Editing Rodman gun (section)

== Carriages ==

Rodman guns were mounted on three types of carriages—a front-pintle barbette carriage, a center-pintle barbette carriage, and a casemate carriage. All of these carriages were made of [[wrought iron]]. All three types of carriage were similar in design, having an upper carriage that was placed on a two-rail chassis. The gun and upper carriage recoiled along the chassis. The chassis would pivot to train the gun left or right.

The barbette carriages were designed to fire over a [[parapet]] and could be used in either permanent or temporary fortifications. The front pintle carriage pivoted at the front of the chassis. This made the gun mount more compact and allowed the gun and detachment to be better protected by [[embrasure]]s and traverses. The center pintle carriage gave the gun a 360° traverse and was stronger for guns firing at high angles because the pintle, the strongest part of the carriage, would have been under the breech when the gun was fired at high angles.

The casemate carriage was designed to fire from [[casemate]]s, which were chambers in permanent fortifications. The carriage was essentially a front-pintle design, with the pintle fixed in the masonry in front of the chassis and below the guns [[embrasure]]. A "tongue" connected the chassis to the pintle. The casemate carriage has a lower profile than the barbette carriages.

The 8-inch and 10-inch Rodman guns could be mounted on all three types of carriages. The 15-inch Rodman guns were mounted on both types of barbette carriage. The two 20-inch guns were mounted on front-pintle barbette carriages.

[[Sling cart]]s were used to transport these guns to the carriages.<ref>{{cite book |last=Miller |first=Francis Trevelyan |title =The Photographic History of The Civil War |publisher =Castle Books |volume =Five: Forts and Artillery |date =1957 |location =New York |pages =141 & 169 }}</ref>