Dana Lombardy on “The Long Arm of Mr. Lincoln’s Army”

Dana Lombardy

Dana presented diagrams and data to show how the artillery evolved in the Union Army of the Potomac during the American Civil War, and compares its effectiveness to the guns used by their primary opponent, Robert E. Lee’s Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. Gun types, numbers and organization, plus a look back at Napoleon’s artillery at Waterloo were also covered.

Charlie Sweeney provided the following description of the meeting:

The long arm was artillery. Both sides had officers who were profoundly influenced by the example of Napoleon. The “Little Whiff of the Grapeshot” of Napoleon continued to echo through the decades. While artillery was not the principal cause of death and wounds (rifle shots were), the cannon firing was dominating, thus there were more and more calls to increase the numbers and size of cannon. This was a well-documented talk. Lombardy’s brilliance remains true.

Dana Lombardy was an Associate Online Editor for Armchair General magazine and now does research, writing and design through Lombardy Studios. Dana is best known for his nearly twenty television appearances, including multiple episodes of The History Channel’s “Tales of the Gun” series. He has contributed as an editor, cartographer, graphic artist and designer on many books, games, and magazines, and was Publisher of Napoleon Journal from 1996-2000.