| The U.S. Army adapted a modified Napoleon in 1857 for
experimentation. However with the start of hostilities between the North and South,
the Napoleon was pressed into service. During the Civil War, the Napoleon
demonstrated its superiority over all other smoothbore field guns causing the extinction
of the 6 pounder and howitzer in the North. The South, having limited resources,
continued using the smaller guns but would have preferred the Napoleon. By the end of the
Civil War the North had manufactured over 1100 Napoleons and the South over 600. With
changes in technology, the rifled and breech loaded cannon would outclass smoothbores
causing the Napoleon to be dropped from the ordnance inventory. Ammunition
Field artillery ammunition was normally stored in ammunition chests on a limber or
caisson. There is one ammunition chest carried on the limber. The limber is the front part
of the field carriage, to which the horses are attached. The caisson is a separate wagon
holding two ammunition chests. Each ammunition chest holds a prescribed amount of
ammunition depending on the size of the cannon. The Napoleon ammunition chest carried 12
rounds of fixed solid shot, 12 rounds of fixed spherical case, 4 fixed shell rounds, and
four fixed cannister rounds. There was also room for 2 spare cartridges, 48 friction
primers, 2 yards of slow match, 4 port-fires, and other small equipment needed for firing
the gun.
The Napoleon commonly fired a 2 ½ pound charge of black powder
which was contained in a cartridge bag made of wool. Tin straps secured the projectile to
a block of wood called a sabot and then the cartridge bag was tied to the opposite end of
the sabot. When everything was packaged together, the ammunition was fixed.
Solid shot was round and its weight in pounds was
used to indicate the caliber of the gun. For instance the Napoleon fired a 12 pound solid
shot, and was some times called a 12 pounder. Solid shot was used to breach the walls of
the field works at Vicksburg. Sometimes it would be used against masses of troops and
horses. Solid shot could be effective from 600 up to about 2,000 yards.
Spherical case was also known as case and shrapnel. This
thin walled, round projectile had a hollow core or case. The Napoleon’s case shot
contained 78, .58 caliber musket balls suspended in sulphur or asphalt. The round weighed
about 13 ½ pounds and was exploded by a timed fuse. In order for spherical case to be
effective, it had to be accurate. Ideally it had to explode just before or over its
target. If soldiers were entrenched, like at Vicksburg, spherical case is not as
effective. Spherical case was normally used against masses of troops in the open at not
less than 500 yards and up to about 1,500 yards.
Shell was a round hollowed out projectile which had a
thick walls enabling it to penetrate earth works, wooden buildings, and troops in the
woods. Approximately 8 ounces of black powder was used to fill the chamber and then a
timed fuse was used to explode the shell. Its greatest effective range was at about 1,500
yards.
Cannister rounds look like a big tin can. The tin
cylinder was filled with 27 cast-iron shot packed in sawdust in four tiers. This
anti-personnel round would not normally be used in distances beyond 500 yards. At short
ranges, less than 200 yards, double canister was used with a single charge.
Friction Primers
A friction primer is a small copper tube filled with black powder and inserted in the
vent at the moment of firing. It is ignited by the friction of pulling a serrated wire
through a friction composition. This friction composition is contained in a smaller tube
which is inserted at a right angle in the priming tube, near the top, and soldered to it.
A lanyard (a special rope), with a hook attached, is used to pull out the wire causing an
explosion. This was the most common method of firing artillery during the Civil War. |
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