Weapons of the Civil War

Civil War Field Artillery
Introduction
In many ways, the Civil War was the first modern war. The scorched earth policy implemented during Sherman’s March to the Sea introduced “total war” to the world (Cummings, 2012). And it involved the use of weaponry that would come to define the modern age of war: advanced, technological and devastating. As Gen. Hunt put it, artillery should be “a separate arm”—a specialized force of the army that could be used to maximum advantage (Hazlett, Olmstead & Parks, 2004). Field artillery weapons included the 6-pounder gun made of bronze which shot a 6 lb. projectile at a speed of 1,400 feet per second with a range of 1,500 yards; the M1857 12-pound “Napoleon” made of bronze, which weighed 1,227 lbs. and shot the 12-lb. ball at a speed of 1,440 feet per second with a range 1,600 yards; the 24-pounder Howitzer made of bronze, which shot the 18 lb. cannon ball at a speed of 1,060 feet per second at a range off 1,300 yards; and many others (Cole, 2002). All in all, the field artillery used during the Civil War was a force of destruction—big, slow, heavy and capable of removing limbs and heads before a body had time to duck. This paper will discuss and describe the field artillery used during the Civil War and show how it was put to use in America’s first exercise in conducting total war.
Smoothbores
Artillery in the Civil War consisted of two types: smoothbores and rifles. Smoothbores were the howitzers and guns. Smoothbores had been around awhile and were older than the rifle, which had only recently begun to be mass-produced by the time war broke out in 1861. Guns and howitzers were typical of the battery going back a century, but it was the way they were used in conjunction with the rifle in the artillery and Napoleon 12-pounder that changed the face of war.
Howitzers were short barreled and guns were longer. Guns used higher powder charges and ranged from 6-pounders to 12-pounders. The 6-pounder guns used in the early parts of the war had been produced as early on as 1835. Some older cannon were even 40 years old when armies became desperate. The Union opted for the bigger guns by the end of the war, but the smaller ones remained popular in the South (Ripley, 1984). The 12-pounder Model produced in 1857 was, however, the best—light, versatile, and capable of being pulled by a team of six horses as opposed to eight, the “Napoleon” as it was called could pay a heavy load on the heads of the enemy thanks to the large bore it possessed.
The howitzer had the shorter barrel and was primarily used with exploding shells and case shot. When the enemy was hidden within a fort, the howitzer was used to destroy the fort and bring the enemy out into the open. The cost of a single howitzer was approximately $500 at the time (Ripley, 1984), or $15,000 in today’s money accounting for inflation. The 12-pounder, 24-pounder and 32-pounder were all used during the Civil War. 24-pounders were commonly found in both the North and the South reserve batteries but by the end of the war the guns were doing most of the talking. Woolfolk used the 24-pounder in his battery in the Northern Virginia Army; however, he was the exception—for the most part the Union did not put these weapons into the field. The 24-pounder and the 32-pouner were mainly used as fixed cannons to defend fortifications, but still they could be found in the field from time to time (Ripley, 1984).
The 12-pounder mountain Howitzer also enjoyed some popularity especially in the Western Theater. It was light, versatile and could be pulled by a single horse or even deconstructed and put in packs on the backs of animals. Both the North and the South produced hundreds of these light cannon and the 12-pounder mountain Howitzer was essential in the Union’s victory in the “Gettysburg of the West”—the Battle of Glorieta in the Western Theater (Hazlett et al., 2004). They allowed for fast moving operations and were extremely effective at destroying the enemy at close range.
The most popular 12-pounder of them all, however, was the “Napoleon.” Safe, effective, consistent and trustworthy, the cannon named after France’s own Napoleon III packed a punch at close range, obliterating everything in its path. The cannon was distinguished by its muzzle swell in terms of appearance and in terms of weight, it was heavier than most field artillery. The Napoleon was so beloved that Gen. Lee had all the Northern Virginia Army’s 6-pounders melted down and cast as Napoleons in 1863, at a point when the war had not yet been determined. Lee wanted the most powerful and deadly weapons he could get in the field and the Napoleon was the best when it came to maximizing killing. Its accuracy was believed to hold for a mile.
Rifled Guns
The rifled gun was the other option for field artillery. The 76mm rifle was the most common field artillery weapon. Made of wrought iron, it was nearly indestructible when compared to the inferior cast iron weapons of the day. It was accurate, deadly and mobile. The 76mm rifle was genuinely believed to be the most accurate rifle on the field, but it was not the only rifled gun. The Parrott rifle also saw utility in all the major combats. However, because it was made of both wrought and cast iron, it was not as safe as the 76mm wrought iron rifle. Men working the cannons did not like using it. Following the fight at Fredericksburg in 1862, Henry Hunt of the Union Army attempted to get rid of the Parrott, arguing that it was heavy, cumbersome and overall unsafe (Hazlett et al., 2004). The James rifle and the Whitworth rounded out the lot of rifled guns.
Ammunition
Ammunition varied: there was shot, shells, case, canisters and grapeshot. Shot referred to a solid projectile more commonly known as a cannonball. For rifled guns, it was called a bolt. Shot was used to knock out enemy guns, transports, and to de-limb or take the heads off men in the field. While cannonballs were highly effective if accurate, most in the artillery preferred exploding shells, which did not require as much accuracy to be effective.
Shells were thus in demand when firing on forts and other fortifications. They could be fired over walls and their explosive power could do the work that shot simply could not achieve. When firing on soldiers in the open field, case was used—this was a smaller variation of the shell. Case had a charge that allowed it to explode and shred men with small iron or lead pellets when exploding over the heads of a line of men. The shrapnel was delivered via the Napoleon, which is one reason the cannon was so well-beloved: its propensity for killing using case was unparalleled.
However, the ammunition with the greatest killing force was the canister shot. Canister shot consisted of lead balls packed in a canister of sawdust that exploded upon exiting the muzzle of the cannon. The lead balls would fly in every which direction as though leaving a large shotgun and anyone standing in its way would not live to see another minute. Grapeshot preceded canister shot and was an earlier naval variation of the canister (Ripley, 1984).
Transportation
Horses and carriages were used to transport these weapons, with every horse expected to pull up to 700 lbs of equipment. Since horses could panic under fire, they made hauling heavy guns and cannons somewhat problematic. Horses also required feeding and because of the tough nature of the job, the typical war horse was only good for about eight months of service. Still without them and the oak carriages made to move the equipment from place to place so that men could rain down death upon one another, the war could not have produced so many casualties. Supply wagons were used to sustain the batteries and mobile forges were also used to help keep the guns in working order.
Conclusion
The field artillery of the Civil War was a mixture of machines capable of destroying forts, fortifications, guns, carriages, men and earth. These cannon were heavy and cumbersome—yet their power to annihilate anything in their path was unrivaled. The more versatile and lighter they could be made, the more beloved they became. However, what commanded the most respect among men was their ability to deliver shot round after round—without exploding and injuring the men firing it. Wrought iron guns like the Napoleon were the most favored: they could scatter case over the heads of men and bury them beneath a hail of lead balls that rained down upon the explosion of the case. They literally delivered death with each announcement of their arrival. Thanks to these weapons, the era of modern war had arrived.
References
Cole, P. M. (2002). Civil War Artillery at Gettysburg. New York: Da Capo Press.
Cummings, A. (2012). Was the American Civil War the First “Total War”? Retrieved
from https://tropicsofmeta.com/2012/10/04/was-the-american-civil-war-the-first-total-war/
Daniel, L. J. & Gunter, R. W. (1977). Confederate Cannon Foundries. Union City,
Tennessee: Pioneer Press.
Hazlett, J., Olmstead, E. & Parks, M. H. (2004). Field artillery weapons of the Civil
War. University of Illinois Press.
Ripley, W. (1984). Artillery and Ammunition of the Civil War. 4th ed. Charleston, SC:
The Battery Press.