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Model 1857 12-pounder Napoleon at National Civil War Naval Museum. The 12-pounder Napoleon was the most favored field gun of both Union and Confederate armies. It was fairly accurate at all ranges and especially lethal when firing canister at close range. [5] The Napoleon was mounted on a carriage weighing 1,128 lb (511.7 kg). [22]
The "12-pounder Napoleon" was widely admired because of its safety, reliability, and killing power, especially at close range. It was the last cast bronze gun used by an American army. The Union version of the Napoleon can be recognized by the flared front end of the barrel, called the muzzle swell. Confederate Napoleons were produced in at ...
This invention was related to the origin of the development of the Dahlgren shell gun in the United States in 1849. 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.
The French "Canon obusier de campagne de 12 modèle 1853", on display in Les InvalidesThe canon obusier de 12, introduced in the French Army in 1853, an early type of canon obusier, or gun howitzer developed during the reign of Napoleon III, was the primary cannon used in the American Civil War, under the name of 12-pounder Napoleon Model 1857.
By far the most popular of the smoothbore cannon was the 12-pounder model of 1857, Light, commonly called "Napoleon". The Model 1857 was of lighter weight than the previous 12-pounder guns, and could be pulled by a six-horse draft, yet offered the heavier projectile payload of the larger bore.
The Napoleon, along with the 10-pounder Parrott rifle, the 20-pounder Parrott rifle, and the 3-inch ordnance rifle, came to constitute the vast majority of Union field artillery during the Civil War. The Confederates meanwhile had to make do with a wider variety of field artillery and went so far as to melt down outdated pieces so they could be ...
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 de 12 Gribeauval or 12-pounder was a French cannon and part of the system developed by Jean Baptiste Vaquette de Gribeauval. There were 1.079 English pounds in the Old French pound ( French : livre ), making the weight of shot nearly 13 English pounds.