Also known as: 3-pounder.
| Type | Very light field gun |
|---|---|
| Projectile | About 3 pounds |
| Status | Older and small; little used by the Civil War |
A light field piece
The 3-pounder gun was among the lightest of the field guns, firing a shot of about three pounds. Small and easily moved, it belonged to an older pattern of light artillery and was of limited value against the larger guns and heavier fire of the mid-nineteenth-century battlefield.
By the Civil War the 6-pounder and above had displaced such small guns in the regular field batteries, though light pieces of this size still appeared in irregular and improvised service.
On this site
Sources & further reading
- United States Army, Ordnance Department. The Ordnance Manual for the Use of the Officers of the United States Army. 2nd ed. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott, 1862.