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{{Short description|American inventor (1822–1895)}}
{{
{{Infobox person
| honorific_prefix =
| name = Sylvanus Sawyer
| honorific_suffix =
| image = Sylvanus Sawyer.png
| caption =
| birth_name =
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| resting_place_coordinates = <!-- {{Coord|LAT|LONG|display=inline}} -->
| monuments =
| nationality = [[Americans|American]]
| other_names =
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| employer = Self, founder of American Rattan Company, Fitchburg, MA
| organization =
| known_for = [[Rattan]] processing machinery, artillery and projectiles
| notable_works =
| style =
| spouse =
| partner =
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| relatives =
| awards =
| signature = Signature of Sylvanus Sawyer.png
}}
'''Sylvanus Sawyer''' (15 April 1822 in [[Templeton, Massachusetts]] – 13 October 1895, in [[Fitchburg, Massachusetts]])<ref name=Grave1/> was a [[United States]] inventor.<ref name=AppCyc1>
==Biography==
John Sawyer,<ref name=Grave1/> his father, was a farmer, mill owner and lumberman. His mother was Lucy Balcolm Sawyer.<ref name=Grave1/> His siblings included Addison M.,<ref name=NatCyc1>{{cite book | last1 = White | first1 = James Terry |
He went to [[Boston]] about 1843 and, while working in a [[machine shop]] there, invented a machine for preparing [[Caning (furniture)|chair cane]] from [[rattan]]. Thousands of dollars had previously been spent in vain attempts to construct such a machine, but Sawyer's was successful, and after it was patented, on 24 June 1851 (
In the summer of 1853 he invented improvements in rifled cannon projectiles, which were patented in 1855.<ref name=VintMach1>[http://vintagemachinery.org/mfgindex/detail.aspx?id=1735&tab=7 Patents by Sylvanus Sawyer at VintageMachinery.com]</ref> These included the placing of a coating of lead or other soft metal on the rear and sides of the shell, which was expanded laterally by the discharge and prevented the
[[File:Civil War officers. Union (1909) (14576108858).jpg|right|thumb|250px|The Sawyer gun being demonstrated by Major General [[Benjamin Butler]] for [[John E. Wool|Major General Wool]] at the Rip Raps ([[Fort Calhoun (Virginia)|Fort Calhoun]]), 1861]]
In 1857–58, with his brother Addison, Sawyer conducted experiments on his invention, at his own expense, for the benefit of the [[
Sawyer claimed that he was treated unjustly by the ordnance officers during the Civil War. Notwithstanding the report in his favor, his guns were not extensively adopted, but his improvements were incorporated in others that, he said, were infringements on his patents. He was advised by government officials to wait until the war had ended and then prosecute the chiefs of ordnance of the army and navy, but they both died shortly after its close, and nothing had been done in the matter. But he received several orders for guns directly from department commanders, to whom he furnished what are said to be the first batteries of [[Steel casting|cast-steel]] rifled guns made in the United States.<ref name=AppCyc1/> He patented other improvements in projectiles and [[fuze]]s in 1861–63,<ref name=CWArtyPat/> and in 1864–65 built a shop for the manufacture of ordnance, as he anticipated orders from the United States, Mexico, Brazil, and Chile, all of which he had negotiated with.<ref name=NatCyc1/> However, the close of the wars in the United States and [[South America]] caused it to be turned to other uses.<ref name=AppCyc1/>
He took out patents on dividers and calipers in 1867, a steam-generator in 1868, a sole sewing-machine in 1876, and a centering watchmaker's lathe on
He served as an [[alderman]] in Fitchburg.<ref name=AppCyc1/>
==Sawyer artillery==
Sylvanus Sawyer designed at least five types of [[rifling|rifled]] artillery guns and a full line of projectiles for them, including [[solid shot]], [[Shell (projectile)|shell]], [[Shrapnel shell|case-shot]], and [[Canister shot|canister]] rounds.<ref name=NatCyc1/> His company initials of "S. & A.M. Sawyer" or "S. & J.B. Sawyer", found on orders for his weapons, indicate that he partnered with his brothers Addison and Joseph in designing and manufacturing artillery.<ref name=Olm1>{{cite book | last1 = Olmstead | first1 = Edwin | last2 = Stark | first2 = Wayne E. | last3 = Tucker | first3 = Spencer C.
===9-pounder rifle===
A 9-pounder Sawyer rifle ordered in June 1861 is said to be the U.S. Army's first [[Steel casting|cast steel]] rifled weapon. Documentation survives for only one weapon of this type.<ref name=Haz1/><ref name=Olm306/>
===3.67-inch rifle===
The only Sawyer weapon that appears to have been produced in more than experimental quantity is a 3.67-inch cast steel rifle.<ref name=Haz1/> This was the standard bore for a 6-pounder weapon firing round shot, and the weapon is usually referred to as a 6-pounder in period documentation. However, as usual for rifled artillery of this period, the elongated projectiles recovered from the [[Siege of Port Hudson|Port Hudson]] battlefield made for this weapon range from 12 pounds (shell with percussion fuze) to 16 pounds (solid bolt).<ref name=SawProj1>[http://www.civilwarartillery.com/projectiles/rifled//Sawyer.htm Sawyer projectiles at CivilWarArtillery.com]</ref> The [[Vermont Light Artillery Batteries|2nd Vermont Battery]] was armed with six 3.67-inch Sawyer rifles at this battle.<ref name=Haz1/> Surviving documentation as of 1983 showed that orders for these guns were made in December 1861 (3 guns), May 1864 (6 guns), and November 1864 (6 guns); there may have been other orders.<ref name=Haz1/> One of these weapons survives in Minneapolis, Minnesota.<ref name=Haz1/><ref name=Olm300>Olmstead et al, pp. 300–301</ref> Experts have noted that the rifling grooves on two surviving Sawyer weapons are 2-3 times as deep as is typical for Civil War weapons.<ref name=Haz1/> This type of weapon was also used on U.S. Navy [[gunboat]]s; a January 1865 report by Brigadier General [[Charles K. Graham]], in command of a gunboat flotilla, to Major General [[E.O.C. Ord]] states that two of these weapons were on the [[side-wheel steamer|side-wheeler]] ''Chamberlain'' and a mix of four guns each, either 3.67-inch Sawyers or 12-pound [[howitzer]]s, were on the side-wheel light draft boats ''Burnside'', ''Reno'', ''Foster'', and ''Parke''.<ref name=Haz1/>
===3-inch rifle===
An order for three 3-inch cast steel Sawyer rifles was placed with Sawyer in December 1861. One weapon believed to be from this order survived in Fitchburg, MA as of 1997. Unusually, the order was placed with "A.M. Sawyer" vice the usual "S. & A.M. Sawyer", A.M. being Sylvanus' brother Addison. The date (31 December 1861) and weight (785 lbs.) are the same as those for an order of three 3.67-inch rifles.<ref name=Olm300/><ref name=Olm281>Olmstead et al, p. 281</ref>
===4.62-inch (30-pounder) rifle===
Two 4.62-inch (12-pounder bore) rifled Sawyer guns survived the Civil War; one as of 2012 at the [[Washington Navy Yard]], D.C., the other in private hands in Vermont as of 1997. Both of these were made by [[Cyrus Alger]] and Co. The former gun was on the Union's armed steam tug [[CSS Fanny|''Fanny'']], captured by the Confederates on 1 October 1862 and recaptured after the [[Battle of Elizabeth City]], North Carolina on 10 February 1862, and is stamped "1856".<ref name=RipSaw1/> A Naval Historical Foundation web page notes that the weapon has an erroneous inscription stating that it was captured from the [[CSS Louisiana|CSS ''Louisiana'']]. The [[USS Louisiana (1861)|USS ''Louisiana'']] was
===5-inch rifle===
Orders for two 5-inch iron ("possibly Sawyer", perhaps due to the early date) rifles each were placed with Cyrus Alger and Co. in October and December 1861.<ref name=Olm193/>
===24-pounder bore (5.82-inch) rifle===
Four 24-pounder (5.82-inch) bore rifles machined from Model 1845 42-pounder [[cannon|smoothbore]] seacoast gun blocks were ordered in 1857–58. One of these was the "Sawyer gun" used at Fort Calhoun in 1861 with 42-pound shells. These were made at the [[West Point Foundry]] in [[Cold Spring, New York]], with one delivered in 1857 and three in 1859. One is noted "for Mr. Sawyer's experiments" and another is noted "for Mr. Sigourney's experiments". A 24-pounder Sawyer gun tested at [[Fort Monroe]] had a recorded weight of 8,822 pounds, only one pound different from the delivered weight of the "Sigourney" gun.<ref name=RipSaw1/><ref name=Olm205>Olmstead et al, p. 205</ref> An unknown number of these weapons were in a battery at [[Newport News, Virginia]] in mid-1861, with one on the Rip Raps (Fort Calhoun, later [[Fort Wool]]) that attracted media attention for long-range fire on Confederate batteries at [[Sewell's Point]].<ref name=NatCyc1/><ref name=Batt1/> One of these and a 3.67-inch Sawyer rifle were in the siege train of the [[Siege of Richmond]] in 1864–65, as reported postwar by [[Henry Larcom Abbot]], an engineer officer.<ref>{{cite book | last1 = Abbot | first1 = Henry Larcom |
==See also==
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==References==
*{{Appletons'|wstitle= Sawyer, Sylvanus |
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sawyer, Sylvanus}}
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