This encyclopedia collects identification-focused reference entries drawn from period ordnance manuals, technical texts, and the CivilWarArtillery.com research archive. Each published article cites the primary and secondary sources behind it. The catalog will expand as additional subjects complete review.
Projectiles & Ammunition
Absterdam projectile
The Absterdam projectile was a rifled projectile made in several patterns and sub-patterns, found chiefly as a 3-inch bolt with a base sabot.
Archer projectile
The Archer projectile was a Confederate rifled projectile made in bolt and shell forms with a lead sabot cast onto the base. Surviving examples are fo...
Armstrong projectile
The Armstrong projectile was a British rifled-artillery projectile coated in a soft metal skin that took the many shallow grooves of the Armstrong rif...
Artillery bolt
A bolt is an elongated solid projectile fired from a rifled gun, the rifled counterpart of the round shot. Carrying no bursting charge, it was used fo...
Artillery projectiles
Artillery projectiles are the shot, shell, case shot, canister, bolts, and specialized ammunition fired from cannon, howitzers, and mortars. American ...
Bar shot
Bar shot consisted of two masses of iron joined by a bar. Tumbling in flight, it was used chiefly at sea to cut rigging and damage spars.
Bashley Britten projectile
The Britten projectile was a British rifled system that used a lead coating on the base of an iron shell. On firing, the lead expanded into the groove...
Black powder
Black powder was the propellant and bursting charge of Civil War artillery, a mixture of saltpeter, charcoal, and sulfur. Grain size was matched to th...
Blakely projectile
The Blakely projectile was the ammunition of the British Blakely rifle, purchased by the Confederacy in a range of calibers. It is found chiefly as sh...
Brooke projectile
The Brooke projectile was the Confederate rifled projectile fired from Brooke guns, made in bolt and shell forms with a copper sabot, in field and hea...
Canister shot
Canister was a thin-walled metal cylinder packed with balls and sawdust that burst at the muzzle, spraying its load like a giant shotgun. It was the a...
Carcass incendiary projectile
A carcass was an incendiary projectile, a shell filled with a fierce-burning composition that flamed out through holes to set fires. It was used again...
Case shot
Case shot was an antipersonnel projectile that carried a load of musket or lead balls around a bursting charge, timed to burst in the air and shower t...
Chain shot
Chain shot was two balls or half-balls joined by a length of chain. Spinning in flight, it was used at sea to cut masts, spars, and rigging.
Dyer projectile
The Dyer projectile was a Federal rifled projectile, commonly 3-inch, made in shell and case-shot forms with a lead sabot. Captured examples were some...
Explosive shell
An explosive shell is a hollow projectile carrying a bursting charge and a fuze. On bursting it scatters fragments of its own body, and it was made in...
Grapeshot
Grapeshot was a cluster of iron balls larger and fewer than canister, held together in a stand or quilted assembly. By the Civil War it was chiefly a ...
Hot shot
Hot shot was solid round shot heated red-hot in a furnace before firing, meant to set fire to wooden ships and structures. It required careful handlin...
Hotchkiss canister
Hotchkiss canister was a close-range antipersonnel round for rifled guns in the Hotchkiss line, packing balls in a case that broke up at the muzzle.
Hotchkiss case shot
Hotchkiss case shot was the antipersonnel form of the Hotchkiss rifled projectile, carrying balls and a bursting charge to burst in the air and shower...
Hotchkiss projectile
The Hotchkiss projectile was an American rifled-artillery ammunition system made in solid shot, shell, case shot, and related service forms. Its chara...
Hotchkiss shell
The Hotchkiss shell was the explosive form of the Hotchkiss rifled projectile, a three-part body with a lead band between iron sections that expanded ...
Hotchkiss solid shot
The Hotchkiss solid shot, or bolt, was the solid form of the Hotchkiss rifled projectile, using the same lead band and movable base but without a cavi...
James projectile
The James projectile was an early rifled system in which a lead sabot over a ribbed iron body expanded into the rifling. Fired from James rifles, it w...
Mortar shell
A mortar shell is a hollow explosive projectile fired at high elevation from a mortar. Nineteenth-century American examples are commonly spherical, wi...
Parrott bolt
The Parrott bolt was the solid form of the Parrott rifled projectile, using the same expanding base sabot but cast solid for battering and penetration...
Parrott case shot
Parrott case shot was the antipersonnel form of the Parrott rifled projectile, carrying balls and a bursting charge to burst in the air over troops.
Parrott projectile
Parrott projectiles were rifled-artillery shot, shell, case shot, and bolts associated with Robert P. Parrott's gun system. Their expanding base cups ...
Parrott shell
The Parrott shell was the explosive form of the Parrott rifled projectile, with an expanding base sabot, made in the field and heavy calibers of the P...
Projectile sabot
A sabot is the part of a projectile that seals the bore and, in a rifled gun, engages the rifling. Civil War sabots ranged from wooden blocks on smoot...
Read projectile
The Read projectile was a Confederate rifled-artillery system that used a cupped wrought-iron sabot cast into the base of the shell. On firing, the th...
Rifled shell
A rifled shell is an elongated explosive projectile for a rifled gun, carrying a bursting charge and fuze and driven by a sabot or band that engages t...
Rotating and expanding bands
A rotating or expanding band is a ring of soft metal around a rifled projectile that is forced into the rifling on firing, spinning the projectile and...
Round shot
Round shot was the solid cast-iron sphere fired from smoothbore guns, the classic cannonball. It battered fortifications and materiel and was effectiv...
Sawyer projectile
The Sawyer projectile had a ribbed cast-iron body sheathed in lead that engaged the flanged rifling of the Sawyer gun. It was made in bolt and shell f...
Schenkl projectile
The Schenkl projectile used a tapered rear body and a papier-mache or composition sabot that expanded into the rifling when driven forward by propella...
Solid shot
Solid shot is non-explosive artillery ammunition intended to damage personnel, equipment, fortifications, ships, or other targets through impact. The ...
Spherical case shot
Spherical case shot was the smoothbore form of case shot: a hollow iron sphere filled with lead balls and a bursting charge, timed by fuze to burst in...
Spherical shell
A spherical shell is a hollow cast-iron ball carrying a bursting charge and fuze, fired from smoothbore guns, howitzers, and mortars. It burst into fr...
Stafford projectile
The Stafford projectile was a Confederate rifled projectile, associated with C. W. Stafford, made in 3-inch bolt and shell forms.
Whitworth projectile
The Whitworth projectile was a mechanically fitting British projectile whose flat-sided body matched the twisted hexagonal bore of the Whitworth rifle...
Cannon & Weapon Systems
10-inch siege mortar
The 10-inch siege mortar was a short, heavy piece that lobbed a large shell at a high angle over walls and into works. It was a standard weapon of sie...
10-pounder Parrott rifle
The 10-pounder Parrott rifle was the light field Parrott, a cast-iron rifle with a wrought-iron breech band. Early guns had a 2.9-inch bore, later one...
100-pounder Parrott rifle
The 100-pounder Parrott was a heavy seacoast and siege rifle of 6.4-inch bore. It threw a shell of about a hundred pounds at long range but shared the...
12-pounder Model 1857 Napoleon
The 12-pounder Model 1857 Napoleon was a bronze smoothbore gun-howitzer and the most widely used field piece of the Civil War, valued for its versatil...
12-pounder field howitzer
The 12-pounder field howitzer was a light bronze smoothbore that lobbed shell, case, and canister at a higher trajectory than the gun, using a smaller...
12-pounder gun
The 12-pounder gun was a bronze smoothbore of 4.62-inch bore. The older heavy pattern was cumbersome for the field, and the type is best known in its ...
13-inch seacoast mortar
The 13-inch seacoast mortar was the largest common mortar of the war, throwing an enormous shell at high angle. The famous railway mortar called the D...
18-pounder gun
The 18-pounder gun was a heavy smoothbore of the siege and garrison class, firing an 18-pound shot. By the Civil War it was an older type, overtaken b...
20-pounder Parrott rifle
The 20-pounder Parrott rifle was the heaviest of the field Parrotts, with a 3.67-inch bore. It gave batteries longer range and a heavier shell than th...
24-pounder field howitzer
The 24-pounder field howitzer was a bronze smoothbore of 5.82-inch bore that threw shell and heavy canister at a higher trajectory than the gun. It wa...
24-pounder gun
The 24-pounder gun was a heavy smoothbore of 5.82-inch bore used in siege and garrison work. It threw a 24-pound shot and was among the standard heavy...
3-inch Ordnance Rifle
The 3-inch Ordnance Rifle was a wrought-iron rifled field gun prized for its accuracy and durability. It became the standard Federal rifled field piec...
30-pounder Parrott rifle
The 30-pounder Parrott rifle was a siege and heavy field rifle of 4.2-inch bore, larger than the field Parrotts. It gave long range and accuracy again...
32-pounder field howitzer
The 32-pounder field howitzer was a bronze smoothbore of 6.4-inch bore, the largest of the howitzer class, firing shell and canister at high angle. It...
32-pounder gun
The 32-pounder gun was a heavy smoothbore of 6.4-inch bore used chiefly in seacoast and garrison defense, firing a 32-pound shot. Many were later rifl...
42-pounder gun
The 42-pounder gun was among the heaviest of the older smoothbore seacoast guns, with a 7-inch bore firing a 42-pound shot. Many were rifled and bande...
6-pounder field gun
The 6-pounder field gun was the light bronze smoothbore that formed the backbone of prewar field batteries. Its 3.67-inch bore fired a 6-pound ball, a...
Brooke rifle
The Brooke rifle was a Confederate cast-iron rifled gun reinforced with wrought-iron bands at the breech, resembling the Federal Parrott but often car...
Columbiad
The columbiad was a heavy American smoothbore designed for seacoast defense, able to fire both shot and shell at high or low angle. The Rodman guns we...
Parrott rifle
The Parrott rifle was a cast-iron rifled gun strengthened by a wrought-iron band shrunk over the breech. Made in field and heavy calibers, it was econ...
Rodman gun
The Rodman gun was a heavy iron smoothbore columbiad cast by Thomas Rodman's hollow-casting process, which gave it exceptional strength and allowed th...
Fuzes, Primers & Ignition
Artillery fuze
An artillery fuze is the device that detonates an explosive projectile at the intended moment. Civil War fuzing systems fall into four classes: time, ...
Artillery lanyard
The lanyard was the cord, with a hook and handle, that the gunner jerked to fire a friction primer and so discharge the gun from a safe distance.
Bormann time fuze
The Bormann fuze was a flat metal time fuze used principally with spherical case shot. A graduated time channel allowed the gunner to expose the powde...
Cannon vents and vent pieces
The vent was the small channel through which fire reached the charge to fire the gun. A vent piece was a replaceable metal insert that let a worn vent...
Combination fuze
A combination fuze united a timed function and an impact function in one device, bursting the projectile at a set time or, failing that, on striking t...
Concussion fuze
A concussion fuze relied on the shock of firing or of striking to bring an internal weight against a primer, detonating the projectile. It was the lea...
Confederate copper time fuze
The Confederate copper time fuze was a Southern-made graduated metal time fuze modeled on the Bormann pattern, cast or formed in copper rather than th...
Friction primer
The friction primer was the standard means of firing Civil War cannon: a small tube set in the vent and ignited by jerking a serrated wire through a f...
Fuze plugs and adapters
A fuze plug or adapter is the fitting seated in a projectile's fuze hole that holds the fuze and threads it to the shell. Plugs were of wood, metal, o...
Hotchkiss percussion fuze
The Hotchkiss percussion fuze was an impact fuze used with Hotchkiss and other rifled projectiles, firing the bursting charge when the projectile stru...
Paper time fuze
The paper time fuze was a powder composition wrapped in paper and cut to a set burning time at the factory, then seated in a fuze plug. It was a commo...
Parrott percussion fuze
The Parrott percussion fuze was an impact fuze for Parrott and other rifled projectiles, made in more than one pattern, that fired the charge when the...
Percussion cap
The percussion cap was a small copper cap charged with a fulminate that exploded when struck. In artillery it served in percussion primers and in the ...
Percussion fuze
A percussion fuze detonated an explosive projectile on impact rather than after a set time. Many patterns were used, generally relying on a plunger dr...
Portfire
A portfire was a slow-burning composition in a paper case used to ignite a gun's primer. It gave a steady flame and was a common firing device before ...
Quill primer
The quill primer was a tube, originally a goose quill, filled with priming powder and set in the vent to carry fire to the charge. It preceded the fri...
Schenkl combination fuze
The Schenkl combination fuze was a zinc-bodied fuze graduated to nine and one-half seconds, combining a settable time train with a percussion function...
Schenkl percussion fuze
The Schenkl percussion fuze was a brass impact fuze used with Schenkl and other rifled projectiles, firing the bursting charge when the shell struck t...
Slow match
Slow match was a slow-burning cord used to keep and carry fire for igniting guns, held in a linstock. It was an old method largely replaced by frictio...
Time fuze
A time fuze burst an explosive projectile after a preset number of seconds. It was the most widely used Civil War fuzing system, made either as a pape...
Wooden time fuze
The wooden time fuze was a tapered wooden plug bored with a powder train, cut or bored to the desired burning time and driven into the shell's fuze ho...
Carriages, Vehicles & Implements
Ammunition chest
The ammunition chest was the wooden, iron-bound box carried on the limber and caisson that held a gun's ready rounds, cartridges, fuzes, and primers.
Artillery carriage
The artillery carriage was the wheeled mount that carried the gun tube, absorbed its recoil, and allowed it to be aimed and moved. The field carriage ...
Barbette carriage
A barbette carriage was a heavy fortification carriage that raised a gun to fire over the parapet rather than through an embrasure, giving a wide fiel...
Battery wagon
The battery wagon was a supply vehicle of a field battery, carrying tools, spare parts, harness, and stores needed to keep the guns and teams in servi...
Caisson
The caisson was a two-wheeled ammunition carriage bearing two chests and a spare wheel. Hooked to its own limber, it carried the bulk of a gun's ammun...
Cannon worm
The worm was a corkscrew-shaped iron tool on a staff used to draw a charge, cartridge remnants, or debris out of the bore.
Casemate carriage
A casemate carriage mounted a heavy gun to fire through an embrasure in a casemate, sheltering the gun and crew behind masonry while limiting the fiel...
Drag rope
A drag rope was a rope fitted with hooks and handles by which men could move a gun or carriage by hand where horses could not be used.
Elevating screw and quoin
The elevating screw and the quoin were the means of setting a gun's elevation. A screw beneath the breech raised or lowered it; a quoin was a wooden w...
Field carriage
The field carriage was the light two-wheeled, stock-trail carriage that mounted a field gun or howitzer, took its recoil, and hooked to a limber for t...
Gunner's haversack
The gunner's haversack was a leather pouch used to carry a round from the ammunition chest to the muzzle, protecting the cartridge on the way.
Gunner's pincers
Gunner's pincers were a plier-like tool used in serving and preparing ammunition, such as handling primers and fuzes and small fittings.
Handspike
A handspike was a stout wooden lever used to shift the trail of a gun carriage in laying the piece for direction, and to move and lever heavy ordnance...
Limber
The limber was a two-wheeled cart carrying an ammunition chest and a pintle hook. Hooking a gun carriage or caisson to a limber formed a four-wheeled ...
Mortar bed
A mortar bed was the heavy timber or iron platform on which a mortar rested, holding it at a fixed high angle for plunging fire.
Prolonge
The prolonge was a stout rope with a hook and toggle used to connect a gun to its limber, letting a battery fire while slowly retiring or move the pie...
Sponge and rammer
The sponge and rammer was the two-headed staff used to serve a gun: a sponge head to swab the bore of embers between rounds and a rammer head to seat ...
Thumbstall
A thumbstall was a leather pad worn on the thumb to close the vent while a gun was sponged and loaded, keeping air from reaching any smoldering ember ...
Traveling forge
The traveling forge was a mobile blacksmith's shop on wheels, carrying a forge, bellows, anvil, and tools so a battery could shoe horses and repair ir...
Manufacture, Materials & Testing
Bronze and gunmetal
Bronze, or gunmetal, a copper-tin alloy, was the metal of the Civil War field gun. Tough and unlikely to burst dangerously, it was used for Napoleons ...
Cannon casting
Most Civil War cannon were cast from molten iron or bronze in foundries. Guns were traditionally cast solid and bored out, until Rodman's hollow-casti...
Cast-iron ordnance
Cast iron was the cheap, strong metal of heavy Civil War ordnance. Strong in compression but brittle, it was used for columbiads, seacoast guns, and, ...
Wrought-iron ordnance
Wrought iron, tough and resistant to bursting, was worked rather than cast. Its outstanding Civil War example is the 3-inch Ordnance Rifle, built of w...
People, Inventors & Ordnance Officers
Alexander B. Dyer
Alexander B. Dyer (1815-1874) was a United States ordnance officer who commanded Springfield Armory and became Chief of Ordnance in 1864. The Dyer pro...
Alexander Blakely
Captain Alexander Blakely was the British designer of the Blakely rifle. Unable to manufacture his own guns, he had them built by others and sold a ra...
Andrew Hotchkiss
Andrew Hotchkiss was an American inventor who patented the Hotchkiss rifled projectile in 1855. He died young, and his brother Benjamin carried on the...
Benjamin B. Hotchkiss
Benjamin B. Hotchkiss (1826-1885) was an American inventor who developed the Hotchkiss projectile system used in the Civil War and later founded an ar...
Edward Porter Alexander
Edward Porter Alexander (1835-1910) was a Confederate artillery officer who directed the great bombardment before Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg and r...
George Bomford
George Bomford (1782-1848) was a United States ordnance officer best known for designing the columbiad, the heavy American seacoast gun, and for his l...
Henry Knox
Henry Knox (1750-1806) commanded the artillery of the Continental Army in the Revolution, brought the guns of Ticonderoga to Boston, and became the fi...
James G. Benton
James G. Benton (1820-1881) was a United States ordnance officer and author of A Course of Instruction in Ordnance and Gunnery, a standard text, who c...
James W. Ripley
James W. Ripley (1794-1870) was Chief of Ordnance of the United States Army in the first years of the Civil War, known for his caution toward new and ...
John A. Dahlgren
Rear Admiral John A. B. Dahlgren (1809-1870) headed the U.S. Navy's Ordnance Bureau and designed the Dahlgren guns, the distinctive bottle-shaped nava...
John Gibbon
John Gibbon (1827-1896) was a United States artillery officer who wrote The Artillerist's Manual, a standard reference of the era, before serving as a...
John Mercer Brooke
John Mercer Brooke (1826-1906) was the Confederate naval officer who served as Chief of Ordnance and Hydrography, designed the Brooke rifle, and helpe...
John P. Schenkl
John P. Schenkl was an American inventor who developed the Schenkl projectile and the Schenkl combination and percussion fuzes used in Civil War rifle...
Josiah Gorgas
Josiah Gorgas (1818-1883) was the United States ordnance officer who became Chief of Ordnance of the Confederacy and built a Southern ordnance industr...
Quincy A. Gillmore
Quincy A. Gillmore (1825-1888) was a United States Army engineer who directed the reduction of Fort Pulaski in 1862, a landmark proof of rifled artill...
Robert P. Parrott
Robert Parker Parrott (1804-1877) was the ordnance officer and foundryman who designed the Parrott rifle and its projectiles. As superintendent of the...
Samuel Ringgold
Samuel Ringgold (1800-1846) was a United States artillery officer who developed the mobile light-artillery tactics known as flying artillery. He was m...
Thomas J. Rodman
Thomas Jackson Rodman was the U.S. Ordnance officer whose hollow-casting process allowed far larger and stronger iron cannon, culminating in the 20-in...
William LeRoy Broun
William LeRoy Broun (1827-1902) was a Confederate ordnance officer who commanded the Richmond Arsenal and made a number of ordnance improvements, late...
Arsenals, Armories & Foundries
Allegheny Arsenal
The Allegheny Arsenal at Pittsburgh was a United States arsenal that manufactured ammunition. It was the scene of a catastrophic explosion in 1862 tha...
Ames Manufacturing Company
The Ames Manufacturing Company of Massachusetts was a private firm that cast bronze cannon and made swords and other ordnance and equipment for the Un...
Bellona Foundry
The Bellona Foundry, a private cannon foundry near Richmond, Virginia, operated from 1819 and cast ordnance that served, in the Civil War, the Confede...
Benicia Arsenal
The Benicia Arsenal in California was the principal United States ordnance depot on the Pacific coast, storing and issuing arms and ammunition for the...
Confederate Powder Works at Augusta
The Confederate Powder Works at Augusta, Georgia, built under Josiah Gorgas and directed by George W. Rains, was the great Southern gunpowder factory ...
Continental Artillery
The Continental Artillery was the artillery arm of the Continental Army in the Revolution, organized into regiments and commanded for most of the war ...
Cyrus Alger & Company
Cyrus Alger & Company of South Boston was a leading Massachusetts cannon foundry. Grown from Cyrus Alger's early shot-and-shell work, it supplied larg...
Fort Pitt Foundry
The Fort Pitt Foundry at Pittsburgh was a major Northern cannon works that cast heavy iron ordnance, including large Rodman columbiads, for Federal se...
Frankford Arsenal
The Frankford Arsenal in Philadelphia was a United States arsenal that specialized in ammunition, primers, and fuzes, a major source of these stores f...
Harpers Ferry Armory
The Harpers Ferry Armory in Virginia was the second national armory of the United States. It was burned at the outbreak of the Civil War, and its mach...
Kennebec Arsenal
The Kennebec Arsenal at Augusta, Maine, was a United States arsenal that stored and issued arms and ammunition, one of the network of arsenals maintai...
Phoenix Iron Company
The Phoenix Iron Company of Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, began making wrought-iron cannon in 1855 and during the war produced the 3-inch Ordnance Rifle...
Sandy Hook Proving Ground
The Sandy Hook Proving Ground in New Jersey was a United States Army ordnance proving ground, established after the Civil War, for the testing of heav...
Selma Arsenal and Naval Foundry
The Confederate works at Selma, Alabama, were a major Southern ordnance center. The Selma Naval Ordnance Works cast heavy Brooke rifles and other guns...
Springfield Armory
The Springfield Armory in Massachusetts was the principal national armory of the United States, the chief maker of its shoulder arms, and a center of ...
Tredegar Iron Works
The Tredegar Iron Works in Richmond, Virginia, was the principal ironworks of the Confederacy, casting cannon including Brooke rifles and columbiads a...
Washington Arsenal
The Washington Arsenal in the District of Columbia was a United States arsenal that stored and issued ordnance and served as a place of experiment and...
Watertown Arsenal
The Watertown Arsenal in Massachusetts was a United States arsenal that manufactured and stored ammunition and ordnance stores, and later took up the ...
Watervliet Arsenal
The Watervliet Arsenal in New York was a long-established United States arsenal that produced ordnance stores and equipment, and later became a center...
West Point Foundry
The West Point Foundry at Cold Spring, New York, was a leading private cannon works. Under Robert P. Parrott's long superintendence it produced the Pa...
Documents, Patents & Records
Entries in development.
Battlefields, Forts & Ships
Artillery at Fort Fisher
Fort Fisher, the large earthwork guarding Wilmington, North Carolina, fell in January 1865 after one of the heaviest naval bombardments of the war, cl...
Artillery at Fort Pulaski
The reduction of Fort Pulaski in April 1862 was a landmark demonstration of rifled artillery. Federal rifled guns on Tybee Island breached the masonry...
Artillery at Fort Sumter
The Confederate bombardment of Fort Sumter in April 1861 opened the Civil War. The fort later endured some of the heaviest artillery fire of the war d...
Artillery at Gettysburg
The Battle of Gettysburg in July 1863 saw one of the largest artillery concentrations of the war. A great Confederate bombardment preceded Pickett's C...
Artillery at Mobile Bay
At Mobile Bay in August 1864 a Federal fleet forced the harbor entrance under fire from Fort Morgan and Fort Gaines, a hard exchange between heavy sea...
Artillery at Petersburg
The 1864-1865 siege of Petersburg relied on heavy siege artillery and mortars along entrenched lines, including the 13-inch seacoast mortar called the...
Artillery at Vicksburg
Vicksburg's river batteries commanded the Mississippi until the Federal siege of 1863. Its guns included the heavy Blakely rifle known as the Widow Bl...
Artillery defenses of Charleston Harbor
Charleston Harbor was ringed by forts and batteries and became the scene of a long siege from 1863. Heavy rifled siege guns, including the Parrott kno...
Artillery Concepts
Artillery ballistics
Artillery ballistics is the study of how projectiles travel from the gun to the target. Civil War gunners used range tables, elevation, and an underst...
Muzzle-loading and breech-loading artillery
Nearly all Civil War cannon were muzzle-loaders, charged from the muzzle. Breech-loading artillery, loaded at the rear, was rare and mostly represente...
Rifling, twist, and grooves
Rifling is the pattern of spiral grooves cut into a gun's bore. The lands and grooves impart spin to an elongated projectile, and the rate of twist go...
Smoothbore and rifled artillery
Civil War guns were either smoothbore, firing spherical projectiles from an unrifled bore, or rifled, firing elongated projectiles spun by grooves. Ri...
Windage and obturation
Windage is the gap between a projectile and the bore; obturation is the sealing of that gap. Reducing windage and obturating the bore made guns more e...
Historical Periods
Antebellum American artillery
In the years before the Civil War American artillery rested on standardized smoothbore systems, absorbed the lessons of the Mexican War, and stood at ...
Artillery in Reconstruction and the Indian Wars
After the Civil War the Army used its stock of wartime guns through Reconstruction and the Indian Wars, favoring light and mountain pieces on the fron...
Artillery in the American Civil War
The American Civil War was a turning point in artillery, fought as smoothbore guns gave way to rifled ones and as mass production filled the armies wi...
Artillery in the Mexican-American War
In the Mexican-American War American light field artillery, the famous flying artillery, proved decisive, its mobile smoothbore batteries maneuvering ...
Artillery in the War of 1812
In the War of 1812 American artillery served in field armies, in the seacoast forts, and aboard ships and lake squadrons, still relying on smoothbore ...
Artillery of the American Revolution
The artillery of the American Revolution was drawn from captured British guns, the ordnance brought from Ticonderoga, and French supplies, organized i...
Colonial artillery in British North America
Artillery in colonial North America consisted chiefly of European smoothbore guns mounted in coastal forts and towns and served by militia and royal g...
Ordnance in the Early Republic
In the decades after independence the United States built a national ordnance establishment, creating the Ordnance Department and its arsenals and mov...
Identification, Collecting & Safety
Fuze identification
Fuzes are identified by class, material, form, graduations, threads, and markings. Because a fuze may still be part of a live projectile, examination ...
Unexploded ordnance safety
Historic artillery shells and fuzes can remain hazardous. Suspected explosive ordnance must be left undisturbed and reported to local law enforcement ...
Safety notice: This encyclopedia presents historical construction and identification information only. It does not provide instructions for handling, cleaning, disassembling, or deactivating ordnance. A suspected shell or fuze is hazardous until evaluated by qualified explosive-ordnance professionals.