Most prevalant artillery ammuntion

To date I have compiled a list of 1,269 Confederate casualties (by name) at Gettysburg where the type of casualty has been identified - either gunshot, artillery, or some other cause. For Pickett's Division, I show 82 casualties attributed to artillery, 268 attributed to gunshot (from infantry), and 1 "other." Of these 82 artillery casualties, 45 can be further broken down as noted above.
 
How was the artillery ammunition distributed between the different units? I guess what I am asking is how did they ration out the different kinds of ammo that can be used in cannons? Shot, shell or canister? Did the artillery units just have an assortment on hand and readily available.
 
How was the artillery ammunition distributed between the different units? I guess what I am asking is how did they ration out the different kinds of ammo that can be used in cannons? Shot, shell or canister? Did the artillery units just have an assortment on hand and readily available.
The units had a supply (of all types) of ordinance in their limber chests (28 rounds of various types for the 12# Napoleon for example)when they went into action and when they ran short, they had to go back to the artillery train in the rear( supply wagons carrying artillery ammunition and supplies) to resupply. What they carried in their limber chests was regulated by regulations. When a unit went out on campaign, the supply officers knew what types of guns were going out and supplied types and amounts of ammunition for them accordingly.
 
Last edited:
Very good discussion on the types of rounds. One thing to consider, is that with combat and the logistics of getting supplies to the front line, I would think that there may be quite a few cases where the ammunition used may have been whatever they could get from the supply wagons regardless of type.
 
Very good discussion on the types of rounds. One thing to consider, is that with combat and the logistics of getting supplies to the front line, I would think that there may be quite a few cases where the ammunition used may have been whatever they could get from the supply wagons regardless of type.
That is true, they could fire unfused shells (with the shipping plugs still in them) and use them as bolts or leave the fuses out of shells, leave the fuse hole open and fire them as "rotten shot" as a replacement for canister. Necessity is the Mother of invention and artillerymen are pretty creative creatures by nature.
 
That is true, they could fire unfused shells (with the shipping plugs still in them) and use them as bolts or leave the fuses out of shells, leave the fuse hole open and fire them as "rotten shot" as a replacement for canister. Necessity is the Mother of invention and artillerymen are pretty creative creatures by nature.
There is one interesting incident I ran ac cross. 1st Ohio Battery A and other units were sent to assist Federal troops that were in a fort surrounded by Confederate forces. After driving off the Confederates, one of the Artillerymen in the fort told of how they took 6-pdr case, took them off of the sabots, cut the fuse for 3 seconds, then lit the fuse with a cigar and threw them over the wall at the confederates.
 
There is one interesting incident I ran ac cross. 1st Ohio Battery A and other units were sent to assist Federal troops that were in a fort surrounded by Confederate forces. After driving off the Confederates, one of the Artillerymen in the fort told of how they took 6-pdr case, took them off of the sabots, cut the fuse for 3 seconds, then lit the fuse with a cigar and threw them over the wall at the confederates.

This was a pretty common expedient seen at places like Vicksburg and Fort Sanders to use shells as primitive grenades.
 
The units had a supply (of all types) of ordinance in their limber chests (28 rounds of various types for the 12# Napoleon for example)when they went into action and when they ran short, they had to go back to the artillery train in the rear( supply wagons carrying artillery ammunition and supplies) to resupply. What they carried in their limber chests was regulated by regulations. When a unit went out on campaign, the supply officers knew what types of guns were going out and supplied types and amounts of ammunition for them accordingly.

Not to contradict but merely to point out that there were supposed to be FOUR limber chests full of ammunition for every gun: one on its limber; two more on the caisson; and another on the caisson's limber. That would give every gun in the battery over a hundred rounds each before needing to resupply ammunition from the train.
 
Another artillery fact I'd like to add is that contrary to what's usually seen in reenactment artillery, the gun and its crew was usually led by the gunner who was at most a corporal; the gun and it's crew, plus the drivers of the limber were under a chief of the piece who was usually a mounted sergeant who supervised the resupply of ammunition from the chests. Another sergeant was chief of caissons at battery level was in overall charge of them. The limber boxes had iron tabs that fitted over lugs on the frames of the limbers and caissons making it possible to remove them and swap them out even while in action without the necessity of moving the teams. Each pair of cannon was termed a section and was usually commanded by a lieutenant; two or three sections made up every battery led by a captain.
 
Last edited:
Another artillery fact I'd like to add is that contrary to what's usually seen in reenactment artillery, the gun and its crew was usually led by the gunner who was at most a corporal....

At the Perryville Reenactment this year we had sufficient Federal Guns to actually have a slightly more that a full battery, and were under the command structure you describe as per regulations. It was one of the best events I have participated in, and one of the main reasons is that we were actually a battery and not just a small number of independent guns.
 
At the Perryville Reenactment this year we had sufficient Federal Guns to actually have a slightly more that a full battery, and were under the command structure you describe as per regulations. It was one of the best events I have participated in, and one of the main reasons is that we were actually a battery and not just a small number of independent guns.

At an early but large farb-fest I attended back in the 1970's our group came with four crappy scaled-down guns, but at least there were FOUR of them. A girl manning the registration table asked why it was our BATTERY had four guns when every other "battery" only had one or at most two!
 
Were grapeshots still being used by field artillery, or cannisters replaced them completely?

Grape or grapeshot were usually tied up in a sack around a wooden post and were bulky "packages" made for large-bore smoothbore guns like those aboard ship or in permanent fortifications. Unlike Civil War-era field artillery, the powder charges were placed in separate cartridges making for a bundlesome thing to have to load into the muzzle of cannon. Troops, however, continued to speak and write of grape and canister in their letters and memoirs giving a false impression to modern readers.
 
Been reading and rereading this thread because I know so little about artillery. Coupla questions. Did canister rounds come outta the barrel just like a shotgun or did they have timed fuses to explode nearer the gray/blue line? Also,why would they fire solid shot at low trajectory to skip on the ground if the infantry was close enough to use canister rounds? The whole idea of firing solid shot to skip on the ground is hard to wrap my brain around unless the ground is very hard and flat. Can't imagine what it was like to be an infantryman and see one of those rounds coming or to be hit by one. Instant death or horrible disfigurement.
 
"Many times a single percussion shell would cut out several files, and then explode in their ranks. Several times almost a company would disappear, as the shell would rip from right to left."
Would that be a shell skipping on the ground a bit and then exploding? It had a timed fuse? Is that what is meant by the term "percussion"?
 
Been reading and rereading this thread because I know so little about artillery. Coupla questions. Did canister rounds come outta the barrel just like a shotgun or did they have timed fuses to explode nearer the gray/blue line? Also,why would they fire solid shot at low trajectory to skip on the ground if the infantry was close enough to use canister rounds? The whole idea of firing solid shot to skip on the ground is hard to wrap my brain around unless the ground is very hard and flat. Can't imagine what it was like to be an infantryman and see one of those rounds coming or to be hit by one. Instant death or horrible disfigurement.

Canister was just a tin can filled with iron or lead balls and was indeed like a shotgun. Solid shot would not have been used if infantry was close enough for canister (nor would explosive rounds). As for skipping shot, that was a technique used long before the Civil War and it did, indeed, depend a lot of the nature of the terrain and hardness of the ground.

Would that be a shell skipping on the ground a bit and then exploding? It had a timed fuse? Is that what is meant by the term "percussion"?

Percussion fuses were not timed but, rather, caused detonation upon impact (and were only used in rifled guns). They weren't totally reliable and it was common for such rounds to just bury themselves in the ground without going off. In some cases if the percussion fuse wasn't struck head on they might skip until they hit something that would set off the fuse. While such were used against infantry and cavalry they weren't the first choices. Percussion rounds were better suited to counter-battery fire and use against more solid objects such as wagons, buildings, and fortifications.
 
Yes, canister came out the barrel like a shotgun. It was not time-fused. Case-shot contained iron or led balls inside it and was time-fused and acted like long range canister. To be successful, case shot needed to explode in the air above and a bit in front of enemy formations. They had very small powder charges. Common shells did not have led or iron balls but was full of powder and could skip along the ground and explode among the enemy with deadly effect.
-- Oops wrote this while john was responding
 
Back
Top