Double-barreled cannon
American Civil War cannon
The double-barreled cannon is an American Civil War-era experimental weapon and is now a modern landmark located in Athens, Georgia. While originally built for warfare, the cannon never saw battle. It is part of the Downtown Athens Historic District, in the National Register of Historic Places.
History
Concept
This concept dates from 1642 and Florentine gun maker Antonio Petrini. He cast the first cannon with the intention of simultaneously firing two balls linked by a chain from side-by-side barrels, which were meant to scythe down enemy soldiers like standing wheat when it reached them. For the cannon to work, the powder behind each round shot had to ignite at the same instant, which rarely happened.
In 1862, Georgia dentist, builder, and mechanic John Gilleland raised money from a coterie of Confederate citizens in Athens, Georgia to build the chain-shot gun for a cost of $350. Cast in one piece, the gun featured side-by-side bores, each a little over 3 inches in diameter and splayed slightly outward so the shots would diverge and stretch the chain taut. The two barrels have a divergence of 3 degrees, and the cannon was designed to shoot simultaneously two cannonballs connected with a chain to "mow down the enemy somewhat as a scythe cuts wheat". During tests, the Gilleland cannon effectively mowed down trees, tore up a cornfield, knocked down a chimney, and killed a cow.
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Chronology, provenance and viewpoint should be read together before a broad social or political interpretation is accepted. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 1, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5299583. Authority coordinates are 33.960, -83.376. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1642 and 1862.
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This entry incorporates text from “Double-barreled cannon” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.