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Horse artillery—rows of limbers and caissons, each pulled by teams of six horses with three postilion riders and an escort on horseback (1933, Poland). A limber is a two-wheeled cart designed to support the trail of an artillery piece, or the stock of a field carriage such as a caisson or traveling forge, allowing it to be towed.
The cannon proved very effective when employed by light artillery units during the Mexican–American War. The cannon was used during the early years of the American Civil War, but it was soon outclassed by newer field guns such as the M1857 12-pounder Napoleon. In the U.S. Army, the 6-pounders were replaced as soon as more modern weapons ...
Each caisson carried two ammunition chests and the limber carried one additional ammunition chest. [26] The 10-pounder Parrott rifle carried 50 rounds in each ammunition chest. [ 27 ] A memo from November 1863 specified that rifled guns should have 25 shells, 20 shrapnel (case shot), and 5 canister rounds in each ammunition chest.
On average, each horse pulled about 700 pounds (317.5 kg). Each gun in a battery used two six-horse teams (for normal field artillery; heavier guns required much larger teams): one team pulled a limber that attached to the trail of the gun to form a four-wheeled wagon of sorts; the other pulled a limber that attached to a caisson. The large ...
In the period before the Civil War, a U.S. Army light artillery battery was organized with four M1841 6-pounder field guns and two M1841 12-pounder howitzers. [1] The field gun fired solid iron cannon balls in a flat trajectory to smash its targets [2] while the howitzer was designed to lob hollow shells into massed formations or fortifications. [3]
A lifesize model of a Swedish 1850s horse artillery team towing a light artillery piece, in the Swedish Army Museum, Stockholm.. Horse artillery was a type of light, fast-moving, and fast-firing field artillery that consisted of light cannons or howitzers attached to light but sturdy two-wheeled carriages called caissons or limbers, with the individual crewmen riding on horses.
Unlike a smoothbore cannon, the 3-inch rifle's projectile retained two-thirds of its muzzle velocity at 1,500 yd (1,372 m) – or 839 ft/s (256 m/s) – so that its rifled projectile was invisible in flight. A smoothbore cannon's projectile retained only one-third of its muzzle velocity at that range and its round shot could be seen in the air ...
The gunpowder charge weighed 2.0 lb (0.9 kg) and fired the projectile with a muzzle velocity of 1,250 ft/s (381 m/s) to a distance of 1,900 yd (1,737 m) at 5° elevation. [11] A smoothbore cannon's projectile usually retained only one-third of its muzzle velocity at 1,500 yd (1,372 m) and its round shot could be seen in the air.