Johnny Reb Campaigns Miscellaneous Information Artillery Notes

Introduction Billy Yank Rules Unit Registry JVC I JVC II Scenarios Painting Miscellaneous

Parrott Rifles Smoothbore Guns & Howitzers James Rifles "Horse" Artillery Whitworth Rifles for the Union Artillery Percentages at Selected Battles Guns to Men Ratios Dahlgren Boat Howitzer

The following are some notes made over the years with regard to some artillery in the American Civil War.

Parrott Rifles

The Parrott rifle was a relatively common type of field artillery piece for both sides (more so for the Union). During the war the gun developed a bad reputation. Many Army officers felt that the guns were not safe to use. This was at least partially supported by an apparent tendency of the guns to explode when in use. The Navy did not seem to have as negative an attitude toward these weapons.

The 10 pound M1861 model Parrott rifle had a 2.9 inch bore. Although standard 3 inch rifle ammunition could fit down the barrel, this gun was not intended to fire such ammunition and its use could have disastrous consequences. It is partially (but only partially) this problem which gave the Parrott Rifle its bad reputation in combat.

The 10 pound M1863 model Parrott rifle had a 3 inch bore. It could safely use the same ammunition as the very common 3 inch Ordnance Rifle.

All versions of the Parrott rifle were eliminated from the Army of the Potomac by May of 1864 because the head of artillery (General Hunt) did not think they were a safe gun to use.

Smoothbore Guns & Howitzers

The 6 Pound M1841 Gun was one of the most common guns at the start of the war. Its shortcomings when compared to the 12 Pound Napoleon were quickly seen in the field. Union forces began to replace them early in the war. Confederate forces kept their guns much longer. They remained the main gun of the Army of Northern Virginia until after General Lee took command and requested they be melted down to make 12 pound guns. In the west these guns were still in use at the end of the war. Also, many of these guns were converted to James Rifles.

The 12 Pound M1841 Gun was the standard medium field piece of the U.S. artillery until just before the start of the war. Many saw service during the war.

The 12 Pound M1841 Howitzer was the standard field howitzer before the beginning of the war. Union artillery had generally phased this howitzer out of service well before the middle of the war, normally replacing it with the M1857 12 pound Napoleon. Confederate forces used it for the entire war.

The 12 Pound M1857 Gun-Howitzer was commonly called the "12 Pound Napoleon". It was, by far, the most common smoothbore gun on both sides. The gun was able to act as a standard smoothbore gun and a howitzer. It replaced both the heavier M1841 12 Pound Gun and the 6 Pound M1841.

James Rifles

The James rifling system generally took existing bronze smoothbore guns and rebored them with rifling. The resulting rifle fired shot which was double the weight of the original smoothbore gun. As the base material for the guns was bronze, and the guns fired iron shot, they rapidly wore out their rifling and lost their accuracy (often becoming less accurate than the original smoothbore). The Union discontinued using this system for creating rifled guns sometime before the middle of the war.

Known versions of James Rifles included:

• 6 Pound James
• 12 Pound James
• 14 Pound James
• 24 Pound James
• 64 Pound James
• 84 Pound James

The 6 Pound James rifle was a very rare weapon, which was cast as a James Rifle instead of being a rebored smoothbore. Only six are know to have been in U.S. service, plus an unknown number made for the state of Connecticut. Care must be taken to distinguish this weapon from a 12 Pound James, which was often incorrectly also termed a 6 Pound James.

The 12 Pound James rifle was made from the M1841 6 Pound Gun. It was also called the 3.67 inch James or simply The James Rifle. It was erroneously (but commonly) called the 6 Pound Rifle and the 6 Pound James.

The 14 Pound James rifle was specifically cast as a rifle instead of being a rebored smoothbore gun. It had a bore of 3.8 inches and was made of bronze. Despite its origins, it had all the problems of the rebored guns.

The 24 Pound James rifle was made from the M1841 12 Pound Gun. These were very rare guns. Only nine appear to have been made by the Union.

The 64 Pound James rifle was made from the M1841 32 Pound Gun. This gun was only used by the Confederacy and then was extremely rare.

The 84 Pound James rifle was made from the M1841 42 Pound Gun. This gun was only used by the Confederacy and then was extremely rare.

"Horse" Artillery

"Horse Artillery" is a term often applied imprecisely or inaccurately to artillery batteries before and during the Civil War as a mark of prestige. Some of the units so designated actually were "real" horse artillery; but most were not.

Horse artillery was primarily intended as a form of fast moving light field artillery which was able to maneuver with cavalry. To accomplish this, two additional horses were used in each team. The extra horses were the true indicator of whether or not a battery was horse artillery, not the name.

Whitworth Rifles for the Union

The breech loading Whitworth rifle was an English artillery piece loved by Confederate players for its ability to destroy enemy guns. Contrary to some thought, Whitworths were also used by the Union.

There was one battery in Federal service in 1861. This was Company I, probably of the 1st Connecticut Artillery Regiment. The battery only saw field service during the Peninsula Campaign in 1862, and for the remainder of the war was part of the defenses around Washington, D.C. One section of two 12 lb. Whitworths under Lieutenant Sedgwick was present a Malvern Hill.

Artillery Percentages at Selected Battles

The following table lists artillery pieces as a percentage of the total artillery for each side in the indicated battles. Missing percentages to make 100% are other or unknown pieces.

Battle	Type of Artillery	% of Union	% of Confederate
First Bull Run, 1861	6 pd smoothbore	6	70
	12 pd howitzer	10	20
	12 pd Napoleon	15
	6 & 12 pd rifles	41	10
	20 pd rifles	15
	30 pd rifles	2
Antietam, 1862	6 pd smoothbore	1	58
	12 pd howitzer	1	3
	12 pd Napoleon	42	10
	6 & 12 pd rifles	44	29
	20 pd rifles	8
	30 pd rifles	2
Gettysburg, 1863	6 pd smoothbore	0.3
	12 pd howitzer	0.5	9
	24 pd howitzer	1
	12 pd Napoleon	38	38
	6 & 12 pd rifles	56	49
	12 pd Whitworth	0.5	1
	20 pd rifles	1.6	3
	30 pd rifles	2.1
Wilderness, 1864	12 pd howitzer		5
	12 pd Napoleon	44	47
	6 & 12 pd rifles	54	45
	20 pd rifles	2	3

Guns to Men Ratios

The following table lists the ratio of artillery pieces to infantry men in the indicated battles.

Battle		Union		Confederate
1st Bull Run, 1861		1:700		1:660
Shiloh, 1862		1:400		1:370
Antietam, 1862		1:230		1:140
Chancellorsville, 1863		1:350		1:280
Gettysburg, 1863		1:230		1:260
Chickamauga, 1863		1:320		1:360
Spotsylvania, 1864		1:330		1:250
Atlanta, 1864		1:390		1:520
Nashville, 1864		1:320		1:240

Dahlgren Boat Howitzer

Dahlgren guns were commonly used by the U.S. Navy. A series of light weight bronze "Boat Guns" (also known as "Rifled Howitzers") was also produced. These guns could be mounted on the bows of ship's boats and had light wheeled carriages for use against boarders or on land. Like the 12 Pound Napoleon, these could be used as guns or howitzers.

This is a picture of what appears to be a Naval 12 Pound Boat Gun mounted on a light field carriage.