" The mortar I may explain to my unmilitary
readers is a short carronade of large bore and with a comparatively
short range. The mortar with a heavy charge throws its missile at a
sharp angle upwards, so that, instead of attempting to go through an
earthwork, it is thrown into the enclosure. The recoil from a mortar is
very heavy, necessitating the construction of a foundation called a
mortar-bed which is not only solid but which possesses a certain amount
of elasticity through which the shock of the recoil is absorbed. It is
only through the use of such a bed that a mortar can be fired from the
deck of a vessel. Without such, protection, the shock would smash
through the deck and might send the craft to the bottom.
The Ordnance Department reported to the Secretary of War and the
Secretary to Lincoln that mortars were on hand but that no mortar-beds
were available. It was one of the many cases in which the unpreparedness
of the government had left a serious gap in the equipment. The further
report was given to Lincoln that two or three months' time would be
required to manufacture the thirty mortar-beds that were needed. A delay
of any such period would have blocked the entire purpose of Grant's
expedition. In his perplexity, Lincoln remembered that in his famous
visit to New York two years before, he had been introduced to Mr.
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