Heads Up: Limber in UK...

[Bob Moseley (RIP)]

Hi all - let the discussion continue.

The definition that a limber is "a two-wheeled vehicle to which a gun or caisson may be attached" is very narrow and really explains nothing. As opposed to trawling through various dictionaries to obtain further narrow explanations I draw on the information from Wikipedia the free encyclopaedia

LIMBER

A limber is a two-wheeled cart designed to support the trail of an artillery piece, or the stock of a field carriage such as a caisson or travelling forge, allowing it to be towed. A caisson is a two-wheeled cart designed to carry artillery ammunition.

As artillery pieces developed trunnions and were placed on carriages featuring two wheels and a trail, a limber was devised. This was a simple cart with a pintle. When the piece was to be towed, it was raised over the limber and then lowered, with the pintle fitting into a hole in the trail. Horses or other draft animals were harnessed in single file to haul the limber. There was no provision for carrying ammunition on the limber, but an ammunition chest was often carried between the two pieces of the trail.

During the American Civil War, U.S. Army equipment was identical to Confederate Army equipment, essentially identical to French equipment, and similar to that of other nations. The field-artillery limber assumed its archetypal form – two wheels, an ammunition chest, a pintle hook at the rear, and a central pole with horses harnessed on either side.

Six horses were the preferred team for a field piece, with four being considered the minimum team. Horses were harnessed in pairs on either side of the limber pole. A driver rode on each left-hand (“near”) horse and held reins for both the horse he rode and the horse to his right (the "off horse").

In addition to hauling the artillery piece, the limber also hauled the caisson, a two-wheeled cart that carried two extra ammunition chests, a spare wheel and extra limber pole slung beneath.

With the general passing of the horse as a mover of artillery, the need for limbers and caissons also largely passed. Trucks or artillery tractors could tow artillery pieces but did not completely take over until after the end of the Second World War.

Jack your response - "Who cares what they are called? We all know what we are talking about." really degrades the effort of retaining correct terminology. Researchers and the public need the correct meaning of the word and its derivatives. Somebody may actually want to buy a limber, as described above, only to find that it is an artillery or ammunition trailer. An analogy of this could be by using the word Coke for all soft drinks whereas a soft drink is a specific item as is Coke. By using the word Coke people would eventually forget that a soft drink is a separate entity that has its own definition.

And Tony, pedantic can also mean the fastidious attention to detail which you yourself display with your Blitz restoration.

Bob