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Field artillery in the American Civil War refers to the artillery weapons, equipment, and practices used by the artillery branch to support infantry and cavalry forces in the field. It does not include siege artillery, use of artillery in fixed fortifications, coastal or naval artillery.
The siege trains of the Civil War consisted almost exclusively of guns and mortars. Guns fired projectiles on horizontal trajectory and could batter heavy construction with solid shot or shell at long or short range, destroy fort parapets , and dismount cannon.
Cannonballs were solid, round objects that would ricochet off the ground and often used to target fortifications and enemy artillery. Case shot was an anti-personnel projectile, meaning it was used against soldiers. It was a hollow shell filled with scraps of metal called shrapnel.
There were a wide variety of weapons used during the American Civil War, especially in the early days as both the Union and Confederate armies struggled to arm their rapidly-expanding forces. Everything from antique flintlock firearms to early examples of machine guns and sniper rifles saw use to one extent or the other.
Civil War Cannon summary: There were many types of cannons used in the the civil war, including the 6-pounder Gun, M1857 12-pounder "Napoleon", 12-pounder Howitzer, 24-pounder Howitzer, 10-pounder Parrott rifle, 3-inch Ordnance Rifle, and the 20-pounder Parrott rifle.
When you go on Civil War battlefield's today you see two main types of cannons. Some with green or blue barrels that are made of bronze or brass. And some with black barrels that are made of cast or wrought iron.
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.
