Civil War Union Brevet Brigadier General. An 1841 graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, he was a noted ordnance inventor and designer of several types of heavy cannon used by the Union Army during the Civil War. He invented the "wet chill", hollow-core system of cannon founding, which resulted in the strongest cast iron cannon ever made. He also invented prismatic and perforated-cake gunpowder, which allowed more consistent ignition in large cannon. His 15-inch Rodman Guns were the primary Union coast defense weapons not only during the Civil War, but throughout the last half of the 19th century. In 1867, after serving during the war as commander of the Watertown, Massachusetts Arsenal, he was appointed commander of Rock Island Arsenal, a post he retained until his death as a Lieutenant Colonel in 1871. He was brevetted Brigadier General, US Regular Army on March 13, 1865 for "faithful, meritorious and distinguished services in the Ordnance Department".
Civil War Union Brevet Brigadier General. An 1841 graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, he was a noted ordnance inventor and designer of several types of heavy cannon used by the Union Army during the Civil War. He invented the "wet chill", hollow-core system of cannon founding, which resulted in the strongest cast iron cannon ever made. He also invented prismatic and perforated-cake gunpowder, which allowed more consistent ignition in large cannon. His 15-inch Rodman Guns were the primary Union coast defense weapons not only during the Civil War, but throughout the last half of the 19th century. In 1867, after serving during the war as commander of the Watertown, Massachusetts Arsenal, he was appointed commander of Rock Island Arsenal, a post he retained until his death as a Lieutenant Colonel in 1871. He was brevetted Brigadier General, US Regular Army on March 13, 1865 for "faithful, meritorious and distinguished services in the Ordnance Department".
Bio by: John Klear
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