M1857 12-pounder Napoleon
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| M1857 12-pounder Napoleon | |
|---|---|
 M1857 12-pounder Napoleon at Gettysburg National Military Park | |
| Type | Gun-Howitzer |
| Place of origin | United States |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1857–1865 |
| Used by |  United States |
| Wars | American Civil War |
| Production history | |
| Manufacturer | Cyrus Alger & Co. Ames Co. Henry N. Hooper & Co. Miles Greenwood & Co. Revere Copper Co. |
| Produced | 1857–1864 |
| No. built | USA: 1,157, CSA: 501 |
| Specifications | |
| Mass | 1,227 lb (556.6 kg) |
| Length | 66.0 in (1.68 m) |
| Crew | 9 |
| Shell weight | 12.3 lb (5.6 kg) shell 2.5 lb (1.1 kg) charge |
| Caliber | 4.62 in (117 mm) |
| Barrels | 1 |
| Action | Muzzle loading |
| Carriage | 1,128 lb (511.7 kg) |
| Rate of fire | 1 rounds/minute |
| Muzzle velocity | 1,485 ft/s (453 m/s) |
| Effective firing range | 1,619 yd (1,480 m) |
The M1857 12-pounder Napoleon or Light 12-pounder gun was a bronze smoothbore muzzle-loading artillery piece that was adopted by the United States Army in 1857 and extensively employed in the American Civil War. The gun was the American-manufactured version of the French canon obusier de 12 which combined the functions of both field gun and howitzer. The weapon proved to be simple to produce, reliable, and robust. It fired a 12.3 lb (5.6 kg) round shot shell up to a distance of 1,619 yd (1,480 m) at 5° elevation. It could also fire canister shot, common shell, and spherical case shot. The 12-pounder Napoleon outclassed and soon replaced the M1841 6-pounder field gun and the M1841 12-pounder howitzer in the US Army, while replacement of these older weapons was slower in the Confederate States Army. A total of 1,157 were produced for the US Army, all but a few in the period 1861–1863. The Confederate States of America utilized captured US 12-pounder Napoleons and also manufactured about 500 during the war. The weapon was named after Napoleon III of France who helped develop the weapon.
Background
In the period before the Civil War, a US Army light artillery battery was organized with four M1841 6-pounder field guns and two M1841 12-pounder howitzers.[1] 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, Austria, Prussia, Saxony, and Russia. An American military commission sent to Europe in 1855–1856 led by Major Alfred Mordecai wrote a report praising the new gun-howitzer and the US Ordnance Department quickly ordered a copy to be produced by the Ames Manufacturing Company. [2]
Civil War artillery
| Description | Caliber | Tube length | Tube weight | Carriage weight | Shot weight | Charge weight | Range 5° elev. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M1841 6-pounder cannon | 3.67 in (9.3 cm) | 60 in (152.4 cm) | 884 lb (401 kg) | 900 lb (408 kg) | 6.1 lb (2.8 kg) | 1.25 lb (0.6 kg) | 1,523 yd (1,393 m) |
| M1841 12-pounder cannon | 4.62 in (11.7 cm) | 78 in (198.1 cm) | 1,757 lb (797 kg) | 1,175 lb (533 kg) | 12.3 lb (5.6 kg) | 2.5 lb (1.1 kg) | 1,663 yd (1,521 m) |
| M1841 12-pounder howitzer | 4.62 in (11.7 cm) | 53 in (134.6 cm) | 788 lb (357 kg) | 900 lb (408 kg) | 8.9 lb (4.0 kg) | 1.0 lb (0.5 kg) | 1,072 yd (980 m) |
| M1841 24-pounder howitzer | 5.82 in (14.8 cm) | 65 in (165.1 cm) | 1,318 lb (598 kg) | 1,128 lb (512 kg) | 18.4 lb (8.3 kg) | 2.0 lb (0.9 kg) | 1,322 yd (1,209 m) |
| M1857 12-pounder Napoleon | 4.62 in (11.7 cm) | 66 in (167.6 cm) | 1,227 lb (557 kg) | 1,128 lb (512 kg) | 12.3 lb (5.6 kg) | 2.5 lb (1.1 kg) | 1,619 yd (1,480 m) |
| 12-pounder James rifle | 3.67 in (9.3 cm) | 60 in (152.4 cm) | 875 lb (397 kg) | 900 lb (408 kg)[5] | 12 lb (5.4 kg) | 0.75 lb (0.3 kg) | 1,700 yd (1,554 m) |
| 3-inch Ordnance rifle | 3.0 in (7.6 cm) | 69 in (175.3 cm) | 820 lb (372 kg) | 900 lb (408 kg)[6] | 9.5 lb (4.3 kg) | 1.0 lb (0.5 kg) | 1,830 yd (1,673 m) |
| 10-pounder Parrott rifle | 3.0 in (7.6 cm) | 74 in (188.0 cm) | 899 lb (408 kg) | 900 lb (408 kg)[6] | 9.5 lb (4.3 kg) | 1.0 lb (0.5 kg) | 1,900 yd (1,737 m) |
| 20-pounder Parrott rifle | 3.67 in (9.3 cm) | 84 in (213.4 cm) | 1,750 lb (794 kg) | 1,175 lb (533 kg)[5] | 20 lb (9.1 kg) | 2.0 lb (0.9 kg) | 1,900 yd (1,737 m) |
Notes
- ^ Coggins 1983, p. 63.
- ^ Hazlett, Olmstead & Parks 2004, p. 88.
- ^ Coggins 1983, p. 66.
- ^ Coggins 1983, p. 77.
- ^ a b Johnson & Anderson 1995, p. 25.
- ^ a b Hazlett, Olmstead & Parks 2004, p. 217.
References
- Coggins, Jack (1983). Arms and Equipment of the Civil War. New York, N.Y.: Fairfax Press. ISBN 0-517-402351.
- Cole, Phillip M. (2002). Civil War Artillery at Gettysburg. Cambridge, Mass.: Da Capo Press. ISBN 0-306-81145-6.
- Hazlett, James C.; Olmstead, Edwin; Parks, M. Hume (2004). Field Artillery Weapons of the American Civil War. Urbana, Ill.: University of Illinois Press. ISBN 0-252-07210-3.
- Johnson, Curt; Anderson, Richard C. Jr. (1995). Artillery Hell: The Employment of Artillery at Antietam. College Station, Tex.: Texas A&M University Press. ISBN 0-89096-623-0.
- Katcher, Philip (2001). American Civil War Artillery 1861–1865. Osceola, Wisc.: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1-84176-451-5.
- Morgan, James (2002). "Green Ones and Black Ones: The Most Common Field Pieces of the Civil War". civilwarhome.com.
- Shea, William L.; Hess, Earl J. (1992). Pea Ridge: Civil War Campaign in the West. Chapel Hill, N.C.: The University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 0-8078-4669-4.
See also
- Downey, Brian (2019). "The Weapons of Antietam". Antietam on the Web.
- Ripley, Warren (1984). Artillery and Ammunition of the Civil War. Charleston, S.C.: The Battery Press. OCLC 12668104.