page_title: 14-pounder James rifle
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: 14-pounder James rifle / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Manassas, 13-pounder James Rifled Gun. There appears to be 10 rifling grooves which makes this gun a Type 2 Series 2, 3 or 4.
context_page_description: The 14-pounder James rifle or James rifled 6-pounder or 3.8-inch James rifle was a bronze muzzle-loading rifled cannon that was employed by the United States Army and the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. It fired a 14 lb solid shot up to a distance of 1,530 yd at 5° elevation. It could also fire canister shot and common shell. Shortly before the war broke out, the U.S. Army adopted a plan to convert M1841 6-pounder field guns from smoothbore to rifled artillery. Rifling the existing 6-pounders would both improve the gun's accuracy and increase the weight of the shell. There were two major types produced, both were bronze with a bore of 3.8 in that would accommodate ammunition designed by Charles Tillinghast James. The first type looked exactly like an M1841 6-pounder field gun. The second type had a longer tube with a smooth exterior profile similar to a 3-inch Ordnance rifle. At first the rifles were quite accurate. However, it was discovered that the bronze rifling quickly wore out and accuracy declined.
context_section_description: The 12-pounder (and 14-pounder) James rifles suffered from two disadvantages. First, the rifling wore out quickly which reduced the gun's accuracy. Second, the higher pressures in the gun barrel by the rifling severely strained the breech, causing the James rifles to frequently burst when fired. Because of these problems, many of the guns were withdrawn from service fairly early in the conflict. The guns achieved great accuracy when test fired, but the bronze rifling degraded fairly quickly. The premature death of General James may have played a part in the guns being discarded. In any case, none were produced after 1862. 
  At the Battle of Pea Ridge on 7–8 March 1862, Louis Hoffman's 4th Ohio Battery was armed with what is described as four 12-pounder James rifles and two M1841 12-pounder howitzers. In the first day's fighting at Leetown, the Ohio battery drove off the 6th Texas Cavalry Regiment. The 4th Ohio Battery took part in Franz Sigel's highly successful artillery bombardment on the second day. Another source specifically stated that the 4th Ohio Battery was, in fact, armed with four 3.8-inch James rifles as late as the third quarter of 1863. At that date, the 2nd Ohio, 3rd Ohio, 7th Ohio, and 10th Ohio Batteries all had four 3.8-inch James rifles, and the 5th Ohio Battery was armed with two 3.8-inch James rifles.  
  At the Battle of Antietam on 17 September 1862, the 1st Ohio Battery commanded by Captain James R. McMullin was attached to the Kanawha Division in the Union IX Corps. We know that the battery was armed with six 14-pounder James rifles because McMullin specifically referred to 3.800 inch guns in his after action report. By 1 October 1862, the battery was re-equipped with six 3-inch Ordnance rifles. McMullin wrote that the battery was posted within 150 yd (137 m) of Burnside's Bridge and fired on Confederate infantry and artillery at a distance of 1,800 to 2,000 yd (1,646 to 1,829 m). At 3:00 pm the battery was withdrawn because it was impossible to obtain a resupply of ammunition. The 8th Massachusetts Light Artillery, also in IX Corps, was equipped with four James rifles, but it is not known if their caliber was 3.8 inch or 3.67 inch. These were the only ten James rifles employed by the Union Army of the Potomac at Antietam; it is not recorded if the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia had any.
  A few weeks later at the Battle of Perryville on 8 October 1862, the Union Army of the Ohio used 23 14-pounder James rifles out of a total of 147 guns. In the Confederate Army of Mississippi, there were only two 14-pounder James rifles out of 56 total guns. Both rifles were in Henry C. Semple's Alabama Battery. Of the Union guns that were in action, there were two 14-pounder James rifles each in Asahel K. Bush's 4th Independent Battery Indiana Light Artillery, Peter Simonson's 5th Independent Battery Indiana Light Artillery, David C. Stone's Battery "A" Kentucky Light Artillery, and Charles M. Barnett's Battery "I", 2nd Illinois Light Artillery Regiment. In each of the four engaged batteries there were three different types of cannon. For example, Stone's Battery consisted of two M1841 6-pounder field guns, two 10-pounder Parrott rifles, as well as the two 14-pounders.
  On the Union side, there was a migration of less-preferred cannons from the Eastern Theater to the Western Theater of the American Civil War. By the time of the Battle of Gettysburg was fought in the east on 1–3 July 1863, the Army of the Potomac employed only four James rifles. Yet on 30 June 1863, the western Army of the Cumberland still had 45 3.8-inch James rifles in its inventory, second only in numbers to its 60 12-pounder Napoleons. Other guns included 34 3-inch Ordnance rifles, 32 10-pounder Parrott rifles, 24 M1841 6-pounder field guns, 10 M1841 12-pounder howitzers, and nine other artillery pieces. In the small Army of the Ohio, there were 26 3.8-inch James rifles, 18 12-pounder Napoleons, 12 3-inch Ordnance rifles, and 16 other guns.
  Cogswell's Battery Illinois Light Artillery was armed with four 3.8-inch James rifles as late as Augu
caption: 3.8-inch James rifle (Type 2) appears to have ten rifle grooves.
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