Reenactors Take a Bow After Their First Public Demonstration Using a Differential Windlass to Lift a 1000-Pound Cannon

            This is photo 4 in a series of 4 showing two reenactors using a reproduction of a 19th century apparatus to lift a 1000 lb. (454 kg) cannon and place it on a gun carriage.

The apparatus is a Lombard Gin. (The reenactors explained that the word “gin” in this context is short for “engine.” Also, I’m not certain that “Lombard” is the correct spelling of the name.) The reenactors at Fort Meigs, who were portraying U.S. Army troops from 1813, researched the design of the gin and built their own. This was their first public demonstration of how the gin was used.

The gin is a differential windlass, where two drums with different diameters are on the same axis. When the barrels are turned one revolution to move rope onto the larger drum, that drum takes up more rope than is removed from the smaller drum due the difference in their circumferences. That difference results in the cannon being lifted. The advantage of the design is that the amount of force required to lift the cannon is much less than would be required if someone directly lifted it.

The cannon was a 6-pound cannon. “6 pound” refers to the weight of the cannonball fired by the cannon.

This photo was taken at Fort Meigs during a reenactment of “First Siege”. The fort is located on a bluff overlooking the Maumee River in northwest Ohio. During the War of 1812 British troops and their allies attacked the fort multiple times. The successful defense of the fort by the U.S. Army and several state militias helped stymie the British invasion of Ohio and the U.S. northwest territories.

Taken in: United States / Ohio / Perrysburg / Meigs on the River (show map)

Taken on: May 25, 2024

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Sets appears in: • Ohio • Events more » • 2024 "First Siege" Reenactment at Fort Meigs • Maumee River Valley « less

Groups appears in: • Reenactors • Artillery more » • Reenactment from all eras « less

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