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Veteran Affairs

2011-04-01 13:55:00

Cannons used during the Civil War - series (for part one of this series, refer to Mar. ’11 issue)

Question: What types of cannons were used during the Civil War?

Answer: Thank you for your question. I look forward to answering it, but having researched this for quite some time, it will take more than one issue. Last issue we finished with indentifying the “green ones,” sometimes called “brass” pieces. We will cover these in this issue. Model 1841 6-pdr Gun: The 6-pdr was a popgun. Used extensively during the Mexican War, it was made obsolete by the increased range of the available infantry weapons as much as by the coming of better artillery. Though fairly mobile at 900 pounds, softball-sized shot was entirely too small to do much damage and it could easily be outranged, especially once rifled guns came into play. Most sources give it a range of about 1500 yards, but this is being generous. No doubt the gun could throw a shot that far but, at that distance, small round projectile could hardly be accurate and would be easy for troops to avoid. These guns existed in large numbers at the outbreak of hostilities, however, and were pressed into service by both sides. Both sides also got rid of them as quickly as possible. Model 1841 12-pdr Gun: Packing a solid punch and having a respectable 1600-1700 yard effective range, the 12-pdr was a much better weapon than its little brother. But its weight (1800 lbs) was a liability, just about at the top limit for the requirements of mobility in the field. Model 1841 12-pdr Howitzer: This was by far the most effective field piece of the war for use at any range less than 400 yards. Its large shells gave it firepower, while its light weight (less than 800 lbs) made it highly mobile and easy to position, even by hand. Because of its mobility, the piece was readily adaptable for close infantry support. Nine of them were supposed to have followed the infantry in Pickett’s Charge so as to protect its flanks and render whatever service they could in front. However, some confusion of orders and effective Federal artillery fire during the pre-charge cannonade resulted in the nine pieces being unavailable. It is interesting to speculate what difference they might have made had they accompanied Pickett’s troops. The 12-pdr howitzer’s great weakness was its effective range, which is not much over 1,000 yards, well under that of even the 6-pdr gun. It made the piece an easy target for other artillery. Model 1841 24-pdr Howitzer: When positioned in field fortifications, these were extremely useful pieces of ordnance because of their powerful 5.82 inch shells. Their 1400 pound weight made them a bit unwieldy in the field, and their 1300-1400 yard effective range put them at a disadvantage to other pieces. Nevertheless, infantrymen could not have relished the idea of charging a battery of 24-pdr howitzers. E. Porter Alexander, General Longstreet’s de facto Chief of Artillery for much of the war, called them “my favorite guns.” (Alexander, p. 182) On occasion, he even had them mounted on skids and used as mortars. Model 1857 Light12-pdr Gun Howitzer: Undoubtedly, the best known field piece of the war, the “Napoleon” was a kind of hybrid in that it could do everything the other four smoothbores could do. It had more firepower than the 6-pdr gun, weighed 600 pounds less than the old 12-pdr gun, was every bit as sturdy as the bigger 24-pdr howitzer and could fire shot or shell, with effect, to 1700 yards. In another sense, however, it was not a hybrid at all as it possessed none of the technical features of a howitzer - notably, it lacked a chambered bore - and was called a howitzer only because it could fire shell. The basic Napoleon came from the French Emperor Louis Napoleon, who in the early 1850’s ordered his Ordnance Department to design something with which he could standardize his field artillery. Not only would such standardization save money, but it would greatly simplify the manufacture, supply and distribution of the guns themselves, not to mention their carriages, implements and ammunition. Unlike many hybrids, the Napoleon was a resounding success. It greatly impressed the three-man American military commission which toured Europe in 1855-56 (one of whose members was George McClellan). On their return, they brought back the specifications of the new French gun, and a recommendation that it be seriously considered for the American service. About a year later, with minor modifications, it was formally adopted. Strangely, (or perhaps not so strangely, given the Congress’s well-known lack of interest in the military during peacetime), only five Napoleons were purchased for the army between 1857 and the outbreak of the war. One of these was used for proofing. The other four were given to Battery M, 2nd U.S. Artillery at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas, in late 1857. It was no coincidence that the new guns went to that particular unit. Battery M’s commander was Capt. Henry Hunt, acknowledged even then as one of America’s premier artillerists. Hunt later brought the guns to First Manassas where they were the only Napoleons on the field and where, without infantry support, they broke up a Confederate flank attack on the beaten Union army as it retreated toward Centerville late in the day. Hunt actually was credited by General Winfield Scott with saving the Union army that day. He went on to become the Army of the Potomac’s Chief of Artillery. The Federal government quickly began ordering more Napoleons. General McClellan, as part of his reorganization of the army, ordered that all four Model 1841’s be replaced with Model 1857’s, which is precisely what had been intended when the Napoleon was first adopted. This process was begun immediately, though logistics problems and the emphasis on the war in the East resulted in the western Federal armies using the old models much longer than did the Army of the Potomac. The Confederates, without the Union’s industrial capacity, were required to keep the older guns and howitzers in service throughout the war. In December of 1862, General Lee suggested that all 6-pdrs be melted down and recast into Napoleons. Though a few were recast right away, it was not until after Chancellorsville that the Army of Northern Virginia managed to replace even these smallest of the 1841’s with Confederate-made or captured pieces. Just under 1200 Napoleons were produced for the Union army during the war. The Confederates produced some 500-600 of their own, though these came in several styles. The early Southern pieces closely resembled the Model 1857, while later designs eliminated the distinctive muzzle swell and otherwise changed the appearance of the piece. Shortages of bronze ultimately required Richmond to manufacture Napoleons of cast iron. These were strengthened with breech reinforcing bands which made them look rather like fat Parrott rifles. For convenience, however, all of these Confederate-made models are simply called “Napoleons.” The reader should note that all Napoleons were 12-pdrs. Occasionally, someone will write or speak of “6-pdr Napoleons,” but this is a misnomer, as there was no such thing. Before moving on to a discussion of “the black ones,” it might be useful to note something of the use of particular metals for particular field pieces. The early United States used bronze (an alloy of approximately 90% copper and 10% tin) for most of its field artillery. This was the traditional material and was used by the big European powers. Around the turn of the 19th century, the factors of cost and supply combined to bring about a switch to iron. Bronze was 5-6 times more expensive than iron on a per-piece basis. Moreover, while there were large deposits of iron ore in the United States, there was little available copper or tin and foreign sources of supply would most likely be cut off during a war. Thus, the “Iron Age” of American artillery began in 1801. For a variety of reasons, mostly involving the domestic politics of the day, the Iron Age ended with a return to bronze around 1835. Bronze is a better material for smoothbore artillery anyway. It is not brittle like cast iron and though it will wear and even stretch, it is much less subject to bursting. With the return to bronze, came design experiments which resulted in the Models of 1841. These, as we have seen, remained the standards until the coming of the war demanded their replacement. The Napoleon was a significant step forward which took the smoothbore concept about as far as it could go. But the real advances in field artillery during the Civil War came with the development of iron rifles with their great ranges and astounding accuracy. Early in the war, it was thought that the need for rifled guns could be met quickly and easily by rifling existing smoothbores. As a rifle’s elongated solid shot (called a “bolt”) weighed about twice as much as a smoothbore’s round shot of the same diameter, doing this seemed to offer the promise of magically turning 6-pdr smoothbores into 12-pdr rifles. Charles T. James - inventor, militia general, and former U.S. Senator from Rhode Island - made one of the first attempts at rifling bronze guns and created the short-lived “James Rifles.” Some of these were merely re-bored 6-pdrs. Others were manufactured from scratch, with one style resembling the old guns and another looking very much like the sleek 3-inch Ordnance Rifles. Unfortunately, none of them worked very well as friction from the projectiles quickly wore down the soft bronze, in effect turning the guns back into smoothbores. The experiment of rifled bronze field pieces was abandoned early. Curiously though, the 2nd Connecticut Battery was still armed with four James Rifles and two old 12-pdr howitzers as late as Gettysburg. It was the only battery in the Army of the Potomac not then equipped with Napoleons or with one of the iron rifles. Two of the Ordnance-pattern James Rifles now mark the position of the 2nd Connecticut at Gettysburg (Hancock Avenue, just south of the large Pennsylvania monument).The two most important “black ones” were the Parrott Rifle and the Ordnance Rifle. Other types were tried, but none were produced in as large quantities or saw as extensive use as these two. Next month we will talk about what the Union and the Confederacy could do.