MATHILDE
& PJ
The Slidell Battery has two on these type weapons, one mounted on a Prairie Carriage and the second on a Pack Carriage. The prairie carriage is pulled by one or two horses, whereas the pack carriage is broken down and loaded out on three mules or horses.
1841 --
12 - pounder, Mountain Howitzer
The 1841 Mountain Howitzer was
invented by the French during the Napoleonic-era it was designed to fill the
role of a lightweight, mobile gun allowing it keep up with the infantry units
of the time. It is the smallest artillery piece, and is one of the most
neglected by historians.
The 1841 Mountain Howitzer is a
12-pounder, shooting the same projectiles as the larger 12-pounders, such as
the Napoleon and the Field Howitzer, however it uses less powder than its
larger cousins, ˝ pound per round verses 2-1/2 and 1 pound for each piece
respectively.
By comparison the following
applies for solid steel shot:
Piece Weight Range (yards @ 5 deg el)
12-pounder Mountain Howitzer 220 (barrel) 970
12-pounder Napoleon Field Gun 1,200 (barrel) 1,619
12-pounder Field Howitzer 788 (barrel) 1,072
All of these pieces were outranged
with the invention of the rifled pieces such as the 10-pound Parrot Rifle
(2,000 yards) and the 3-inch Ordinance Rifle (1,835 yards). Many of the larger guns remained in service
along with the rifled guns, however the Mountain Howitzer was now doomed due to
it short range, and was replaced in many units.
In spite of its limitations, the
Mountain Howitzer saw extensive service before, during and after the Civil
War. The howitzer’s 700 pound total
weight allowed it to keep up with fast-moving cavalry and mounted infantry
units. The unit was deployed on two
types of carriages, the Pack Carriage and the Prairie Carriage. The Pack carriage was designed to be loaded
out on three pack animals, one for the barrel, one for the carriage and one for
the ammunition. The Prairie carriage was
similar to the field gun carriages of the day and designed to be towed behind a
tow-wheeled caisson as used by the larger guns.
However due to its light weight it could be towed using one or two
horses verses the six to eight required by the larger guns. This conservation of horsepower made this
piece very popular in the Confederate Armies where horses were hard to acquire.
The gun’s versatility made it a
very popular piece among the cavalry and mounted infantry on both sides,
leaders such as Nathan Bedford Forrest, John Mosby,
and John Hunt on the Confederate side and John Chivington,
Abel D. Streight, and James H. Wilson on the Union
side.
More information can be found in
the following book, Cannons: An Introduction to Civil War Artillery, by Dean S.
Thomas among others to numerous to mention.
Typical Ammunition
Shell
- as its name implies, is a hollow iron projectile filled with a
bursting charge of black powder. All round shell, and some rifle shell, used a
time fuse to ignite the bursting charge; Rifle shells could also use percussion
fuses.
˝ lb powder
12-1/2 inches in length
4 – 3/8 inches in diameter
12 lbs 8 oz
Case
Shot - also called shrapnel or shrapnel shell
after its inventor, British artilleryman Henry Shrapnel, case shot was an
improvement on the simple shell by the addition of small lead or iron balls to
the interior of a thinner-walled projectile. The balls were embedded in a
matrix of sulphur or coal-tar. Case shot was designed
to explode in the air, so nearly always used time fuses.
˝ lb powder
8 – 3/16 inches in length
4 – 3/8 inches in diameter
15 lbs 5 oz
Canister
- is simply a tinned-iron can full of iron or lead balls packed in
sawdust. When fired, the effect is that of a giant shotgun blast. Canister is
essentially short-range anti-personnel ammunition.
˝ lb powder
14 – 3/8 inches in length
4 – 3/8 inches in diameter
148, .69 caliber shot
14 lbs 3 oz
Grape
Shot - is similar in concept to canister, but has fewer and larger balls,
held together with iron rings or trussed up with fabric and twine. (The latter
is "quilted grape shot", sometimes referred to as "quilted
grape" or "quilted shot".) It is often erroneously stated that
this was purely naval ammunition, but grape was at least occasionally issued to
field and foot artillery.
˝ lb powder