Original Cannons
3" Ordnance Rifle · Bronze Napoleon
12-pounder, Federal
Bronze 6-pounder · Bronze Heavy 12-pounder · 10-pounder
Parrot Rifle
Owned by a 5th Co. member, the bronze heavy 12-pounder shown in this sepia-tinted photograph was originally a Confederate artillery piece. At the end of the War, it was surrendered to the Federal Army and sent to Washington, D.C. as one of the "spoils of war", where it went into storage. The Federal Army stored it in the basement of Ford's Theater, the same theater in which John Wilkes Booth assassinated Federal President Abraham Lincoln on April 14, 1865. It sat in storage there for more than 120 years before finally being sold as surplus.
The photograph records the first time since the end of the War Between the States that this specific Confederate piece had been fired. The last man to pull the lanyard on that cannon prior to Private Cangelosi is unknown to us by name; but it was a Confederate private who last stood at that position with that cannon.
When the bronze heavy 12-pounder fires, it rings like an old plantation bell. The resemblance to the sound of the deep, resonant tones of a plantation bell is even more striking when a live round is fired from the cannon.
Napoleon Cannon
Model 1857
Named in honor of Emperor Napoleon III by its designers who created it in the 1850's in France, the Napoleon cannon was a bronze, smoothbore weapon. It represented more than simple ordnance, though. Napoleon III had ordered its design and construction so that the ordnance of the French army might be standardized. Standardization meant that the cannons could be produced relatively economically since it would simplify the production, supply, and distribution of cannons, carriages, implements, and ammunition.
Often referred to as the "workhorse" of Civil War artillery, it was manufactured and used by artillery companies of both the South and the North. In July of 1863, the Napoleon comprised about 39% of all artillery armament for both the Union Army of the Potomac and the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia.
The popularity of the Napoleon came from more than familiarity with the piece by artillerists of that day. The Napoleon had the best features of the extant smoothbores of the day. It was a reasonably maneuverable piece, especially after roughly 600 pounds had been shaved off the old heavy 12-pounder to make the light 12-pounder. It had the sturdy durability of the 24-pound howitzer. The Napoleon light 12-pounder had a relatively high degree of effectiveness at long-range, medium-range, and short-range fighting which made it a great overall weapon for the artillery. Last, but not least, being able to fire a 12-pound projectile rather than a 6-pound projectile made it a force to be reckoned with.
The Napoleon so impressed the three-man American military commission which toured Europe in 1855 and 1856 in their effort to bring America's military forces up to the same level as those of Europe that they brought back specifications for the French cannon, recommending that it be considered seriously for American use. Within a year, it was made an official part of American ordnance.
Being made an official part of the American selection of ordnance doesn't mean that the Army hurried it into production, however. Between the approval of the gun and the firing on Fort Sumter precipitated by Federal refusal to vacate the fort, a total of five Napoleons were purchased by the US Army, one of which was for proofing, and the others having been shipped to the 2nd US Artillery at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, in 1857, where Captain Henry Hunt, considered then to be the Army's premier field artillerist, was stationed. He would bring the pieces with him to First Bull Run where they would be used effectively against Confederate forces who mounted a flank attack on defeated Federal forces in retreat. That action was singled out by General Winfield Scott as having been the salvation of the Federal Army that day, and the Federal Army decided that some of the credit should go to the Napoleons, as well. In tribute to their new-found high esteem for the gun's performance that day, they began placing orders for its manufacture.
General Robert E. Lee was impressed with the capabilities of the Napoleon. Writing on December 5, 1862, he remarked that "The best guns for field service, in my opinion, are the 12-pounder Napoleons, the 10-pounder Parrotts, and the approved 3-inch rifles....The contest between our 6-pounder smoothbores and the 12-pounder Napoleons of the enemy is very unequal, and in addition, is discouraging to our artillerists."Napoleons were produced by both Confederate and Federal arsenals. Federal arsenals produced almost 1200 Napoleon light 12-pounders during the War, while Confederate arsenals were able only to produce between 500 and 600 Napoleons.
However, the Confederate and Federal Napoleons were not identical to each other. Although the early models of both were alike, the later Confederate Napoleons have a straight muzzle on the tube, the Federal Napoleon has the distinctive muzzle swell. Further along in the War, bronze shortages forced the Confederates to manufacture Napoleons from cast iron, strengthening the breeches with reinforcing bands that gave them the profile of a pudgy Parrott Rifle. In spite of modifications and changes in appearance, though, the Confederate pieces continued to be known as "Napoleons".
12-pounder Napoleon Statistics
Bore Diameter........................... 4.62"
Tube Material............................ Bronze
Length of Tube........................... 66"
Weight of Tube........................... 1227 lbs
Powder Charge........................... 2.5 lbs
Range at 5º Elevation................ 1619 yards
This original 10-pounder Parrott Rifle is owned by a member of 5th Company - Washington Artillery.
10-Pounder Parrott Rifle
Robert P. Parrott was an American career soldier when he resigned from the US Army in 1836
to become the Superintendent of the West Point Foundry of Cold Spring, New York. In
that position, he was able to pursue his interest in solving the problems of making cast
iron artillery tubes. Reaching the conclusion that the metal itself could not
be changed by any process to make it better suited for artillery production, he applied a
methodology already in use in other fields: he reinforced the cast iron breech with a
band of wrought iron that was shrunk around that point of greatest pressure under
discharge of the piece. In point of fact, the forces in the breech of a rifled tube
were greater than those in a smoothbore because the projectiles were tighter-fitting.
Designed by Robert P. Parrott in the 1850’s and patented by him in 1861, the Parrott Rifle consisted of a cast iron tube with a wrought iron band that was shrunk around the breech at its point of greatest pressure when a charge inside the tube would be fired. Owing to some early, unfortunate accidents with cast iron pieces, the Parrott Rifle enjoyed a bad reputation among many artillery men, even though it could be more accurate than smoothbore cannons.
The 10-pounder Parrott Rifle's bore diameter was changed from 2.9" to 3.0" in 1863 in order to make the ammunition for the Parrott Rifle and the 3" Ordnance Rifle interchangeable. At the same time the change in bore diameter was made, the muzzle swell was abandoned.
10-pounder Parrott Rifle Statistics
Bore Diameter........................... 2.9" (3.0" in 1863)
Tube Material............................ Cast Iron
Length of Tube........................... 78"
Weight of Tube........................... 890 lbs
Powder Charge........................... lbs
Range at 5º Elevation................ 2000 yards
3" Ordnance Rifle
The 3" Ordnance Rifle, originally called the "Griffin
Gun"
(after its designer, John Griffen) was superior to even the Parrott Rifle.
"Made of toughened wrought iron, it had no need for a breech reinforcement, and so it
tapered evenly from breech to muzzle in a sleek line. " The 3" Ordnance
Rifle, considered a work of martial art by many, has a 3" bore that is capable of
firing both the ammunition designed for it as well as the ammunition designed for the
Parrott Rifle.
Wrought iron had been used before in the manufacture of cannons, but it had been deemed too expensive and far too difficult to work with to be practical, and was a bit too brittle to give the sort of service and have the kind of lifespan so important to the army. That changed in 1854, though, when John Griffen modified a wrought iron production procedure that had been used to make wrought iron for lighthouses. The modification resulted in a vastly stronger wrought iron that could be worked much more readily. The cost issue became a minor one from that point forward.
Not only did it relegate the cost issue to a minor consideration, but the strength of the new wrought iron made the tube remarkable. Representatives of the Ordnance Department came to see the Griffen Gun tested in 1856.
3" Ordnance Rifle Statistics
Bore Diameter........................... 3.0"
Tube Material............................ Wrought Iron
Length of Tube........................... 73"
Weight of Tube........................... 816 lbs
Powder Charge........................... lbs
Range at 5º Elevation................ 1850 yards
Reproduction Cannons
6-pounder · 3" Ordnance Rifle · 12-pounder Howitzer
Model 1841 6-pounder GunIt didn't take long at all for the armies of both sides to realize that the 6-pounder was simply not going to cut the mustard. While it had the advantage of being relatively mobile at 900 pounds when compared against larger guns, the 6-pounder fired a shot that was roughly the size of a small grapefruit or a softball, a projectile that was too small to do a lot of damage. Although the 6-pounder is credited with being able to fire a round 1,500 yards, the benefit of throwing a shell that far is negated by the inability of the gun to place it on a target with any degree of accuracy at that same distance.
The 6-pounder not only took a back seat to the larger artillery pieces, but improvements in the ballistic performance of infantry weapons added insult to injury for the 6-pounder. The increased, accurate range of rifled muskets resulted in the 6-pounder being outranged and shamed in terms of accuracy.
M1841 6-pounder Cannon Statistics
Bore Diameter........................... 3.67"
Tube Material............................ Bronze
Length of Tube........................... 60"
Weight of Tube........................... 884 lbs
Powder Charge........................... lbs
Range at 5º Elevation................ 1520 yards
Model 1841 12-pounder Gun
The 12-pounder was a vast improvement over the 6-pounder. Greater accurate range -
between 1600 and 1700 feet - for a significantly larger shell gave artillerymen a far
better tool than the smaller weapon; it was a weapon that was more to be feared than the
6-pounder. Its chief drawback was to the artillerymen who had to deal with the
cannon, though. At 1800 pounds, the 12-pounder had reached the upper limit of
practical mobility and field use.
12-pounder Howitzer
12-pounder Howitzer Statistics
Bore Diameter........................... 4.62"
Tube Material............................ Bronze
Length of Tube........................... 53"
Weight of Tube........................... 778 lbs
Powder Charge........................... lbs
Range at 5º Elevation................ 1100 yards
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