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1995-07-04
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~sARTILLERY~
~sGeneral Types~
Artillery may be roughly divided into three groups:
~bfield artillery~, smaller guns which could be dragged or
wheeled into battle; the heavier ~bsiege artillery~, usually
transported by rail or along sound roads, and taking some
time to site; and ~bvery large artillery~, requiring much effort
to move, and so permanently placed within large fortifications,
around cities and on large warships.
Artillery, like hand-held weapons, could be either ~bsmoothbore~,
like a shotgun, or ~brifled~, with spiral grooves cut inside the barrel
to impart spin to the projectile.
~bSmoothbore cannon~ were the standard, well-tried, most
used and most effective field artillery pieces of the era. The
workhorse of the war was the @12 lb Napoleon@, a smoothbore
firing a 12 lb shot.
At the beginning of the war both sides also used the
@M1841 light 6 lb@ smoothbore, but as soon as possible each either produced or
bought the Napoleon.
~bRifled cannon~ were very new and not fully understood or
developed. They had a longer range than smoothbores, but their
shells were lightweight with a low explosive power. These often did
not go off at all, or worse, went off prematurely while still in the barrel.
In addition, there was a greater chance of the barrel itself splitting under
stress. Not surprisingly, gunners disliked rifled cannon, and it was not
until the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 that the weapon really came into
its own.
The two main types of rifled cannon used as field pieces
were the 3" Ordnance and the 10 lb (2.9") Parrott.
~sNumbers in Use~
The Union began the war with just five Napoleons, and finished
with 1,127 more. The Confederates began with none, and finished
with 481.
The Union also acquired about 925 3-inch rifled cannon, and 587 10 lb
rifled cannon. The Confederates acquired only a quarter of these, many
captured from the Union.
Union siege and fortress guns included 338 20 lb, 392 30 lb, and 237 100 lb
rifled Parrotts. In addition, the Union had some giant guns: 90 200 lb and 40
300 lb rifled Parrotts.
There also were special mountain guns and howitzers, various types of
mortar, 8", 10", 13", 15" and 20" Rodmans, @Whitworths@, and
others.
The navies had Dahlgrens and other specialist weapons.
~sField Artillery Ranges and Ammunition~
~x3
Theoretical
Battlefield
~
~c1
~c1 Rifles (3" and 10 lb)
~c2 1800 yds
~c3 1800 yds
~c1 Napoleon (12lb)
~c2 2000 yds
~c3 800 yds
~c1 M1841 (6lb)
~c2 1800 yds
~c3 800 yds
~x
~bCommon shell~ or ~bround shot~ could be fired to the gun's
maximum range.
~bShrapnel~ could be fired to about 800 yds.
~bCase~ and ~bcannister~ could be fired to about 300 yds.
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