Artillery January 22, 1813
[Marker side facing south]
British Artillery on January 22nd consisted of six small cannons, mostly 3-pounders, with some small howitzers. The artillery pieces were first positioned about 400 yards north of here, just south of Mason Run Creek. These were used to good effect on the American Regulars in the open ground on this site. They did not seriously affect the Militia behind the puncheon fences to the west.
After the Regulars retreated from this site, one British gun was moved to about this position and opened fire on the Kentucky Militia to the west. Accurate Kentucky rifle fire at 200 yards soon wiped out the British gun crew and the cannon was temporarily abandoned, then withdrawn outside effective range.
[Marker side facing north]
The British light 3-pounder had a 2.9 inch bore and fired a 3-pound solid ball with a useful range of about half a mile. It could also fire cannister, which consisted of about 48 musket balls, which performed like a giant shotgun, but effective range was limited to 400 yards or less.
British artillery in North America used a variety of winter sled arrangements. The exact types used here are not recorded. This 3-pounder is mounted on a type of winter sled devised in 1796. The inventor was a well-known British artillerist, Adye, who was stationed briefly in Detroit in the early 1790's and later tested this winter gun sled design in Quebec.
Marker can be reached from East Elm Street 0.2 miles west of Detroit Avenue.
Courtesy hmdb.org
