Field artillery in the American Civil War

Field artillery in the American Civil War were cannon that could be moved around the battlefield or could travel with an army unit.^[1] Field artillery could only fight unlimbered (disconnected from the cart and horses that pulled it).^[2] The limber (or caisson) along with the team of six horses would be moved to a safe area nearby.^[a][5] Gun crews were organized into an artillery battery, six guns (later in the war, four) were deployed along a line about 82 yards (75 m) wide with the guns spaced about 15 yards (14 m) apart.^[2]

At times the horses remained hitched to the limber or caisson so the battery could move quickly.^[6] An artillery crew was made up of eight highly trained men.^[7] An artillery battery had a total of between 70 and 100 soldiers.^[7] There were several types of field artillery used during the Civil War. These included the 6 pounder gun, 12 and the 24 pound Howitzer, the famous Model 1857 12-Pounder Napoleon Field Gun,^[b] the 3 inch Ordnance rifle and the 10 and 20 pound Parrott rifle.^[6]

Most cannons were muzzleloading weapons.^[9] Cannon barrels were of two types. One was the older smoothbore cannons as used during the Mexican–American War.

They usually had barrels made of bronze and fired round iron cannonballs.^[9] The newer type was the rifled cannon that were made of cast iron and wrought iron.^[9] They fired Bullet-shaped shells.^[9] Both guns and ammunition had a tendency to be unreliable and they were dangerous to shoot.^[5]

1. ↑ "Civil War Cannon". HistoryNet. Retrieved 24 July 2016.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} "Artillery Soldiers". PA Civil War 150. Archived from the original on 1 May 2017. Retrieved 24 July 2016.
3. ↑ "Limber Chests Including Limbers and Caissons". Civil War Artillery. Retrieved 25 July 2016.
4. ↑ Catherine Corley Anderson, John F. Kennedy (Minneapolis: Lerner Publications Co., 2005), p. 101
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2} "Artillery" (PDF). United States Army Ordnance Corps & School. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 February 2017. Retrieved 24 July 2016.
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} "Civil War Cannons". civilwarcannonstech.com. Archived from the original on 15 July 2016. Retrieved 24 July 2016.
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1} "American Civil War Artillery Organization". American Civil War Homepage. Retrieved 24 July 2016.
8. ↑ Cite error: The named reference milfact was used but no text was provided for refs named (see the help page).
9. ↑ ^{9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3} "Civil War Artillery". Civil War Academy. Retrieved 24 July 2016.