Blast from the past

For a morning, eras collided as Civil War Union soldiers and Revolutionary War minutemen stood side-by-side to load and fire cannons on a modern military weapons range.

Camp Lejeune hosted a historic artillery training and certification class Wednesday, held once every four years by the North Carolina Division of State Historic Sites to ensure that both operators and their weapons are safe and up to specifications. More than 36 participants, including 10 instructors, took part in this year’s course, making it one of the largest artillery trainings the state has held.

Weapons teams dressed in authentic period attire operated five different cannons: three from the Civil War era and two from the Revolutionary War. Of the pieces, three were owned by the state historic sites division, one by the National Park Service with Moore’s Creek National Battlefield, and one was on private loan. They are kept for use in demonstrations at the 27 historical sites in the state that the division maintains.

But unlike standard demonstrations for the public, in which cannons are filled with black powder, Wednesday’s course was a live-fire training. The pieces shot fist-sized cannonballs up to 1,600 feet across the range, giving the guns an extra kick and an extra “boom,” and adding to the realism for the reenactors.

Jann Brown, the curator of Education for the N.C. Historic Sites Division, said the purpose of the course was twofold.

“Safety is number one. Interpretation is number two,” she said.

Before the participants in the course got to the range, they were required to pass a written exam and received training in not only proper handling of their weapons, but also historically correct techniques, from firing the guns to the clothing they wore.

“You’ve got to look the part to be convincing in what you’re doing,” Brown said.

The chance to fire live rounds, something the group can only do while using the ranges on base, provides a helpful reminder to the operators throughout the year.

“By doing live fire, it reemphasizes to the people in the class that these are not toys,” she said. “These are weapons.”

The group also previously learned what to do when an attempt to use a weapon miscarries, training that came in handy on the range, when one of the cannons misfired during the first few rounds.

Scott Douglass, a historical interpreter for the Fort Dobbs historic site in Statesville, N.C., said that he had taken a historic small arms certification class previously, but this was his first chance to work with artillery.

Apart from the louder “boom” of a cannon shot, he said that shooting cannons differs from rifle fire in the need to coordinate with other interpreters on the scene.

“The artillery takes a lot of teamwork to do everything safely and quickly,” he said.

The division’s Historic Weapons coordinator, Andrew Duppstadt, said the best way to participate in a historic weapons certification program is to volunteer at one of the state’s many historical sites.

“We’re always looking for volunteers,” he said.

Contact Hope Hodge at 910-219-8453 or hhodge@freedomenc.com.