Artillery in the Gettysburg Campaign

Artillery in the
Gettysburg Campaign

by John J. Gee

I've always been interested in the equipment and organization of armies. What follows is a summary of what information I've been able to gather about the artillery on both sides in the Civil War's most famous campaign. Of the over 600 pieces of artillery present at the battle of Gettysburg, about half were smoothbore, half rifled. All but two of the 600 were muzzle- loaders.

The Weapons

In 1861 most artillery in the world was smoothbore; it had only recently become practical to produce rifled guns in quantity. The equipment of U.S. field artillery batteries before the Civil War was four guns and two howitzers, all smoothbore. The batteries had 6 pound guns and 12 pound howitzers if light batteries, and had 12 pound guns and 24 pound howitzers if heavy. The appearance of the light twelve pound bronze gun-howitzer model 1859 (4.62"), or Napoleon as it was better known, brought a weapon which could perform all the functions of the four types then in use, greatly simplifying logistics.

In 1861, it was decided that batteries would either consist entirely of newly introduced rifled guns or of Napoleons. Copied from the standard French army gun of the time, the Napoleon was the most commonly used artillery piece in the Civil War, and was present in large numbers in both armies at Gettysburg. Produced by both sides, some Confederate Napoleons were made of cast iron because of materials shortages. Most French Napoleon guns were rifled, as were a very few Union pieces, but virtually all made on this continent were smoothbores.

The older smoothbore types continued to be used, and even to be produced by the Confederates. In the Gettysburg campaign, both sides had 12 pound howitzers; the Confederates also used some 6 pound guns. The 24 pound howitzers the Army of Northern Virginia brought to Pennsylvania, however, were new Austrian weapons, model 1859. Light and mobile, they actually weighed much less than the U.S. 12 pounder. The Confederacy supplemented its artillery production with purchases from Europe whenever possible.

The American Civil War was the first war in which rifled artillery was used in large numbers. In the mid-nineteenth century, it was only just becoming possible to produce steel in large quantities, so Civil War rifled artillery was mostly made of various other materials: wrought iron, cast iron and bronze.

Best and Most Numerous Rifle

The best and most numerous rifle on the Union side was the wrought iron 3 inch ordnance rifle. It is one the the most successful cannons in history. The standard U.S. field artillery piece after the war, it served until the early twentieth century, a few being converted to breechloaders in the 1880's. A small number are actually still in use by the Army, as saluting guns. Identical, only larger, was the 4.5" rifle, which saw limited service with the Union Army as a field weapon.

The second most common rifle in Army of the Potomac, and the most common rifled gun of the Civil War, was the 10 pound Parrott rifle. Made from cast iron with a wrought iron re-inforcing band, they were built on both sides of the Mason-Dixon Line. Originally of 2.9" bore, those produced after mid-1863 were 3" to simplify ammunition supply. Some of these had already reached the Army of Northern Virginia in July 1863 where they were called "navy" Parrotts. Parrott rifles were made in many sizes up to 100 pound (6.4"). The 20 pound (3.67") version also saw wide use by both sides in the field.

The preceding guns made up the majority of the rifled artillery used by both armies in the Gettysburg campaign, but there were other types. The Union had one battery of 3.67" James Rifles at Gettysburg. Made of bronze, the rifling in James guns wore out quickly. Common at the beginning of the war, there were still a number of James rifles in Union service, especially in Tennessee, but they would soon be replaced. Confederate 3 inch guns were of numerous models, materials and manufacturers including a number of captured pieces. The Army of Northern Virginia had at least six British rifled guns at Gettysburg, including the only breechloading cannons at Gettysburg, two 2.75 inch Whitworths.

Union Organization

Union artillery was organized into six or four gun batteries, six being much more common. Some batteries had been consolidated by this time because of losses and the notoriously inefficient Union replacement system. Batteries were assigned to artillery brigades, four to eight each. In the Army of the Potomac, each infantry corps was given one artillery brigade, the Cavalry Corps had two brigades of horse artillery, and there were five brigades in the Artillery Reserve.

By this time in the war, the equipment of the Union artillery batteries had reached the homogeneity planned in late 1861. Of all the batteries with the Army of the Potomac, only one still had mixed weapons. As a further step toward simplification, all horse batteries were equipped with 3 inch Ordnance Rifles.

Army of the Potomac -- Artillery

I Corps, Artillery Brigade

II Corps, Artillery Brigade

III Corps, Artillery Brigade

V Corps, Artillery Brigade

VI Corps, Artillery Brigade

XI Corps, Artillery Brigade

XII Corps, Artillery Brigade

Cavalry Corps

1st Horse Artillery Brigade

2nd Horse Artillery Brigade

Artillery Reserve

Regular Brigade

1st Volunteer Brigade

2nd Volunteer Brigade

3rd Volunteer Brigade

4th Volunteer Brigade

Confederate Organization

Confederate batteries usually consisted of four guns, although there were six, five and three gun batteries in the Army of Northern Virginia. By this time in the war, Confederate field artillery in the east was organized into battalions of three to six batteries, four being the most common number. One of these was assigned to each infantry division and two to each corp as a reserve. Other Confederate armies would later adopt a similar organization.

The assignment of equipment to these formations, however, was not so neat and symmetrical. Weapons were spread all over the army, with very few batteries having the same or even similar weapons. As can be seen by the following list, it was a logistical nightmare. For example, the Army of Northern Virginia had twelve 20 pound Parrott rifles with it as it moved into Pennsylvania.

Logically these would be equipping three or so batteries, but in fact, they were spread out among five different battalions. The problem was, to a significant extent, a result of the states' rights obsessions of the Confederacy; folks from North Carolina for example, weren't going to share their artillery with folks from Georgia or vice versa. Nor was battery X going to swap a newly captured 3 inch ordnance rifle to battery Y for a worn out 6 pound smoothbore, even if they were from the same state.

I wasn't able to discover the composition of three batteries attached to the cavalry. It is likely that these were made up in part of 6 pound smoothbores. Hopefully some reader will be able to provide this information.

Army of Northern Virginia Artillery

1st Corps

Cabell's Battalion -- Mc Law's Division

38th Virginia Battalion (Dearing's) -- Pickett's Division

Henry's Battalion -- Hood's Division

I Corp Artillery Reserve

Alexander's Battalion

Washington (Louisiana) Artillery Battalion (Eshleman's)

Second Corps

Jones' Battalion -- Early's Division

Latimer's Battalion -- Johnson's Division

Carter's Battalion -- Rodes Division

II Corps Artillery Reserve

First Virginia Artillery Battalion (Dance's)

Nelson's Battalion

Third Corps

Sumter (Georgia) Battalion (Lane's) -- Anderson's Division

Garnett's Battalion -Heth's Division

Poague's Battalion -- Pender's Division

III Corp Artillery Reserve

McIntosh's Battalion

Pegram's Battalion

Cavalry

Beckham's Battalion

Attached to Jenkins' Cavalry Brigade -- Charlottesville Horse Artillery (Virginia) (Jackson's Battery) 4 pieces (unknown types)

Attached to Imboden's Cavalry Brigade -- Staunton Horse (Virginia) Artillery 6 pieces (unknown types)

A Note about Gun Sizes

In the United States, as in Europe, artillery guns were usually referred to as a "__ pounder" to indicate size. Originally this literally meant the weight of the shot fired by the weapon. With the introduction of other types of ammunition, such as shell and canister, it came to mean the size of the bore. By the time of the Civil War, it had become almost meaningless. For example, guns with bores from 2.9 to 3.8 inches were all referred to as six pounders. Therefore, in the 1860's, the term "pounder" can refer to the weight of shot, size of bore, or neither one.

Main Sources

Downey, Fairfax, The Guns at Gettysburg. New York: 1958.
Hazlett, James, Field Artillery Weapons of the Civil War. Newark: 1983.
Sifakis, Stewart, A Compendium of the Confederate Army, New York: 1992-96.
U.S. War Department, The War of the Rebellion: Official Records. Washington: 1880-1901.

Related

Artillery in the Battle of Gettysburg

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