Osprey New Vanguard 38 : American Civil War Artillery (1) 1861-1865 : Field Artillery

Perhaps the most influential arm of either army in the prosecution of the American Civil War, the artillery of both sides grew from amateurish beginnings to highly professional organisations. The basic field artillery of the American Civil War on both sides consisted of primarily the Model 1857 bronze smoothbore gun, usually referred to as the 'Napoleon'; the 10pdr. Parrott rifle and the 3in. ordnance rifle. The Napoleon fired at five degrees with a full service charge could throw a solid shot to a range of 1,680 yards. Because of the different characteristics of rifled cannon and Napoleons, and because of the chronic shortage of artillery pieces, most Confederate units, even down to battery level used a mixture of weapons. The Union army, better equipped with artillery from the beginning laid down in 1862 the principal that each battery was to consist of 4-6 guns of uniform calibre. This book details the development of this vital cog in the war machine of both sides. Text by Philip Katcher with illustrations by Tony Bryan.

Contents

• Introduction
• The Pre-War Field Artillery
• Design and Development of Field Artillery
• Operational History
• The Plates
• Bibliography
• Index