There are hundreds of cannons at Gettysburg, many of them flanking monuments and markers. Such is the case with this artillery piece. The carriage, wheels and other tube carrying mechanisms all look well tended to and in good shape, sporting what appears to be fresh paint. The firing tube has a green patina from constant exposure to the elements. I peered into the bore and did not observe any rifling grooves, making this a smoothbore. There is a long rock wall in front of the weapon as well as a long line of Confederate Napoleons (many also unmarked) along this parcel of road, all on the same side.
The two Napoleons and the Richardson's Battery Tablet, (the unit was also known as the 2nd Company, Washington (Louisiana) Artillery), is on the left or east side of the road if traveling south along West Confederate Avenue, in front of the Pitzer's Woods section. There are two 12-pounder Confederate bronze Napoleons flanking the tablet which represent the battery and the armaments used during the Gettysburg campaign by this Confederate artillery unit. The cannon to the left was manufactured at the Macon Arsenal in Georgia, registry No. 19, the one to the right, out of the Augusta Foundry, also in Georgia, No. 97AF. The marker is 688 feet north of the Millerstown Road intersection. Parking is available at the side of the road at small, intermittently placed cutouts. Please do not park on the grass, park on the side of the road. You will be ticketed. I visited this monument on Saturday, March 10, 2012 at 3:19 PM, just before the clocks were set ahead for the Spring. I was at an elevation of 595 feet, ASL.
My SOURCE for all things weapons at Gettysburg provided me additional information about this weapon which did not appear on the muzzle. I used red to designate that data. The rest is as it appears exactly on the muzzle, starting at the top, 12 o'clock position and moving clockwise.
MACON ARSENAL - 1863 - No 19 - T.A.S. - 1180 - FDY #22
MACON ARSENAL refers to the manufacturing foundry, namely, the Macon Arsenal out of Macon GA. (More on that below) 1863 refers to the production date. No 19 refers to the Army registration number, a way for the military to keep track of the guns when it took receipt of each weapon. T.A.S. are the initials of T.A. Sengstack, an inspector at Macon Arsenal, and the person responsible for giving this gun the once over before it was shipped out to the CS Army. 1180 refers to the weight of the firing tube. This number is on the bottom of the muzzle. Each gun is usually very unique and has its own weight which distinguishes it from every other gun, like a fingerprint. The weight of this gun is significantly lighter than some of the the Napoleons along Confederate Avenue.FDY #22 is an internal control number specific to the foundry. The carriages were approximately 900 pounds which makes this entire weapon approximately 2,100 pounds or so.
About the Foundry
This foundry was a second generation foundry of sorts for the Confederacy. Slowly the Confederates turned to government run facilities. One of those Arsenal was established at Macon, Georgia. As with similar facilities at Columbus, Georgia, the Confederates acquired a private foundry to establish Macon Arsenal. In this case, the Confederate Army rented the Findlay Iron Works from brothers James N. and Christopher D. Findlay. One of several receipts bears out this was a rental, not a purchase
During the American Civil War, Macon served as the official arsenal of the Confederacy. Macon Arsenal focused towards the production of Parrott rifles and 12-pdr Napoleon smoothbores. By far the most common surviving Macon guns are the later. Like the other Napoleons from government arsenals, the Macon guns match the “Type 5" profile designated by historians. Although documents fail to reveal the total number produced, the educated guess is less than eighty. Of those, thirty-six survive today. If the registry numbers were in sequence, the very first Macon Napoleon survives today on Lee Hill at Fredericksburg. Early Macon Napoleons used a stamping pattern similar to pre-war Army regulations. The registry number and inspector’s initials went on the muzzle face, top and bottom respectively. SOURCE This exact weapon is featured on this source link.
About the Gun
The twelve-pound cannon "Napoleon" was the most popular smoothbore cannon used during the war. It was named after Napoleon III of France and was widely admired because of its safety, reliability, and killing power, especially at close range. The Federal version of the Napoleon can be recognized by the flared front end of the barrel, called the muzzle-swell. Confederate Napoleons were produced in at least six variations, most of which had straight muzzles, but at least eight catalogued survivors of 133 identified have muzzle swells This bronze gun does not have that flare. Casting of these bronze Napoleons by the Confederacy ceased due to lack of resources and in January 1864 Tredegar began producing iron Napoleons. Just before this in early 1863, resources were so scarce, Robert E. Lee sent nearly all of the Army of Northern Virginia's bronze 6-pounder guns to Tredegar (another foundry) to be melted down and recast as Napoleons. SOURCE
The tablet, which marks the position of Richardson's CS Artillery Battery on July 3-4, 1863 and narrates those events reads as follows:
Army of Northern Virginia
Longstreet's Corps Artillery Reserve
Eshleman's Battalion Richardson's Battery
Two Napoleons and One 12 pounder Howitzer
July 3 The Napoleons took position before daylight north of the Peach Orchard but moved at dawn further northward and west of the Emmitsburg road. A Union 3 inch Rifle left the day before between the lines was brought in under a heavy fire of skirmishers and served with this battery which took part in the cannonade preceding Longstreet's assault. After the repulse of that assault was joined by the Howitzer and made preparations to assist in repelling a countercharge if attempted. Withdrew from the front after dark.
July 4 At 9 a.m. marched with the Battalion to Cashtown to reinforce the cavalry escorting the wagon train.
Losses not reported in detail.
This area is loaded with all types of cannons and guns, a veritable outside museum. I would suggest allowing up to an hour to fully inspect all the tablets, monuments and weapons in this area.