Hot Shot Furnace

Fort Macon's original Hot Shot Furnace was built in 1836, and furnaces like it were used in forts to heat non-explosive cannonballs red hot for firing at the unarmored wooden enemy warships of the period in order to set them afire. Cold cannonballs were placed on shot rails at the high end of the furnace and rolled down over the firebox; when the balls directly over the firebox reached red heat, they were removed so the next cannonballs could roll into place and begin heating. Implements carried the red hot cannonballs to the cannons, where gun crews placed wads of clay or wet hay between the gunpowder charge and the hot shot to prevent a premature discharge. This furnace, along with another on the fort's outer wall, remained in use until armored warships in the War Between the States made such weapons obsolete, and they were dismantled by 1867.

North Carolina · United States