Cannons, Howitzers, and Mortars, Oh My!
Cannons, howitzers, and mortars may sound like the same weapon, but they are very different. Cannons fire on a flat trajectory. Mortars shoot in high arcs, while howitzers fire in a trajectory in the middle of the two. All Civil War artillery were classified in many different ways: smooth bore or rifled, weight of projectile, caliber, breech loading or muzzle loading, and deployment.
The most common gun of both armies was the "Napoleon" smooth bore, muzzle loading, 12-pounder (weight of projectile) howitzer. This was field artillery, so it was deployed on battlefields. This gun was portable and lightweight, making it a prime choice for both offensive and defensive roles in the Union and the Confederacy. Rifled cannons were not as effective on the battlefield, but they were useful in knocking down enemy forts because rifling causes the projectile to travel faster, farther, and more accurately. Naval and siege cannons, such as the Dahlgren smooth bores were put on ships and a pair of Dahlgrens was placed on the Union ironclad Monitor. Some of the more powerful Dahlgren siege cannons could fire up to 90 pound shells. |
Mortars were usually made for defending a seacoast fort. They were very heavy and very powerful. Siege mortars were lighter and were easily transported by an army on the move. A commonly used mortar was the Coehorn mortar named after Dutch inventor Baron Menno van Coehorn. |
Other Cannons
Other cannon models existed besides the ones already mentioned. There was the 3-inch Ordnance Rifle, the Parrott Cannon, the Whitworth Cannon, and the Armstrong Cannon. The 3-inch Ordnance Rifle and the Parrott Cannon were both used often because they were rifled, therefore having a longer range and better accuracy. The Whitworth and the Armstrong cannon saw limited use during the war because they were unreliable, despite the Whitworth being both a muzzle loader and a breech loader.