Recommended Books about Artillery
Canfield, Eugene B. Civil War Naval Ordnance. Naval History Division, Navy Department, 1969.
Cooke, Augustus Paul. A Text Book of Naval Ordnance and Gunnery Prepared for the Use of Cadet Midshipmen of the United States Naval Academy. John Wiley & Son, 1875.
Daniel, Larry J. and Gunter, Riley W. Confederate Cannon Foundries. Pioneer Press, 1977.
Hazlett, James C., Edwin Olmstead and M. Hume Parks. Field Artillery Weapons of the Civil War, Revised Edition. University of Illinois Press, 1983.
Olmstead, Edwin, Stark, Wayne E., Tucker, Spencer C. The Big Guns: Civil War Siege, Seacoast, and Naval Cannon. Museum Restoration Service, 1997.
Ripley, Warren, Artillery and Ammunition of the Civil War (4th Edition). The Battery Press, 1984.
Books by and about Rear Admiral John A. B. Dahlgren
Dahlgren, John A. B. The Autobiography of Rear Admiral John A. Dahlgren. edited by Peter C. Luebke. Naval History and Heritage Command, 1998.
Dahlgren, John A. B. Shells and Shell Guns. King and Baird, 1856.
Schneller, Robert J., Jr. A Quest for Glory: A Biography of Rear Admiral John A. Dahlgren. Naval Institute Press, 1995.
Recommended Books about Naval History of the 19th Century
Brown, David K. Before the Ironclad: Warship Design and Development 1815-1860. Naval Institute Press, 2015.
Brown, David K. Warrior to Dreadnought: Warship Design and Development 1860-1905. Chatham Publishing, 1997.
Campbell, R. Thomas. Confederate Ironclads at War. McFarland & Company, 2019.
Canney, Donald L. Lincoln’s Navy: The Ships, Men, and Organization, 1861-65. Conway Maritime Press, 1998.
Canney, Donald L. The Confederate Steam Navy: 1861-1865. Schiffer Publishing, 2015.
Canney, Donald L. The Old Steam Navy: Frigates, Sloops, and Gunboats, 1815-1885. Naval Institute Press, 1990.
Canney, Donald L. Sailing Warships of the US Navy. Naval Institute Press, 2001.
Chapelle, Howard I. The History of the American Sailing Navy: Their Ships and Their Development. W.W. Norton, 1949.
Coker, P.C., III. Charleston’s Maritime Heritage 1670-1865. Cokercraft Press, 1987.
Friendman, Norman. British Battleships of the Victorian Era. Seaforth Publishing, 2018.
Friendman, Norman. British Cruisers of the Victorian Era. Seaforth Publishing, 2012.
Gardiner, Robert (Ed.). Steam, Steel, and Shellfire: The Steam Warship 1815-1905. Conway Maritime Press, 1992.
Holloway, Anna Gibson and Jonathan W. White. Our Little Monitor: The Greatest Invention of the Civil War. The Kent State University Press, 2018.
Roberts, William H. Civil War Ironclads: The U.S. Navy and Industrial Mobilization. The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2002.
Roberts, William H. USS New Ironclads in the Civil War. Naval Institute Press. 1999.
Silverstone, Paul H. Warships of the Civil War Navies. Naval Institute Press, 1989.
Still, William N, Jr. Iron Afloat: The Story of the Confederate Armorclads. University of South Carolina Press, 1985.
Still, William N, Jr. (Ed.) The Confederate Navy: The Men, Ships, and Organization, 1861-65. Conway Maritime Press, 1997.
Websites
A Civil War Traveler
https://civilwartraveler.blog/
Civil War Artillery Projectiles
http://www.civilwarartillery.com/
Civil War Navy - The Magazine. The magazine’s website also hosts a great library of resources about Civil War ships, shipyards, and ordnance.
The downloads section of Civil War Navy website hosts many period sources: https://civilwarnavy.com/downloads/
Drachinifel - YouTube Naval Historian whose suggestion to create a website “ideally for naval history purposes” is the inspiration for this website.
https://www.drachinifel.co.uk/
https://www.youtube.com/@Drachinifel
Mariner’s Museum and Park YouTube Channel (Much great content on the Monitor and US Navy during the ACW in general.)
https://www.youtube.com/@TheMarinersMuseum
SilverHawkAuthor - Military History Books by Harold A. Skaarup (He has photos of many preserved artillery pieces of all eras in Canada and New England.)
https://www.silverhawkauthor.com/
For instance, this is his New Hampshire Page: https://www.silverhawkauthor.com/post/artillery-tanks-and-afvs-in-the-usa-new-hampshire-1
US Naval History and Heritage Command - The photographs section provides many of the historical photographs on this website.
Articles
Canfield, Eugene B. “Guns for the Monitors.” Naval History. Volume 14. No. 4. August 2000.
Ferrell, Erik. “Another Day, Another Dahlgren”. The Mariners’ Museum and Park Website. 5 November 2018.
Johnson, Jeff. “Big Guns and the 1864 Washington Navy Yard Ordnance Test.” Artilleryman Magazine. Volume 45, No. 3. 2024.
Legg, Thomas James, "Quest for glory: The naval career of John A Dahlgren, 1826-1870" (1994). Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects. William & Mary. Paper 1539623848. https://dx.doi.org/doi:10.21220/s2-593v-xc15
Ryan, Mike. “The Historic Guns of Forts Sumter and Moultrie”. National Park Service Article. http://npshistory.com/publications/fosu/guns.pdf
Mirrored (Google Docs) Location for above paper: “The Historic Guns of Forts Sumter and Moultrie”
Schneller, Jr., Robert J. “The Last Smoothbores: The Development of John A. Dahlgren’s Heavy Cast Iron Ordnance for the United States Navy in an Era of Transition, 1848-1865.” Available at: https://americansocietyofarmscollectors.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/1987-B57-The-Last-Smoothbores-The-Development-of-.pdf
Spirek, James D. “Serendipity and IX-Inch Dahlgren Smoothbore Cannon “FP 513”” Available at https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1321&context=sciaa_staffpub
Tucker, Spencer C. “Technical Report—The Dahlgren Boat Howitzer".” Naval History. Volume 6 Number 3. September 1992.
Wilson, Steve G. “SENTINELS OF THE PAST—THE COAST GUARD’S CIVIL WAR BOAT HOWITZERS FROM THE REVENUE CUTTER SERVICE”. National Coast Guard Museum Article. https://nationalcoastguardmuseum.org/news-events/sentinels-of-the-past/
News Items
“Navy Curators Assist Mariners' Museum with Ironclad Monitor Project” US Navy History and Heritage Command Story by Petty Officer 2nd Class Mutis A Capizzi
Branch, Paul. “Fort Macon Gets an Original 10-Inch Columbiad Cannon”. Fort Macon Ramparts. Spring/Summer 2017
YouTube Videos:
Drachinifel - “John Dahlgren and the Half Charge Myth - Did USS Monitor go into battle under-powered?”
Destinations of History: America's Last Sailing Warship: USS Constellation from US Civil War
Eire Maritime Museum: “The Live Fire Exhibit at the Eire Maritime Museum”
Historic Forrest: 1850’s Dahlgren Boat Howitzer Firing and Barrel Shift Exercise
The Mariner’s Museum and Park - USS Monitor Dahlgren Gun Boring Short Film
The Mariners’ Museum and Park - USS Monitor Legacy Program: Rear Admiral John A. B. Dahlgren by John V. Quarstein
Social Media: (Like everything on social media - anyone can post - even folks like me! However, I have found the following groups helpful. Even if the initial post has incorrect information, members of the group usually provide helpful corrections.)
“Civil War Artillery” Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/397038700209
“Big Cannon Project” Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1638271793060406
“History of the American Civil War Navies” Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1814071422388570