"Union Horse Artillery 6pdr napoleons?" Topic

Hi

I bought some Union Horse Artillery from Trevor at Redoubt , I have since been told that the 6pdr`s that were in the packs weren`t used by the above troops is this correct ?

Cheers Alan

First, there was no such thing as a 6-pdr Napoleon. Only the light 12-pdr gun-howitzer was called a Napoleon (after Napoleon III, then Emperor of France, who sponsored its development). I assume you mean the 6-pdr gun, a bronze smoothbore, which was standard equipment for light artillery batteries at the beginning of the War.

Certainly by Gettysburg there were none in the Army of the Potomac, horse or foot (though there was 1 battery in the Art. Reserve with some James Rifles, which were simply 6-pdr smoothbores that had been rifled). However, the Army of the Potomac was certainly not the only Union army. What kinds of guns the horse artillery in other departments used, or that the AoP used in earlier campaigns, would have to be researched.

The Army of the Cumberland was flush with 6 pdr James rifles and 6 pdr guns in Sept 1863 at Chickamuga. The Army of Tennessee had quite a few 6 pdr guns in their inventory as well. It wasn't until the Atlanta Campaign the next year that both sides got rid of most of them.

Thanks for the info and help guys I can work off what you've both explained to me.

Cheers Alan

Don is right,
you need to research the year and theater where a 6 lb gun was still in use. They pretty much dissapeared in the Eastern theater by 1863. The previous year the Confederates had 45 six-pounders at Antietam (Union had zero).

The Union (especially in the West) converted the 6 lb smoothbore to a 12 lb rifle (James Rifle) and these were still around for a while, though they fell out of favor too.

In the East, by Gettysburg, the horse artillery on both sides was primarily light 10 lb rifles and some 12 lb Napoleons.

Use the 6 lb models for early war battles up to mid war out west primarly for the Rebs, or as James rifles for the Union.

Kim

I wouldn't bet that the Army of Tennessee got rid of "most" of their 6-lbrs in 1864. I have access to a Feb 1, 1864 (albeit early, I know) report from Douglas' Light Artillery Battalion, Hindman's Division. The three batteries had, between them, 4 x 6-lbrs, 2 x 12-lbr howitzers, 2 x 12-lbr Napoleons, 2 x 10-lbr Parrotts, and 2 x 3" rifles.

Douglas' Battery had 2 x 6-lbrs and the two 12-lbr howitzers. Garrity's Battery had the four rifles. And Dent's Battery had 2 x 6-lbrs and the two Napoleons.

Jim

Ah, the key though is February 1684. By May, most of those 6 pdrs were gone. I have the OOBs at home. Its in the OR and/or Scaife's Atlanta Campaign book.

In the East, by Gettysburg, the horse artillery on both sides was primarily light 10 lb rifles and some 12 lb Napoleons.

If we are talking about the artillery attached to the respective Cavalry Corps, the Confederates did indeed have a mix at Gettysburg including 3in Rifles (the majority), Napoleons, Blakely rifles and some 12 pdr Howitzers!

Their 10 pdr Parrotts all seem to have been in the Divisional and Reserve Artillery formations of the Infantry Corps.

On the Union side the Calvary Corps were exclusively 3in Rifle users.

To add to the confusion, in addition to smoothbores rifled on the James system, "James rifle" could refer to the rifled cannon designed de novo by General James. Several states bought these pieces. There are, I believe, four on the lawn of the Ohio state Capitol with Ohio markings (rather than US). The converted pieces retained their original shape, with reinforces, astrigals, and filets, while the purpose-made rifles (of all designs) tended to be smooth and more easily confused with the larger M1857 12-pdr. I expect that these might be what OP has.

According to Scaife, taken from the OR I'm sure, the Army of the Cumberland had 0 6 pdrs or James, the Army of the Tennessee had one battery of 6 pdr James, and the Army of the Ohio had 1 battery of 6 pdr James rifles at the beginning of the Atlanta campaign. The Confederate Army of Tennessee (and Army of Mississippi) and no 6 pdrs in inventory at the beginning of the campaign. Still quite a few 12 pdr howitzers though.

Link to the finished guns, I pulled the barrels off and gave them 3" in the end.
TMP link

If I recall correctly, the refernced 6 lb. gun was the U.S. model 1841. This was used in the Mexican American War. There were a lot of these stil servicable when the war broke out. I think rifling the 6 lb guns was not done very often, as larger weapons were availble to be rifled. I'm sure there were still a couple around as the South was usually desperate for any guns. Also, the term "James Rifle" can be very confusing. General James originally developed a shell that had a lead skirt around the base that could be used in a rifled gun. The 14 lb James rifle was specifically developed to use the shell. Other smooth bore guns were rifled and used the James shell. So you could use the James type shells in just about any rifled gun as long as the diameter of the bore corresponded with the size if the shell. Unfortunalety, the James shells were very bad on the rifling of the guns. The grooves in the rifles fouled with lead after firing. It had to be removed and this was not a very quick action to perform. The James shells were discarded early in the war, as other shells performed so much better. Also, rifling smooth bores like the 32 Lb gun resulted in the size of the shell being fired as exacly twice the weight of the old shell. Thus, a 32 Lb smooth bore that was rifled fired a 64 Lb shell. I alwas thought this was very odd. Excellent discussion on OOBs and battery composition.

Yes, the trouble with the rifled 6-pdrs was that rifling in the bronze barrel (unlike iron) soon wore smooth, turning it back into a smoothbore.