Artillery Profile: 10 pdr. Ordnance Rifle Print Email The Ordnance Rifle was manufactured at the Phoenix Iron Company in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania. It was adopted by the Federal Ordnance Department in early 1861. The design of this rifle, soon a favorite with artillerists in both armies, is recognized by the complete absence of any discontinuities in the surface of the gun. It was also a major step forward in material, being made entirely of wrought iron.
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Artillery Profile: 10 pdr. Parrott Rifle Print Email Parrotts, invented by Robert Parker Parrott, were manufactured in different sizes, from 10-pounders up to the rare 300-pounder. The 10- and 20-pounder versions were used by both armies in the field.
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Artillery Profile: 12 pdr. Blakely Rifle Print Email Blakely, pioneered a banding system for his rifled cannon. With each experiment of his design a different cannon was developed with the end result of at least five, and possibly as many as ten, distinct types of Blakely cannons were manufactured.
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Artillery Profile: 12 pdr. Howitzer Print Email An effective, serviceable cannon before the Civil War, the 12 pdr. Howitzer was a poor weapon in comparison to new weapons such as the Napoleon, and 3 inch rifles. Most howitzers in Federal service were melted down, and replaced with more Napoleons, except in the west where light and more manueverable weapons were required. The Confederate Army, with a shortage of usable cannon, maintained them in their arsenal for most of the war.
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Artillery Profile: 12 pdr. Smoothbore "Napoleon" Field Gun Print Email The Napoleon Gun Howitzer was the most popular, common, and deadly field piece of the Civil War. Developed under the auspices of Louis Napoleon of France, it first appeared in the American artillery in 1857. In the North, the smoothbore Napoleon was officially designated the "light 12-pounder gun". A Napoleon fired a 12.3 lb projectile and had a maximum effective range of about 1,600 yards.
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Artillery Profile: 12 pdr. Whitworth Breechloading Rifle Print Email The 12-pounder Whitworth Breechloading Rifle, manufactured in England, was invented by Sir Joseph Whitworth, and imported into North America during the Civil War. It was a very rare gun during the war, but was an interesting precursor to modern artillery in that it was loaded from the breech and had exceptional accuracy over an enormous range.
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Artillery Profile: 14 pdr. James Rifle Print Email Charles Tillinghast James was a self-educated mechanic and carpenter who turned to public life, serving first as a senator from Rhode Island and later as Major General of the militia. He devoted considerable time and talent to the promotion of rifled cannons and to the projectiles they fired. His close friendship with J. Tyler Ames of Ames Foundry led to the development of these artillery pieces.
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Artillery Profile: 20 pdr. Parrott Rifle Print Email The 20 Pounder Parrott Rifle was one of the heaviest field artillery pieces of the Civil War. It was highly accurate, cheap to make, and easy to operate. In hard-hitting and accurate counter-battery fire - the 20 Pounder Parrott had no match.
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Artillery Profile: 24 pdr. Howitzer Print Email When positioned in defensive positions and field fortifications, 24-pounder Howitzers were extremely useful pieces of ordnance because of their powerful 5.82 inch shells. Their 1400 pound weight made them a very hard to maneuver in the field, and their 1300 yard effective range put them at a disadvantage to other artillery pieces.
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Artillery Profile: 4.5 inch Siege Rifle Print Email Sometimes mistakenly called a 4.5-inch Ordnance Rifle or 4.5-inch Rodman Rifle, this large siege and garrison gun actively served in Union Artillery batteries, and had a reputation for being easy to transport.
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Artillery Profile: 6 pdr. Smoothbore Field Gun Print Email The 6-pounder field gun was a lightweight, mobile piece that was a favorite of the field artillery in the first half of the nineteenth century. This popular workhorse of the Mexican War era was regarded as superseded by the Union artillery, but was still heavily employed by a Confederate army that could not afford to pass up any opportunities.
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Artillery Profile: 6 pdr. Wiard Rifle Print Email Norman Wiard, a Canadian working for the United States invented several light artillery pieces which, although apparently excellent weapons, do not seem to have been very popular. Wiard described his weapons as being made of semi-steel in two calibers: a 6-pdr Rifle with a 2.6 inch bore and a 12-pdr smoothbore with a 4.62 inch bore.
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Artillery Profile: Heavy 12 pdr. Model 1841 Smoothbore Print Email A foreruner to the 12-pdr. Napoleon, and veteran of the Mexican War era, this weapon was one of the most widely used cannon in the United States during the 1840s and '50s.
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