and rifles in 1862 which by the last year of the war i i had had given union cavalry and some union infantry a great advantage in tactical combat and as you said, lincoln was instrumental in getting john ericsson the contract for the monitor, and spent a great deal of time at the navy yard with john dahlgren, inventor of the foremost naval gun, watching the testing of the naval guns at the washington naval yard. he also went up to west pointe in june of 1862 and watched the test of parent rifle cannon at the cold spring army, which is just across the hudson river from west pointe. so...