At the beginning of the war, the guns in service were a mix of 6 and 12 pound smoothbores left over from the Mexican War, and the new iron rifled pieces. The smoothbores were best used against troops, especially up close; while the accuracy and power of the rifled guns had made even the strongest fortress vulnerable.

In addition, there were a number of types bought in limited numbers to fill shortages in the field making the logistics quite difficult. As the war went on, it was determined that for concentrated firepower, and ease of supply, Light Artillery Batteries should be homogeneous. The non-standard guns were relegated to training or the Western theatre, and in some cases, 6 pound guns were melted down to make 12 pounders. At Gettysburg, of 61 batteries, only two were mixed. The Ordnance Board decided in September, 1863 to rebore 2.9 inch Parrotts to 3 inches, standardizing two calibres in the field - the 3 inch rifle and the 12 pound smoothbore. In June, 1864, the Board recalled all 2.9 inch Parrotts, 119 of them being rebored to 3 inch, but there is no evidence any were returned to service. None of these guns have been found today.

The Confederates fielded what they could manage. Since much of their artillery was captured Union guns, they made do as best they could. The Louisiana Guard Artillery at Gettysburg were issued 3 inch ammunition for their 2.9 inch guns, temporarily disabling three guns.

The major categories were:
[A] 12 pound smoothbore, with either 6 Napoleon (Light Gun Howitzer Model 1857) or four Napoleons and two Model 1841 Howitzers - most useful against troops at a range of one mile or less, they threw a large shell (4.62 inches) and a deadly canister round (48 one inch balls for the Howitzer, 27 from the Napoleon).
[B] 3 inch Ordnance Rifle, used to attack the enemy's batteries from over a mile away, with a maximum range of 4,000 yards.
[C] 2.9 inch Parrott Rifles, used as the Ordnance Rifles.

The Army Ordnance Board had done research into rifled guns because of the accuracy, and the fact that the bores of bronze guns could be shot out in as few as 500 rounds. The design they settled on was based on a design that had been patented by John Griffen of the Phoenix Iron Works in 1855 for a gun made of wrought iron with a bore of 3 inches. The gun was produced by the Phoenix Iron Works of Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, with a few design changes wanted by the Board. Samuel Reeves of Phoenix made improvements to the forging and welding process and was awarded a new patent in 1862. This cannon has been referred to as the 3 Ordnance Rifle and the 3 Wrought Iron Rifle, and erroneously as a Rodman. [Captain T.J. Rodman, was on the Ordnance Board, but his specialty was cast iron guns. As head of the Watertown Arsenal, he perfected a way to pour cast iron into a mould that rotated, making a strong gun, and this process was used to make larger guns, but there is no record of him having any influence on the 3 Wrought iron rifle.] Around 1000 Ordnance Rifles were bought during the war. (The Ordnance Board also developed a 4.5 Seige gun, with lines very similar to the 3 gun, but made of cast iron.)

Robert P. Parrott, at the West Point Foundry, came up with a new method for strengthening a cast iron gun with a band of wrought iron at the breech. The design of reinforcing bands was, in itself, not new; many Confederate guns were cast iron with bands for added strength, and many captured Union smoothbores were banded and rifled by the South. Parrott's method was to form a band of iron around a mandrel, hammering it til it was welded into one piece, then while hot forcing it onto the breach of the tube being rotated and being water cooled on the inside. (Bronze was in short supply in the South, many of their guns were produced of cast iron.) Parrott rifles were made in 10 and 20 pound field pieces, 30 pound siege guns and 100, 200 and 300 pound seacoast and Navy guns. This design was cheaper and easier to produce, but tended to burst right in front of the reinforce (a 200 pound gun at Morris Island, South Carolina burst after just 36 rounds). The original 10 pounder had a bore of 2.9 inches, but the Model 1863 had a bore of 3 inches, and in 1864 the First models were pulled out of the field, many were rebored (119 out of approximately 250 First Models made). In February, 1864 the first Second Model Parrotts were accepted of approximately 279 by the Board. Approximately 600 (total of both models) 10 pound Parrotts were purchased during the war (some were made for states).

Sources:
Dean S. Thomas
Cannons, An Introduction to Civil War Artillery

C. Peter Jorgenson
Civil War artillery authority, and former Commander of the 10th Mass Battery, N-SSA, publisher of the Civil War News and The Muzzloading Artilleryman

John D. Billings
(A member of the 10th; also the author of Hard Tack and Coffee, a book of his experiences as a soldier in the Civil War)
The History of the Tenth Massachusetts Battery

Last Updated 14 April 2002

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times

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