friction-primer

Updated: May 9, 2025

The "port-fire," adjusted in a brass tube on the end of a wooden stick, was lighted, and the stick stuck in the ground by the gun, to give a light in case the friction-primer failed. This provision was due to the fact that Captain Pendleton was familiar with the "port-fire," in vogue when he attended West Point.

Edward Alexander Moore - The Story of a Cannoneer Under Stonewall Jackson : In Which is Told the Part Taken by the Rockbridge Artillery in the Army of Northern Virginia

On finding that the friction-primer was reliable, the "port-fires" were left sticking in the ground when the guns withdrew, and were captured and taken as curiosities by the Federals. After returning to Winchester, ammunition-chests were ordered to be made by a carpenter of the town. Gen.

Edward Alexander Moore - The Story of a Cannoneer Under Stonewall Jackson : In Which is Told the Part Taken by the Rockbridge Artillery in the Army of Northern Virginia