Field Artillery
Although modern rifled artillery made of cast or wrought iron was used during the
war, the most common gun was the so-called Napoleon cannon, a brass smoothbore
that fired round shot, spherical case shot, and canister. It normally took six horses to
pull a gun and its limber. Ammunition was transported on a caisson, also pulled by a
limber and a team of six horses. A Union artillery battery, commanded by a captain,
consisted of six guns. Each cannon had a crew of a sergeant and seven men.
CLASH OF ARMIES 1862■^ Canister shot was fired at short range against infantry.
The tin canister was filled with lead slugs and sawdust. Upon
exiting the muzzle, the container disintegrated and the deadly
balls fanned out. ■ Twelve-pound solid shot contained no
explosive charge. It was used against infantry and cavalry, but
its destructive power was most effective when firing against
enemy fortifications or batteries. The cannonball is attached
by iron bands to a wooden sabot, to which the bag
containing the propellant charge was attached. ■ Case shot
was a hollow sphere that contained an explosive charge and
was loaded with iron balls. It was normally fired to burst
above the enemy lines so that balls and fragments of the
case rained down on them. ■ Shells for rifled guns came
in a variety of cylindrical shapes according to the rifling of the
gun barrel. ■ The limber was a two-wheeled cart to which
horses were hitched. The field gun itself was pulled behind
the limber. There was room for three gunners to sit on top
of the ammunition chest. ■ Binoculars were often used for
registering the gun to the correct range. ■ This brass sight
is fitted with a spirit level to check that the gun is horizontal
before firing. It was set at the breech end of the barrel and
lined up with the sight on the muzzle. ■ This packet of
paper fuses was made at the Union’s Arsenal at Frankford,
Pennsylvania. Union fuses were all made there to ensure
consistency. ■ This paper fuse could be cut to the desired
length. The fuse was inserted in the fuse plug when the gun
was fired. ■(; The wooden fuse plug was inserted into the
nose of shells or into hollow case shot. ■(2 The quadrant
and friction primer were used to aim and fire the gun. The
quadrant was placed in the muzzle to determine the angle of
elevation. The primer, attached to a long lanyard, was
inserted in the vent hole to ignite the powder charge below.
■(3^ The Bormann fuse, made of pewter, was screwed into
the nose of a shell. The marks on the face indicate quarter
seconds. The gunner would set the fuse by puncturing the
face at the time desired. ■(4 The pendulum Hausse was a
bottom-weighted brass sight hung on a bracket that allowed
it to swing. In this way, the sight stayed vertical. It was lined
up with the blade sight on the muzzle of the gun. ■(5 A
thumbstall was worn when an artilleryman pressed his
thumb over the cannon’s vent hole to kill any sparks before
the gun was reloaded. ■(6 The Napoleon cannon was the
most common smoothbore cannon of the war, manufactured
and used by both sides. Its official name was the Model 1857
gun-howitzer. This brass cannon was first made in France in
1853, and is named for Emperor Napoleon III.■ BINOCULARS AND CASE
■ CASE SHOT WITH
IRON BALLS■ CANISTER WITH
LEAD SLUGS■ TWELVE-POUND
SOLID SHOT■ SHELLS FOR RIFLED GUNS
■ LIMBER AND
AMMUNITION CHEST