12-pounder Napoleon
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The M1857 12-pounder Napoleon or Light 12-pounder gun or 12-pounder gun-howitzer was a bronze
smoothbore A smoothbore weapon is one that has a barrel without rifling. Smoothbores range from handheld firearms to powerful tank guns and large artillery mortars. Some examples of smoothbore weapons are muskets, blunderbusses, and flintlock pistols. ...
muzzle-loading A muzzleloader is any firearm in which the user loads the projectile and the propellant charge into the muzzle end of the gun (i.e., from the forward, open end of the gun's barrel). This is distinct from the modern designs of breech-loading fire ...
artillery piece that was adopted by the
United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...
in 1857 and extensively employed in the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
. The gun was the American-manufactured version of the
French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...
''
canon obusier de 12 The Canon obusier de 12 (officially the "Canon obusier de campagne de 12 livres, modèle 1853"), also known as the "Canon de l’Empereur" ("emperor's cannon"), was a type of canon-obusier (literally "shell-gun cannon", "gun-howitzer") developed b ...
'' which combined the functions of both
field gun A field gun is a field artillery piece. Originally the term referred to smaller guns that could accompany a field army on the march, that when in combat could be moved about the battlefield in response to changing circumstances (field artillery ...
and
howitzer The howitzer () is an artillery weapon that falls between a cannon (or field gun) and a mortar. It is capable of both low angle fire like a field gun and high angle fire like a mortar, given the distinction between low and high angle fire break ...
. The weapon proved to be simple to produce, reliable, and robust. It fired a
round shot A round shot (also called solid shot or simply ball) is a solid spherical projectile without explosive charge, launched from a gun. Its diameter is slightly less than the bore of the barrel from which it is shot. A round shot fired from a lar ...
a distance of at 5°
elevation The elevation of a geographic location (geography), ''location'' is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational equipotenti ...
.The sources Coggins, Katcher, and Ripley provide different ranges for round shot at 5° elevation. It could also fire
canister shot Canister shot is a kind of anti-personnel artillery ammunition. It has been used since the advent of gunpowder-firing artillery in Western armies, and saw particularly frequent use on land and at sea in the various wars of the 18th and 19th cent ...
, common shell, and spherical case shot. The 12-pounder Napoleon outclassed and soon replaced the
M1841 6-pounder field gun The M1841 6-pounder field gun was a bronze smoothbore muzzleloading cannon that was adopted by the United States Army in 1841 and used from the Mexican–American War to the American Civil War. It fired a round shot up to a distance of at 5° e ...
and the
M1841 12-pounder howitzer The M1841 12-pounder howitzer was a bronze smoothbore muzzle-loading artillery piece that was adopted by the United States Army in 1841 and employed during the Mexican–American War and the American Civil War. It fired a shell (projectile), she ...
in the U.S. Army, while replacement of these older weapons was slower in the
Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army (CSA), also called the Confederate army or the Southern army, was the Military forces of the Confederate States, military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) duri ...
. A total of 1,157 were produced for the U.S. Army, all but a few in the period 1861–1863. The
Confederate States of America The Confederate States of America (CSA), also known as the Confederate States (C.S.), the Confederacy, or Dixieland, was an List of historical unrecognized states and dependencies, unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United State ...
utilized captured U.S. 12-pounder Napoleons and also manufactured about 500 during the war. The weapon was named after
Napoleon III of France Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led a series of m ...
, who helped develop the weapon.


Background

In the period before the Civil War, a U.S. Army light artillery battery was organized with four M1841 6-pounder field guns and two M1841 12-pounder howitzers. The field gun fired solid iron cannon balls in a flat trajectory to smash its targets while the howitzer was designed to lob hollow shells into massed formations or fortifications. Napoleon III realized that mixing field guns and howitzers within an artillery battery caused the logistical problem of having to carry two types of ammunition. He understood that batteries might become more effective if a single gun could fire both the round shot of the field gun and the common shell and spherical case shot of the howitzer. (Both field guns and howitzers were already capable of firing canister shot.) The French gun designers' solution to the problem was the invention of the ''canon obusier de 12'' or 12-pounder gun-howitzer. By 1856, this new weapon had been adopted by France,
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,
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,
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, and
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. An American military commission sent to Europe in 1855–1856 led by
Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...
Alfred Mordecai wrote a report praising the new gun-howitzer and the U.S. Ordnance Department quickly obtained a license to produce the gun. On 14 December 1856, the Ames Manufacturing Company received an order to produce a copy of the gun-howitzer, and on 25 March 1857 the Ordnance Department accepted delivery of one piece for a cost of $546.02. The weapon failed its trial, but in 2004 the original gun could be seen at the
Petersburg National Battlefield Petersburg National Battlefield is a National Park Service unit preserving sites related to the American Civil War Siege of Petersburg (1864–65). The battlefield is near the city of Petersburg, Virginia, and includes outlying components in Hop ...
visitor center. On 28 May 1857, the Ordnance Department ordered four guns of a modified version from Ames and these pieces were delivered on 16 September 1857. The four modified guns were longer than the original gun and heavier. These four guns became the standard model for all 12-pounder Napoleons subsequently produced for the U.S. Army.


Production


Union

When the Civil War broke out in April 1861, the U.S. Army owned only the original five 12-pounder Napoleons. The U.S. Army needed field artillery and there was no time to experiment with new gun types. Since the new gun could be produced quickly, orders were placed with Ames and Cyrus Alger & Company. Later, more contracts were let to Henry N. Hooper & Company, Revere Copper Company, and Miles Greenwood & Company. A single experimental
wrought iron Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.05%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4.5%), or 0.25 for low carbon "mild" steel. Wrought iron is manufactured by heating and melting high carbon cast iron in an ...
Napoleon was manufactured by the Phoenix Iron Works. One member of the 1855 American military commission was
Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...
George B. McClellan George Brinton McClellan (December 3, 1826 – October 29, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 24th governor of New Jersey and as Commanding General of the United States Army from November 1861 to March 186 ...
who became major general in command of U.S. forces in summer 1861. Like Mordecai, McClellan saw the advantages of using a single artillery piece to combine the functions of both field gun and howitzer. In 1861, McClellan approved the plan offered by his chief of artillery Brigadier General William Farquhar Barry, which included the goal to arm Union Army field artillery batteries exclusively with the light 12-pounder smoothbore, the
3-inch Ordnance rifle The 3-inch ordnance rifle, model 1861 was a wrought iron muzzleloading rifled cannon that was adopted by the United States Army in 1861 and widely used in field artillery units during the American Civil War. It fired a projectile to a distance o ...
, and the
Parrott rifle The Parrott rifle was a type of muzzle-loading rifled artillery weapon used extensively in the American Civil War. Parrott rifle The gun was invented by Captain Robert Parker Parrott, a West Point graduate. He was an American soldier and inven ...
. Each battery was organized so as to contain six identical guns, if possible, with no less than four guns per battery. By the time of the
First Battle of Bull Run The First Battle of Bull Run, called the Battle of First Manassas
.
by Confederate States ...
in July 1861, the U.S. Army had only nine 12-pounder Napoleons, and by 1 January 1862, it had only 36 Napoleons. In August 1861, 22 Napoleons were ordered and 153 were ordered in October and November 1861. When it became clear that the war would be a long one, many more guns were ordered. The number of 12-pounder Napoleons produced for the Federal government each year were 1861 (179), 1862 (422), 1863 (512), and 1864 (13). In 1864, 39 Napoleons were produced for the states of
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,
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, and
Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...
. The U.S. manufacturers and how many guns they produced are shown in the following table.


Confederate

The Confederate States started the Civil War with its batteries largely armed with the M1841 6-pounder field guns and M1841 12-pounder howitzers found in Southern arsenals. The Confederate States were hampered by having an inferior industrial capacity compared to the North and were far behind in the production of 12-pounder Napoleons. In addition, the South suffered from such a shortage of copper that in May 1861 no bronze guns could be produced. In December 1861, bronze gun casting resumed when enough copper was found, mostly from melted down stills and church bells. On 10 July 1862, Confederate chief of ordnance
Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...
Josiah Gorgas Josiah Gorgas (July 1, 1818 – May 15, 1883) was the head of the Confederate States of America Ordance Bureau in the American Civil War, responsible for procuring weapons and ammunition for the Confederate armies; he was a brigadier general at ...
sent the
Tredegar Iron Works The Tredegar Iron Works in Richmond, Virginia, was the biggest ironworks in the Confederacy during the American Civil War, and a significant factor in the decision to make Richmond the Confederate capital. Tredegar supplied about half the art ...
plans for the 12-pounder Napoleon. Gorgas asked that all production of the 6-pounder gun and 12-pounder howitzer be suspended, so that the new Napoleons could be manufactured. On 13 November 1862, Gorgas ordered that 12-pounder Napoleons should be the only bronze artillery pieces produced. On 5 December 1862, General
Robert E. Lee Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) was a general officers in the Confederate States Army, Confederate general during the American Civil War, who was appointed the General in Chief of the Armies of the Confederate ...
wrote to the Confederate Secretary of War James Seddon asking that most 6-pounder guns and some 12-pounder howitzers be melted down and recast as 12-pounder Napoleons. By the
Battle of Gettysburg The Battle of Gettysburg () was a three-day battle in the American Civil War, which was fought between the Union and Confederate armies between July 1 and July 3, 1863, in and around Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The battle, won by the Union, ...
on 1–3 July 1863, Lee's army received 49 of the recast Napoleons. The Confederate manufacturers and how many guns they produced are shown in the following table. The first order for Confederate 12-pounder Napoleons came on 7 February 1861 when Georgia ordered 12 guns from the Tredegar Iron Works, but it is unclear whether this batch was ever produced. Leeds & Company shipped two 12-pounder Napoleons on 19 December 1861. The Federal
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in April 1862 ended production of Napoleons at Leeds & Company, while the Union capture of Memphis in June 1862 ended production at Quinby & Robinson. Most Confederate-manufactured Napoleons did not have the muzzle swell that was characteristic of US-manufactured Napoleons. In December 1863, Federal troops captured the copper mines at
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, stopping all manufacture of bronze cannons in the Confederate States. After this, the Tredegar Iron Works produced a
cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content of more than 2% and silicon content around 1–3%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloying elements determine the form in which its car ...
Napoleon with a thick breech band.


Specifications

The Model 1857 bronze 12-pounder Napoleon gun barrel was from the muzzle to the end of the knob and weighed . The diameter of the bore (caliber) was and the bore length was . With a gunpowder charge it was capable of firing solid shot at 5° elevation and spherical case (shrapnel) shot at 3°45' elevation. With a gunpowder charge it was capable of firing common shell at 3°45' elevation. The cannon fired a round shot of diameter. The spherical case shot weighed and released 78 musket balls when it burst. The canister round weighed and contained 27 iron balls that were in diameter or slightly smaller. Canister shot was packed in four tiers within the canister round. When fired, canister was effective up to a distance of . The first 12-pounder Napoleons produced by Northern gun foundries included a pair of handles attached to the top of the gun barrel. As many as 33 were manufactured before the handles were eliminated in late 1861. Of the 21 surviving Napoleons with handles, 17 were produced by Ames, 3 by Alger, and 1 by Revere. Ames also manufactured 6 bronze rifled Napoleons in 1862; all survived and were located at
Gettysburg National Military Park The Gettysburg National Military Park protects and interprets the landscape of the Battle of Gettysburg, fought over three days between July 1 and July 3, 1863, during the American Civil War. The park, in the Gettysburg, Pennsylvania area, is m ...
in 2004. The Napoleon was a very dependable weapon. In 1864, U.S. Chief of Ordnance Brigadier General George D. Ramsay wrote, "No instance has occurred during the war ... of the 12-pdr bronze gun (the Napoleon) having worn out or of its bursting." Many Confederate gunners preferred the Napoleons produced in the North because of their higher quality. A British observer,
Arthur Lyon Fremantle General Sir Arthur James Lyon Fremantle (11 November 1835 – 25 September 1901) was a British Army officer best known for his travels through the United States during the American Civil War. Whilst holding the rank of "Captain and Lieutenant C ...
noted in 1863 that many of the guns belonging to the
Army of Northern Virginia The Army of Northern Virginia was a field army of the Confederate States Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. It was also the primary command structure of the Department of Northern Virginia. It was most often arrayed agains ...
were captured pieces of Northern manufacture. The 12-pounder Napoleon was the most favored field gun of both Union and Confederate armies. It was fairly accurate at all ranges and especially lethal when firing canister at close range. The Napoleon was mounted on a carriage weighing . The Napoleon fired the same ammunition and propellent charges as the M1841 12-pounder field gun, but its tube and carriage were lighter than those of the older artillery piece. A 6-gun Union battery of Napoleons was made up of three 2-gun sections. Each gun was hitched to a limber drawn by six horses and accompanied by a limber and caisson drawn by six horses. There was one ammunition box on each limber and two ammunition boxes on each caisson. Generally, each battery also had six reserve limber and caissons, one traveling forge wagon, and one battery wagon hauling equipment. The ammunition box for the Napoleon contained 32 rounds. At Gettysburg, the 5th Maine Light Artillery Battery, armed with six 12-pounder Napoleons, carried 288 round shot, 288 spherical case, 96 common shells, and 96 canister rounds in its limbers and caissons. In a single ammunition box there were 12 shot, 12 spherical case, 4 shells, 4 canister rounds, and 48 friction primers. But this allocation of ammunition changed. According to the 1864 U.S. Army Field Artillery Instructions, the ammunition box contained 20 round shot, 8 spherical case, and 4 canister rounds. The 1863 Confederate States Ordnance Manual recommended that the Napoleon's ammunition box carry 12 shot, 12 spherical case, 4 shell, and 4 canister rounds. A 6-gun battery of 12-pounder Napoleons with two caissons per gun required 20 6-horse teams and 10 extra horses. Each 6-horse team was controlled by three drivers and each gun crew was made up of nine cannoneers.


History

General Barry pointed out that after the First Battle of Bull Run, there were only nine artillery batteries of mixed calibers available, drawn by 400 horses and manned by 650 men. By strenuous efforts, in March 1862 when McClellan's
Army of the Potomac The Army of the Potomac was the primary field army of the Union army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. It was created in July 1861 shortly after the First Battle of Bull Run and was disbanded in June 1865 following the Battle of ...
took the field, there were 92 batteries containing 520 guns, 12,500 men, and 11,000 horses. Many obsolete guns brought by volunteer artillery units in the Eastern Theater were soon replaced by newer guns. Older guns rejected in the east migrated to the Western Theater and were used to equip the western Union armies. The 1862 inventory by the Ohio Quartermaster General listed only ten 12-pounder Napoleons out of 162 available guns, compared to forty-four 3.8-inch James rifles, thirty-eight rifled 6-pounder guns, and thirty M1841 6-pounder field guns. As late as the
Battle of Prairie Grove The Battle of Prairie Grove was a battle of the American Civil War fought on December 7, 1862. While tactically indecisive, the battle secured the Union control of northwestern Arkansas. A division of Union troops in the Army of the Fronti ...
on 7 December 1862, fought in
Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...
, the Union forces employed 40 guns, but none of them were Napoleons. At the
Battle of Antietam The Battle of Antietam ( ), also called the Battle of Sharpsburg, particularly in the Southern United States, took place during the American Civil War on September 17, 1862, between Confederate General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virgi ...
on 16–17 September 1862, out of 301 artillery pieces, the well-equipped Army of the Potomac had one hundred seventeen 12-pounder Napoleons, eighty-one
3-inch Ordnance rifle The 3-inch ordnance rifle, model 1861 was a wrought iron muzzleloading rifled cannon that was adopted by the United States Army in 1861 and widely used in field artillery units during the American Civil War. It fired a projectile to a distance o ...
s and fifty-seven
10-pounder Parrott rifle The 10-pounder Parrott rifle, Model 1861 was a muzzle-loading rifled cannon made of wrought iron-reinforced cast iron. One of a line of Parrott rifles, the 10-pounder was capable of firing shell (projectile), shell, shrapnel shell (case shot), ca ...
s. On the same battlefield, the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia employed only fourteen Napoleons, compared to forty-four M1841 12-pounder howitzers, forty-three 10-pounder Parrott rifles, and forty-one M1841 6-pounder guns. Most Confederate batteries were made up of a mix of guns.
Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...
M. B. Miller's 3rd Company of the
Washington Artillery Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A m ...
was exceptional in that it was composed of four 12-pounder Napoleons. Captain Joseph B. Campbell's 4th U.S. Artillery, Battery B, armed with six 12-pounder Napoleons, was deployed in an exposed position near the Bloody Cornfield at dawn and suffered heavy casualties. While in action, infantry volunteers served some of the guns as they fired double canister rounds. Not knowing that he was supposed to remove the second gunpowder charge, one volunteer loaded two full canister charges. The Napoleon recoiled violently with each discharge, but at the end of the action the gun was found to be undamaged. During the
Battle of Fort Sanders The Battle of Fort Sanders was the crucial engagement of the Knoxville Campaign of the American Civil War, fought in Knoxville, Tennessee, on November 29, 1863. Assaults by Confederate Lt. Gen. James Longstreet failed to break through the def ...
on November 29, 1863, the 12-pounder Napoleons used by the Federals fired triple canister. The Union armies in the Western Theater eventually received their share of 12-pounder Napoleons. On 30 June 1863, the
Army of the Cumberland The Army of the Cumberland was one of the principal Union armies in the Western Theater during the American Civil War. It was originally known as the Army of the Ohio. History The origin of the Army of the Cumberland dates back to the creatio ...
reported having 220 artillery pieces, including sixty Napoleons, forty-five 3.8-inch James rifles, thirty-four 3-inch Ordnance rifles, and thirty-two 10-pounder Parrott rifles. On the same date, the
Army of the Ohio The Army of the Ohio was the name of two Union Army, Union armies in the American Civil War. The first army became the Army of the Cumberland and the second army was created in 1863. History 1st Army of the Ohio General Orders No. 97 appointed ...
counted 72 artillery pieces, including eighteen Napoleons, twenty-six 3.8-inch James rifles, and twelve 3-inch Ordnance rifles. In the Army of the Potomac at the Battle of Gettysburg, every bronze smoothbore on the field was a Napoleon except two 12-pounder howitzers in the 2nd Connecticut Light Artillery Battery. When
William Tecumseh Sherman William Tecumseh Sherman ( ; February 8, 1820February 14, 1891) was an American soldier, businessman, educator, and author. He served as a General officer, general in the Union Army during the American Civil War (1861–1865), earning recognit ...
's western army began the Atlanta campaign in May 1864, it included 110,000 soldiers and 254 artillery pieces, of which every one was a 12-pounder Napoleon, 10- or 20-pounder Parrott rifle, or 3-inch Ordnance rifle.


Civil War artillery


Notes

;Footnotes ;Citations


References

* * * * * * * * *


See also

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:M1857 12-pounder Napoleon American Civil War artillery Ames Manufacturing Company