UNITED STATES CORRESPONDENCE, ETC. 635 



elevation of 5 as 1915 vards. From the ranges given for this and 

 other angles of elevation in the Ordnance Manual, the muzzle velocity 

 of this gun was 1550 feet per second. With this velocity the range for 

 an angle of elevation of 45 would be 5300 yards, or 2.61 nautical 

 miles. 



7. According to the same Manual the range of the 50-pdr. Colum- 

 biad for an angle of elevation of 27 30' was 4812 yards. The cal- 

 culated range of this gun for an angle of elevation of 45 was 5550 

 yards, or 2.73 nautical miles. 



8. The construction of the carriages of seacoast cannon of the 

 period in question, as far as can be obtained from the old plates, did 

 not permit angles of elevation greater than 10 or 15. Much de- 

 pendence however was placed, in firing over water, upon the efficiency 

 of ricochet fire, with angles of elevation from to 5, as there was 

 no tendency of round shot from these smooth-bore guns to ricochet 

 to right or left of the plane of fire as with projectiles from rifled 

 guns. The American Artillerist's Companion, by Lieut. Col. Louis 

 de Tousard, published in 1809, states that the range of the 24-pdr. 

 gun, with an angle of elevation of 45, was 4500 yards, and that the 

 range to which the projectile would ricochet over water, with an 

 angle of elevation from 4 to 5, was 4300, or only 200 yards less than 

 the maximum range. 



9. The publication referred to in the preceding paragraph states 

 that England at that tune had 42-pdr. guns, and that France had 

 36-pdr. guns, and the description thereof indicates that they had 

 about the same range as the guns mounted in the fortifications of the 

 United States. In fact, the report of Col. George Bomford, dated 

 January 29, 1822, page 342, Vol. 2, American State Papers Military 

 Affairs contains the following remark: 



" It is proper to remark that the cannon now on hand consist of a 

 great variety of patterns, of English, French and American manu- 

 facture; some of those procured during the Revolutionary War are 

 still on hand, and included in the returns of the present time." 



10. While further search might add additional information to 

 that contained in this communication, it is thought that the data 

 quoted are sufficient to justify the assumption that three marine or 

 nautical miles was the maximum range of cannon in the year 1818. 



Very respectfully, 



JNO. T. THOMPSON, 

 Lieut. Col. Ord. Dept., U. S. A., 



Acting Chief of Ordnance. 



Dr. Doughty, Dominion Archivist, to Consul General Foster. 



OTTAWA, January 5th, 1910. 



DEAR SIR : In answer to your letter of the 29th of December last, 

 I beg to say, that I have been unable to find any of the correspondence 

 of the Customs Officers for the year 1818. Communication with the 

 Home Office was not made through the regular channels, and I pre- 

 sume that the original despatches were retained by the Customs. 

 From the Almanacs of the period however, we have prepared a list 

 of the ports of entry in Upper Canada, Quebec, and Gaspe. 



