Heavy Artillery in the Field

[Peachfuz]

Friends,
Found this pict. on the LOC site, thought it was interesting. The fact that they would haul a large gun like this around during the Peninsula Campaign is, to me, amazing.
Description reads: "1862, 32 pdr. Howitzer at Seven Pines, VA"

Rich Taddeo

[K Bartsch]

Re: Heavy Artillery in the Field

Just a point of semantics...that's not heavy artillery, those fellows are field artillery.

Cool photo!

Cordially,

[ThehosGendar]

Re: Heavy Artillery in the Field

A closer look in the background reveals...



... a column in motion.

[Vuhginyuh]

Re: Heavy Artillery in the Field

The guys artillerymen asleep on and behind the chest are great as well.

The Spencer(?) Rifle is surprise to me for some reason.

EDIT: Sharps, thanks.

[CJSchumacher]

Re: Heavy Artillery in the Field

The guys asleep on and behind the chest are great as well.

The Spencer(?) Rifle is surprise to me for some reason.

That's a Sharps rifle.

[Vuhginyuh]

Re: Heavy Artillery in the Field

That's a Sharps rifle.

Sharps, thanks.

[Matthew.Rector]

Re: Heavy Artillery in the Field

I believe these are members of the 1st Minnesota Vol. Infantry after the battle at Fair Oaks, in June of 1862.
At least this photo is labeled as such in The Last Full Measure: The Life and Death of the First Minnesota Volunteers (Henry Holt and Co., Inc. 1993) by Richard Moe.

[BillO'Dea]

Re: Heavy Artillery in the Field

If you look in Images From The Storm, The book of Robert Knox Snedon' s illustrations, on page 75, the same two houses were painted by him. It's a view of Fair Oaks Station, known as the "Twin Houses". Hookers Headquarters after the battle of Fair Oaks/ Seven Pines. In the watercolor you can see the train tracks running between the two. So it's not so unbelievable that such a large gun was present.
Cheers,
Bill O'Dea
Syracuse
I want to add this scene to my HO train layout sometime.

[Vuhginyuh]

Re: Heavy Artillery in the Field

What size is this tube? It looks like it is a field howitzer in the foreground of the picture not a huge rail transported siege weapon with ''Naval'' size bore.

[K Bartsch]

Re: Heavy Artillery in the Field

32 pound field howitzers were the largest pieces considered field artillery by the US Army. That said, they didn't gallop about with them much as you can well imagine!

BTW, did you notice the hilt of the light arty sabre peekng up behind the ammunition chest?

Cheers,

[Yellowhammer]

Re: Heavy Artillery in the Field

Keith is quite correct.

In the 1841 family of guns, the 32 pdr was heaviest gun to be considered field artillery. The 1841 family included the 6 and 12-pdr guns and 12, 24 and 32-pdr howitzer. Most of these were slated to be replaced from US inventories by the Model 1857 gun-howitzer or "light 12-pdr" AKA Napoleon. (That's going from memory so correct me if I have some of the nomenclature incorrect.)

The transportation of heavy or "siege" artillery is quite interesting. Heavier pieces most often had their tubes transported via a special cart know as a "sling cart" seperate from their carriage and ammunition to be assembled once in position. The guns tube was slung from beneath a central axle and mounted on it's carriage once in position.

Here are a couple pictures of sling carts being used by the Federals to remove CS heavy guns from Fort Darling in April 1865.:







(Note the large log inserted in the bore that carries the chain and protects the tube from damage from the chains.)

Once in position, tubes were hoisted onto carriages via a "gun gin" or "garrison gin." Both of these items are essentially heavy tripods with block and tackle for raising and lowering the tube into position. The difference between the two is the garrison gin had a shortened first leg that was placed upon the wall of a fort or "garrison" so the tube could be slung up to the upper levels.

[Jefferson Guards]

Re: Heavy Artillery in the Field

A little bit of an idea of the manpower required to move one of these large field pieces:

"We drew two guns some two miles up a steep hill into Fort Duncan (3) through the rain and mud and got completely drenched through the operation. The guns each weighed 4,240 lbs. and it required 10 horses and 100 men at each one. If people up North still fret and wonder and blow because the army doesn't move rapidly, I would advice them to come down and take a look at the mere 'trifle' we undertook this morning and they will 'dry up.' Just think of it, taking 10 horses and 100 men 4 hours to pull a #30 pounder 2 miles and imagine what a 100 or 130 pounder must be, and sometimes drawn only by men alone, as it has been done when horses could not be obtained." (p. 123).

It is to be noted that Moulton's regiment (34 Mass. Infantry) served as heavy artillery while in the defenses around Washington.

This excerpt is from: Charles Moulton., Fort Lyon to Harpers Ferry, A Civil War Newman at Harpers Ferry ed. Lee C. and Karen Drickhamer., Shippensburg, PA.: White Main Publishing Co. 1987.