonder if it was named after Col. Purdie who was killed at Chancellorsville leading the 18th NC in a charge, the day after his men wounded General Jackson and who I've written about recently?)
It was manufactured by Sir William Armstrong & Co. in England and featured a rifled tube and weighed 16,000 pounds which could hurl a shell up to five miles. However, the gun's effectiveness was greatly reduced because there was not an adequate supply of shells causing it to be rarely fired.
After the fall of the fort, it became a trophy of war and today can be seen at West Point's Monument Point.
According to the Battle of Averasboro Museum, the battery was named for Col. Thomas Purdie.
Quite a Weapon. B-R'er
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