Rodman Guns were too darned big 'n' heavy to roll onto a battlefield, so few of them were utilized in their intended purpose during the Civil War. The first 15" Rodman to be built, Fort Monroe's Lincoln Gun, did see some action.

When it opened fire on April 2, 1862 against a Confederate battery at Sewell's Point across the mouth of the James River, the Lincoln Gun was the biggest artillery piece in the world.

This gun had been sent direct from testing at Fort Pitt to Fort Monroe due to the havoc caused amongst the Union blockade at Hampton Roads by the ironclad CSS Virginia in March of 1862, which event had understandably freaked the Union out.

Eventually Fort Monroe mounted around 70 more Rodman Guns of varying calibers, but Norfolk surrendered to the Union a mere month after the Lincoln Gun started firing, and the Confederacy was unable to produce replicas of the Virginia in numbers...so Fort Monroe's Rodman Guns never got the opportunity to defend against the expected ironclad onslaught. Right: The Lincoln Gun, in need of a new paintjob but nonetheless on duty in 1864

Today the Lincoln Gun sits in a place of honor on the west side of Fort Monroe's parade ground. Just outside the fort's western sallyport is a little park, where one finds the last of Fort Monroe's Rodman Guns: Two 10" models, which were modified in the 1880's by the addition of rifling sleeves. Each gun has an identifying plaque bolted thereto: Click here and/or here to see them.

Read the whole Fort Monroe story at Starforts.com!

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