Yup… they actually let me put the explosive primer caps into the top of the cannon and pull the lanyard that ignited the charge and set off the gunpowder inside the cannon. That is the actual cannon that was used during the civil war. It wasn’t a recreation. It was a piece of history.
There is another of my gun crew ramming a spike down the touch hole to pierce the powder bag inside the barrel just before I inserted the primer charge with the lanyard attached to it. I had to wear gloves because they told me that one primer charge could blow my fingers off. And I had twelve of them in the leather pouch on my belt. Including one that was a double sized charge used in case of a misfire.
Altogether, I had about five minutes of training.
I have to admit that with the big blasts of the artillery and the smaller popping and crackling of all the rifles, it felt almost too real.
The powder smoke was blowing in the breeze obscuring the field. Yankee artillery, muskets and cavalry were all firing in our direction. I had to listen for the orders being shouted over the roar of the guns. If you get it wrong, someone can get hurt.
And it was one of the best days of my life.
Pouring My Art Out 
So you had 12 fingers in your little pack? That’s the way it sounded from the way you wrote it! Hahaha!
I have that too
You’re a better man than I am Gunga Din!
I love that poem…
It is a beautiful poem. Art you like like you were having some fun there. Glad it was such a great experience for you.
Me too, thanks.
:o)
wheeeeeeeeeeeee
Thank god you came home!
all the way home, baby!
You look like you belong there Art – really.
It is a weird and wonderful thing to do… at least once…
As cool as it might look, that is NOT for me. I don’t need the noise or risk of losing fingers. I’d be happier if all of the guns fired corks or foam bullets. Make it a Nerf recreation:P And, pillow fights for the milk maids. 😀
They have that too…
They have foam wars?? For lil ones, I bet.
No, but I was in a group that beat each other up with swords made from PVC pipe with the insulation foam taped on it.
‘Sounds more tolerable….and quieter.
It was kind of awesome
I’d like to use t-shirt cannons for cannons, too. I imagine those are quieter than blast caps and all that.
I saw this “geek” show recently that showed very geeky warriors (like World of Warcraft geeky) fighting with foam spears, swords, shields and arrows. It looked a bit kiddy to me, but I presume no one got hurt.
Well they are so finicky about letting us duel with real swords these days.
Ya know?:P There oughta be a NSA, National Swordsman Association and a waiting period for owning a sheathed blade. Then we can have more West Side Stories bring blades to a gun fight, yada yada, a-blee, a-blee, uh, that’s all, folks.
It would make mass killings more difficult if we exchanged all the guns for short knives.
I doubt an exchange would happen. That’d be too “left” or “right.” Having both guns and blades under the right to bare (or bear?) arms sounds more fair to the red and blue who just can’t see purple.
We should all have nuclear weapons… and drones…
I won’t even joke about those. The lesser evils are guns and blades. Nuclear would do more in faster til nothing’s left to fight over. And, drones are just the start of a machine takeover.
Hard to know where to draw the line.
Not for me. I’d outlaw all weapons other than hands and feet and turn the whole world into an Asian state. Let’s all master ourselves and compare martial arts. Weapons came along because people got lazy/hasty for power/pride.
My kung fu will destroy your kung fu…
Them’s fightin’ words, sir (I say in my best Yosemite Sam voice). Prepare to due–
Nah. I’m not feeling it today. 🙂
me neither
It sounds like a riot. Did you wear ear plugs? It would have pretty loud I imagine.
I did, which made listening to the orders hard.
It would
yup