THE NCO, IMAGES OF AN ARMY IN ACTION, PRINT, LAYING THE GUN, MEXICO 1847

Description

You are purchasing one 16" x 20" print from a series of 18 prints titled:
The Non-Commissioned Office: Images of an Army in Action
Guardians of Standards
Laying the Gun
Mexico, 1847
The development of mobile field artillery gave the NCO a new and expanded role in the war with Mexico. Capable of rapid movement on the battlefield, individual fieldpieces now became the responsibility of noncommissioned officers. The NCO in charge of each gun was responsible not only for the care and placement of his piece, but also for the necessary teamwork of the gun crew, which might number as many as eight men. Here the gunner, a corporal, checks the aim of the six-pounder in one of General Zachary Taylor's batteries fighting in northern Mexico.
During the early 1820s the Army's regular regiments were scattered in small detachments across the frontier or in coastal fortifications, living in austere barracks. Four men slept in a double-tier bunk, two men on each level, sharing the straw-filled bedsack and blankets. The soldier had to use his knapsack to store all his possessions.
The evolution of the artillery into a more mobile, mounted arm, together with the heat and the dust of the Southwest, had an impact on the Army's uniforms during the Mexican War. The anticipated combat conditions precluded the more elaborate dress of Europe's military forces. Fatigue jackets and forage caps replaced the uniform coat and cap as campaign attire, with worsted chevrons on the former to indicate NCOs. As in earlier times, the color of the worsted lace and buttons identified the soldier's branch. The crew of this 1841 model bronze six-pounder depended upon a routine as carefully choreographed as a ballet. Part of the eight-man team served with the limber and brought ammunition forward; the remaining five men, led by the gunner, manned the fieldpiece. The number one cannoneer is shown with a sponge-rammer on his toe and with a bucket of water to extinguish any remaining embers in the gun tube before the next round was loaded. The cannoneers were privates; the duty position of gunner held the rank of corporal, here seen checking to ensure that the gun is laid (aimed) correctly.
We have quantities of all prints in this series and one complete set that
is still sealed that will be listed soon!
EACH PRINT IS CAREFULLY ROLLED AND SHIPPED INSIDE
OF A NEW 19" MAILING TUBE
BY USPS PRIORITY MAIL!
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