12-Pounder Bronze Field Howitzer, Model of 1841, No. 4 - Gettysburg, PA
N 39° 47.420 W 077° 15.254
18S E 306983 N 4406917
The Latham's Branch Artillery Monument is flanked on either side by artillery pieces representing this battery artillery used during the Battle of Gettysburg. The Rebel guns & tablet are along S. Confederate Ave. This waymark is for the right gun.
Waymark Code: WME4MQ
Location: Pennsylvania, United States
Date Posted: 04/02/2012
Views: 5
There are hundreds of cannons at Gettysburg, many of them flanking monuments and markers. Such is the case with this artillery piece. If standing in front of the marker, the cannon to the right which points due east is a 12-Pounder Bronze Field Howitzer, Model of 1841. My usual SOURCE for cannon documentation provided me with the following line of information (the same information I had trouble reading on the outer muzzle face) about this specific cannon:
Alger - Reg #4 - INSP WM - FDY #2 - YR 41 - WT 766
Alger refers to the Cyrus Alger & Company, a foundry out of Boston, Massachusetts and the place where this gun was manufactured. Reg #4 is simply the registration number and the foundry's way of documenting and identifying each individual gun produced by their company. INSP WM refers to the military officer responsible for inspecting the final product to make sure it meets all standards. (More on the inspector below). FDY #2 represents the word Foundry and refers to the foundry's own internal control number. YR 41 is the year of manufacturing and WT 766 refers to the weight of the cannon or bronze tube which fired projectiles. More information about the specifics of this weapon can be found HERE.
The Inspectors
I did some digging to find out who these inspectors were or at least learn their name. I found a decent site HERE which lists those responsible in the 19th century for inspecting the guns and cannons at the various foundries. The right cannon was inspected by WM. who I believe was William Maynadier (1828 - 1871), a Lieutenant Colonel from the United States, 1838 - 1863. SOURCE. William Maynadier was born 1806 or possibly February 15, 1807 in Maryland. He was a cadet at the military academy from July 1, 1823 to July 1, 1827, when he graduate and was promoted to the Army to Bvt. Second Lieutenant of Artillery, July 1, 1827. Maynadier died July 3, 1871, exactly 8 years to the day the Battle of Gettysburg ended. He is buried at Oak Hill Cemetery in Washington D.C. I managed to find a webpage dedicated to him. This impressive page gives a complete and exhaustive account of his life and can be found HERE