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Field artillery in the American Civil War refers to the ... The 20-pounder was the largest field gun used during the war, with the barrel alone weighing over 1,800 ...
Heavy artillery during the Civil War consisted of siege artillery, garrison artillery, and coastal artillery. Siege and garrison artillery were larger versions of field artillery, mounted on heavyweight carriages which allowed them very limited mobility: the M1839 24-pounder smoothbore was the largest one which could still be moved by road.
The Civil War was the first major war to see the use of rifled artillery. Rifling gave the guns greater velocity, range, accuracy, and penetrating power, making smoothbore siege guns obsolete. Rifling gave the guns greater velocity, range, accuracy, and penetrating power, making smoothbore siege guns obsolete.
The 20-pounder Parrott rifle, Model 1861 was a cast iron muzzle-loading rifled cannon that was adopted by the United States Army in 1861 and employed in field artillery units during the American Civil War.
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]
The 10-pounder Parrott rifle, Model 1861 was a muzzle-loading rifled cannon made of cast iron that was adopted by the United States Army in 1861 and often used in field artillery units during the American Civil War.
Other guns included 34 3-inch Ordnance rifles, 32 10-pounder Parrott rifles, 24 M1841 6-pounder field guns, 10 M1841 12-pounder howitzers, and nine other artillery pieces. In the small Army of the Ohio, there were 26 3.8-inch James rifles, 18 12-pounder Napoleons, 12 3-inch Ordnance rifles, and 16 other guns.
By the time of the American Civil War, the 24-pounder howitzer was superseded by the 12-pounder Napoleon, which combined the functions of both field gun and howitzer. The 24-pounder howitzer's use as field artillery was limited during the conflict and production of the weapon in the North ended in 1863.