Counterpoise Carriage

A gun-carriage which, applied to a gun mounted in barbette , allows it to recoil behind the parapet or other shelter, and by means of a counterpoise brings it, or a ists in bringing it, again into battery after it has been loaded. Among the best known of these carriages are Moncrieff’s and King’s ,—the former invented by Capt. Moncrieff, of the British army, and the latter by Capt. W. R. King, of the U. S. Engineers. In Moncrieff’s carriage the counterpoise is a heavy weight between the cheeks of the top carriage. In King’s the weight is in a well under the pintle-block, and is attached to the carriage by a wire cable.