Whitworth Rifle
The Whitworth breech loading 12-pdr., a British-made gun, was especially designed for long-range use. Tests in England showed that it had a range of 2,600 yards at 5 degrees elevation at 10 degrees, 4,500 yards at 20 degrees, 7,000 and at 35 degrees, an astonishing 10,000 yards. The Whitworth is most associated with the Confederacy, for most of these guns went south. A battery of six 2.75-in. Whitworths, complete with carriages, ammunition, and machinery for making more projectiles was donated...
The Mountain Howitzer
The mountain howitzer was a small, lightweight weapon designed to be broken down and carried by pack animals for use in rugged terrain. While it was not of much use in the east, where it would be subject to coumerbattery fire, it was popular in the west especially against Indians who did not have access to artillery. These weapons saw only limited use by Union Ibices, although ihe Confederates, especially in the west, employed quite a few of them. They were rarely used in the main actions of...
Organization Of The Us Army Field Artillery
At the start of the war it was felt that the effort to put down the rebellion would be a short one, requiring only three months' worth of service. Since training skilled artillerymen would take longer than that, initially only Regular Army artillery was to be recruited. The artillery of iho U.S. Army is by far its worst or most slipshod organization of any branch of the service, wrote professional artilleryman Maj, Thomas Osborn in IN gt 1. This arm has in ihe regular army always been...
Select Bibliography
Alexander, Edward Porter, Fighting for the Confederacy Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 1989 Andrews, R. Snowden, Andrews' Mounted Artillery Drill Charleston, South Carolina, 1863 Daniel, Larry ., Cannoneers in Gray University, Alabama, 1984 Daniel, I .arryj., and Rilev W. Ounter, Confederate Canon Foundries Union City, Tennessee, 1977 French, William Barry, William 11 tint, Henry, Instruction for Field Artillery New York, 1864 GorgasJ., The Ordnance Manual Richmond, Virginia, 1862 Osborn, Thomas,...
Fluvanna Artillery
Many batteries at the war's outset were armed with obsolete 6-pdr. cannon with iron tubes, such as this M1631 example. Ft. McHenry National Park j Li the 1860s, at the start of the American Civil War, American artillery , experts were in the midst of a major change of direction. In the early years of the 19th century, American artillery had an overwhelmingly English influence, which stemmed from the War of Independence nearly a century earlier. At that time, the British army used 3-, k 12-, and...
THE Ml 841 12PDR HOWITZER
Muzzle of the first 3-inoh Ordnance Rifle over produced. This particular weapon was captured at Gettysburg. George Lomas Collection Muzzle of the first 3-inoh Ordnance Rifle over produced. This particular weapon was captured at Gettysburg. George Lomas Collection I he smoothbore howitzer was designed as a lightweight gun suitable for use with canister or shell at short ranges, or at a higher trajectory than regular guns ii was therefore able to hit targets in greater defilade than regular guns....
Equipment
According to the basic Federal artillery manual, each gun crew should have two sponges and rammers, two sponge covers, one worm and staff, two handspikes, one sponge bucket, one prolonge a long line used to pull a gun to the rear without horses , one tar bucket, two leather water buckets, two gunner's haversacks, two tube pouches, one fuze gouge, one fuze wrench, one vent punch, one gunner's pincers, one tow hook, one pendulum hausse essentially a gun's detachable rear sight , two thumbstalls,...
The 10 And 20pdr Parrott Rifle
A West Point graduate who had resigned his commission in 1836 to head a private foundry, Robert P. Parrott developed this simple, rugged, and effective weapon. Essentially his design was a long, cast-iron tube with a wrought-iron reinforcing wedge-shaped bar wrapped around the breech, and the joints pounded together until welded shut. In the process, the tube was rotated on rollers, a stream of water being shot inside to keep the tube cool, as the hot band was wrapped around it. Because the...
The M1857 Napoleon
The first Napoleon was cast in December, 1856, by the Ames Manufacturing Co., Chicopee, Massachusetts. It was the only exact copy of the French Army's field piece, complete with handles on the top above the trunnions, and a full 61-in. long tube. There was some dissatisfaction with the results obtained with this length barrel, and future tubes were made some three inches longer. The original tube is presently located at the Petersburg Virginia National Military Park. Ames cast four more lubes...
Wiard Field Artillery
During the war, Norman Wiard, a Canadian by birth, held the job of Superintendent of Ordnance Stores for the U.S. Army. A talented inventor he also designed and produced special river landing boats for the U.S. government , by 1863 he had developed an entirely new system of field artillery. Wiard's guns used semi-steel, a low carbon cast iron in which some scrap steel was mixed with the pig iron of the charge. The result was a tensile strength of 110,000 lb, per square inch, allowing for...
Organization Of Confederate Field Artillery
On November 1, 1862, the Confederate Adjutant and inspector General's Office issued its General Orders, No. 81, which spelled oili the organization of the light artillery II, The following will be the organization of a company of light artillery, according to die number of guns composing the battery, viz. For a battery of six guns one captain, 2 first lieutenants, 2 second lieutenants, 1 sergeant-major or first sergeant, I quartermaster-sergeant, 6 sergeants, 12 corporals, 2 buglers or...
The Dahlgren Boat Howitzer
Detail of the elevating screw and wheel at the end of the carriage of the 12-pdr. Dalghren boat howitzer. George Loin as Cot lection Detail of the elevating screw and wheel at the end of the carriage of the 12-pdr. Dalghren boat howitzer. George Loin as Cot lection During the Mexican War, the navy took part in a number of landing expeditions, and learned that it needed field artillery of its own. Admiral John Dahlgren, a leading authority on naval artillery, designed a series of bo t howitzers...
Pdr Field Gun Carriage
1 Lock chain boft and eye plate 4 Ear plate to support worm, key chain and key 12 Cap-square key chain and key F The traveling forge -top and side cutaway views.
American Civil War Artillery 186165 1 1
Philip Katcher Illustrated by Tony Bryan First published in Great Britain in 2001 by Osprey Publishing, Elms Court, Chapel Way, Botley, Oxford 0X2 9LP, United Kingdom, Email info ospreypublfshing,com 2001 Osprey Publishing Ltd. Reprinted 2002 AN rights reserved. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988H no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,...