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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]
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.
However, the effective descriptions for the 3.67" gun are rifled 6-pounder or 12-pounder James rifle, while the 3.80" variant was known as the 14-pounder James rifle. [26] To add to the confusion, the variants of the 3.80" bore rifle included two profiles (6-pounder and Ordnance), two metals (bronze and iron), three types of rifling (15, 10 ...
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 ...
Mordecai praised the Canon obusier de 12 gun-howitzer, which soon afterward was manufactured in the United States as the M1857 12-pounder Napoleon. [ 11 ] [ 12 ] Alexander Rose notes that Mordecai's report is a "masterpiece of unbiased scholarship" but that he was curiously dismissive of repeaters and breechloaders .
These weapons had a relatively short range of 1,322 yd (1,209 m) at 5° elevation compared with the 1,619 yd (1,480 m) range at 5° elevation of the popular M1857 12-pounder Napoleon. The howitzer was also 91 lb (41 kg) heavier than the Napoleon. However, some Confederate gunners appreciated the 24-pounder's accuracy and hitting power. [19]
For two reasons, canister shot fired from the 3-inch rifle was less effective than canister fired from a 12-pounder Napoleon or a M1841 12-pounder howitzer. First, its 3-inch bore was narrower than the 12-pounder's bore and could fire fewer canister balls. Second, the rifling of the barrel caused the canister to be thrown in an irregular pattern.
The introduction of the M1857 12-pounder Napoleon represented a significant development as the gun-howitzer could replace several of the outdated pieces at once. 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 ...