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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]
As such the 12-pounder was a favorite weapon of the Grande Armée. Later, redesigned 12-pounders were named after Napoleon III and found heavy use during the American Civil War. Twelve-pounders were also carried on naval vessels of various sizes. Unlike their land-based cousins, such weapons were considered light by naval standards.
The "canon obusier de 12 livres" is commonly described as a "12-pounder" in English, although the nominal rating was based on a slightly different measure - the bore is the size of a solid cast-iron ball weighing 12 livres (old French pounds, about 1.079 English pounds.) As with other cannon rated by nominal weight, the projectile actually used ...
A small quantity of 12-pounder field guns were rifled early in the war, but these were more experimental weapons, and no field service is recorded. [20] By far the most popular of the smoothbore cannon was the 12-pounder model of 1857, Light, commonly called "Napoleon".
An American M1857 12-Pounder "Napoleon" The twelve-pound cannon "Napoleon" was the most popular smoothbore cannon used during the war. It was widely admired because of its safety, reliability, and killing power, especially at close range. It did not reach America until 1857. It was the last cast bronze gun used by an American army.
The French Army introduced the canon-obusier de 12 in 1853. The US version of this type of canon-obusier, commonly called the "12-pounder Napoleon Model 1857", was one of the most-used cannon in the American Civil War. [2] [3] Over 1,100 of these "Napoleons" were manufactured by the Union, and 600 by the Confederacy. [4]
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Canon obusier de 12, French 12-pounder cannon-howitzer of 1853. Known in the US as "12 pounder Napoleon" M1841 12-pounder howitzer, American howitzer having the same caliber (4.62 inches) as a 12-pounder field gun; One of the Dahlgren guns of the American Civil War; Ordnance BL 12 pounder 7 cwt, British field gun, 1885–1892; Ordnance QF 12 ...