page_title: Field artillery in the American Civil War
hierarchical_section_title: Field artillery in the American Civil War
caption_attribution_description: English: 6-pounder gun at Antietam battlefieldРусский: 6-фунтовое бронзовое орудие на поле боя при Энтитеме.
context_page_description: Field artillery in the American Civil War were cannon that could be moved around the battlefield or could travel with an army unit. Field artillery could only fight unlimbered. The limber along with the team of six horses would be moved to a safe area nearby. Gun crews were organized into an artillery battery, six guns were deployed along a line about 82 yards wide with the guns spaced about 15 yards apart.
  At times the horses remained hitched to the limber or caisson so the battery could move quickly. An artillery crew was made up of eight highly trained men. An artillery battery had a total of between 70 and 100 soldiers. There were several types of field artillery used during the Civil War. These included the 6 pounder gun, 12 and the 24 pound Howitzer, the famous Model 1857 12-Pounder Napoleon Field Gun, the 3 inch Ordnance rifle and the 10 and 20 pound Parrott rifle.
  Most cannons were muzzleloading weapons. Cannon barrels were of two types. One was the older smoothbore cannons as used during the Mexican–American War.
  They usually had barrels made of bronze and fired round iron cannonballs. The newer type was the rifled cannon that were made of cast iron and wrought iron.
context_section_description: Field artillery in the American Civil War were cannon that could be moved around the battlefield or could travel with an army unit. Field artillery could only fight unlimbered (disconnected from the cart and horses that pulled it). The limber (or caisson) along with the team of six horses would be moved to a safe area nearby. Gun crews were organized into an artillery battery, six guns (later in the war, four) were deployed along a line about 82 yards (75 m) wide with the guns spaced about 15 yards (14 m) apart. 
  At times the horses remained hitched to the limber or caisson so the battery could move quickly. An artillery crew was made up of eight highly trained men. An artillery battery had a total of between 70 and 100 soldiers. There were several types of field artillery used during the Civil War. These included the 6 pounder gun, 12 and the 24 pound Howitzer, the famous Model 1857 12-Pounder Napoleon Field Gun, the 3 inch Ordnance rifle and the 10 and 20 pound Parrott rifle. 
  Most cannons were muzzleloading weapons. Cannon barrels were of two types. One was the older smoothbore cannons as used during the Mexican–American War. 
  They usually had barrels made of bronze and fired round iron cannonballs. The newer type was the rifled cannon that were made of cast iron and wrought iron. They fired Bullet-shaped shells. Both guns and ammunition had a tendency to be unreliable and they were dangerous to shoot.
caption: 6-pounder gun at Antietam battlefield
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