Maryland Heights Fortifications, Part 3
The next fortification ascending Maryland Heights is what the National Park Service terms the “30-pdr Battery,” also known as the Six-Gun Battery. A plan for the battery lists the armament as four 30-pdr Parrott Rifles and one 24-pdr Smoothbore siege. The battery consisted of raised earthwork parapets with a sizable ditch to the south facing side. The main battery faced Harpers Ferry, while the plan indicates the 24-pdr was on one of the flank sides of the battery. The plan is attributed to George Kaiser, and dated January 1863.
A photo of the plan as it is displayed on the marker:
The only question a purist might raise about the main armament of the battery is, “Navy or Army pattern?” For the pedestrian Civil War enthusiast, this point is of little concern. There were physical differences between the two types, most importantly length with the Army pattern running around 20 inches longer. The Navy type featured a breeching loop instead of knob. There were some variations between examples produced before and after 1862, but nothing that would define the tactical employment of the piece differently.
The 24-pdr weapon was most likely a flank howitzer of the 1844 pattern identified in Gen. Barnard’s May 1863 report as 24-pdr Siege guns. Barnard was emphatic that these weapons were useless in such configuration and fortification. For the record, Barnard is known for his wartime service engineering the defenses of Washington. He often planted 24-pdr and 12-pdr howitzers matched to the rifled guns as flank defense.
I dropped in several photos of the surrounding battery area in the marker entry – 30-pdr Battery. Of note, the ditch in front of the battery is substantial, even through the years of erosion. One of the magazines is extant. It seems a traverse stood between the gun platforms and the magazine. But this battery depended upon the forts further up the crest for rear defense. No traces or plans for rear defense exist. The battery stood at around 1160 feet above sea level, or some 900 feet above the river in elevation.
Referencing Warren Ripley’s Artillery and Ammunition of the Civil War, the 30-pdr Parrott has a cited range of 4800 yards at 15 degree elevation and 6700 yards at 25 degree elevation firing shell. Figuring on the drop of shot from the heights, the gunners may expect a few extra hundred feet. Given the height, the Parrotts could range and sweep the crest of Loudoun Heights, who’s crest is about 1160 feet in elevation. The line of site from the battery, at the time of the war, can be compared to that of the modern day overlook (although the overlook is some 300 feet lower in elevation).
