<div class="description">
Title from item.; Additional text from item: during firings of 10" and 12" rifles against stone and iron casements. AMMRC egineer's relative's picture found in archives. In going through a collection of historical material from Watertown Arsenal, Dr. L.S. Foster, Historical Officer, noted the name of 1st Lieutenant William S. Smoot on a photograph taken at Fortress Monroe, about 1870. The guns are believed to be Rodman cannon, made at Watertown Arsenal when Major Thomas J. Rodman (later General) was Commanding Officer, from 1859-July 1865. Lt. Smoot (#5) was a distant relative of Perry Smoot, Shaping Technology Branch, Process Technology Laboratory. Among the officers are (#2) Lt. Col. Theodore T.S. Laidley, Watertown ARsenal Commander, April 1871-November 1882; and (#8) Capt. Daniel W. Flagler (later Lt. Col.), Commander, Nov 1889-February 1891. In the period around 1870, the Rodman cannon was among the largest and best. They were made by a process invented by General Rodman, consisting of casting the molten iron around a water-cooled copper core; this caused the outside to freeze last, and placed the interior under residual compression. The strength of the cannon was increased greatly. A number of these were installed in coastal defense emplacements around the country. The shot used, shown in the photograph, weighed about 600 pounds.; Date from item or accompanying material.</div>
1967-1984
This file was contributed to Wikimedia Commons by <a href="https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q29982657" class="extiw" title="d:Q29982657"><span title="regional archival facility of the National Archives and Records Administration">National Archives at Boston</span></a> as part of a cooperation project. The donation was facilitated by the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Public_Library_of_America" class="extiw" title="w:Digital Public Library of America">Digital Public Library of America</a>, via its partner Digital Commonwealth.<span style="text-align:left">
<ul><li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://ark.digitalcommonwealth.org/ark:/50959/vh53z3521">Record in source catalog</a></li>
<li>DPLA identifier: <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://dp.la/item/960fa28dfd9f2e9c9de49535eeecc4ff">960fa28dfd9f2e9c9de49535eeecc4ff</a></li>
<li>National Archives at Boston identifier: Local accession: 2658417; Local other: 19-066-856/AMC-68</li></ul></span>