One of the most fascinating aspects of old-school warfare is the use of cannon and mortar. These days, we fire our projectiles from ships and shores hundreds of miles away, but during the Civil War, cannons were as good as it got in terms of "distance weapons." There are many groups of Americans dedicated to preserving the history of the Civil War, but one of the most kinetic is the North-South Skirmish Association (n-ssa). This group of re-enactors is based out of Winchester, Virginia, and was formed in 1950 (which almost qualifies the group itself as a "throwback"). They hold hundreds of skirmish matches all over the country, but the Mortar Match stands out among them.
Our friends at American Rifleman attended a recent Mortar Match to show us how a competition like this goes. There are many captivating aspects, from the costume uniforms to the way the match winners are determined ... but the one that's always going to be the headliner is the mortar itself.
"One of the most prominent things that we think of when we think of the American Civil War is the artillery, the cannons, the big guns. And of those big guns, one of the most important types of those arms was the mortar," American Rifleman Executive Editor Evan Brune says. "These were the type of guns that were used to besiege fortifications and hurl solid shot over walls and to rain down shards of hot metal on advancing troops, and here at the North-South Skirmish Association, they're still putting these platforms into action to see how accurate they can be."
Part of what makes the mortar match fun is the great big "boom," of course. But it's also extremely interesting to observe how mortars are "aimed." It's an extreme version of the way in which modern rifle shooters taking very long shots have to hold several feet over the target. And, unlike just about every other form of modern ballistic military arms, you can actually see the projectile in flight.
Don't miss this great #ThrowbackThursday (which continues through today) video from American Rifleman! If you're interested in watching or shooting a North-South Skirmish Association match, click here for more information.
