Napoleon gun-howitzer

E730680

The Napoleon gun-howitzer was a widely used smoothbore artillery piece of the American Civil War, valued for its reliability, versatility, and destructive close-range fire.

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Statements (48)

Predicate Object
instanceOf American Civil War artillery
bronze gun
field artillery piece
smoothbore cannon
advantage combination of gun and howitzer characteristics
relative safety from bursting compared to iron guns
alsoKnownAs 12-pounder Napoleon NERFINISHED
M1857 Napoleon
Model 1857 12-pounder gun-howitzer NERFINISHED
barrelType smoothbore
boreDiameter 4.62 inches
caliber 12-pounder
carriageType two-wheeled field carriage
commonProjectileWeight 12 pounds
couldFire canister
case shot
shell
solid shot
countryOfOrigin France
crewSize usually 6 to 8 men
currentUse historical reenactment artillery
museum display piece
designedFor field artillery batteries
era 19th century
historicalPeriod 1860s
inspiredBy French Canon obusier de 12 modèle 1853 NERFINISHED
introducedInService 1857
loadingMethod muzzle-loading
material bronze
maximumRange about 1,700 yards to 1,800 yards
namedAfter Napoleon III of France NERFINISHED
primaryRole direct fire support
propellant black powder
replaced older 6-pounder guns in many units
secondaryRole canister fire at close range
standardFieldPieceFor Union field artillery by mid-Civil War
status obsolete as a weapon
typicalEffectiveRange about 1,600 yards
usedBy Confederate States Army NERFINISHED
Union Army NERFINISHED
usedInBattle Battle of Antietam NERFINISHED
Battle of Chickamauga NERFINISHED
Battle of Gettysburg NERFINISHED
Battle of Shiloh NERFINISHED
usedInConflict American Civil War NERFINISHED
valuedFor destructive close-range fire
reliability
versatility

Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Confederate artillery usedWeapon Napoleon gun-howitzer