3.80-Inch James Rifle, Type 2 Series 4, (Ames) - Gettysburg, PA
N 39° 48.222 W 077° 14.073
18S E 308705 N 4408358
There are two 3.8-Inch (14-Pounder) James Rifles which flank the 2nd Connecticut Light Battery Monument. This waymark is for the rifle to the left (if facing the monument). This rifle has yet to be identified as the muzzle stamp is worn & battered.
Waymark Code: WMG0BY
Location: Pennsylvania, United States
Date Posted: 12/28/2012
Views: 5
These are very rare cannons to be found at Gettysburg. This artillery unit had at least two of them at Gettysburg as well as two 12-pounder Howitzers. By far this was the most numerous of the James Type 2 Series 4, with over eighty produced. The Series enjoyed remarkable survival rates, with over fifty existing today. With all the markings on the muzzle, these are easy to identify. These muzzles are so battered, that one in unreadable and this one took a long time to discern the information from the photo I took (also badly worn). These two guns are in decent shape except for the green patina which has taken over all of the bronze on the firing tube. Everything else seems to be in terrific shape. The rifling is also very obvious in the bored and worthy of mention. The trunnions also have inscriptions. The left trunnion merely reads, 1862 while the right reads, Ames CO. Founders Chicopee Mass., all in capital letters.
The two James rifles and the 2nd Battery, Connecticut Artillery Monument are located on the very southern end of Hancock Avenue, an exciting place if you are a monument enthusiast. The monument is on the left or west side of the road if traveling north; the monument faces the east and the cannons point to the west. The rifle on the right has a registry number of 79 while the one to the left has no surviving muzzle stamp so it remains anonymous and possibly lost to time. This part of Hancock Avenue emerges from Sedgwick Avenue, after the United States Avenue Intersection. I am not sure why the road suddenly has a name change, but here it is Hancock Avenue. All along both sides of the road are these types of tablets, volunteer monuments and all manner of marker and cannon. The place is a history lesson! Parking is available at enlarged shoulder cutouts on the right side of the road, directly across from the various monuments. Be sure to keep vehicles off the grass or you will be ticketed by park police. I visited this monument on Thursday, July 5, 2012 at 5:39 P.M. I was at an elevation of 575 feet, ASL. I used a Canon PowerShot 14.1 Megapixel, SX210 IS digital camera for the photos.
The 2nd Connecticut Artillery Battery was also known as Sterling’s Battery. During the battle of Gettysburg, it served as a member of Taft’s Brigade in the Army of the Potomac’s Artillery Reserve. The battery was commanded by Captain John W. Sterling (1826-1881), a merchant in Bridgeport. There were 106 men under Sterling's command (and four 6 lb James Rifles and two 12 lb Howitzers) and among them 3 were wounded and 2 went missing.
About the Foundry
Ames Manufacturing Company has its origins in blacksmith and founder, Captain John Ames, who in 1774, made some of the first manufactured shovels in what would emerge as the new, United States of America. The company was founded in 1791 at their factory in Chelmsford, Massachusetts. It was continued by the founder's son by Nathan Peabody Ames (1803-1847) and produced its first swords for the US Government in 1832. A foundry was added, to cast cannon and bells. The historic sword and armament factory, located at 5-7 Springfield Street in Chicopee, Massachusetts, was built in 1847. The structure was added to the National Historic Register in 1983.
About the Gun
James rifle is a generic term to describe any artillery gun rifled to the James pattern for use in the American Civil War. Charles T. James developed a rifled projectile and rifling system. Modern authorities such as Warren Ripley and James Hazlett have suggested that the term "James rifle" only properly applies to 3.80" bore field artillery pieces rifled to fire James' projectiles. They contend that the term does not apply to smoothbores that were later rifled to take the James projectiles in 3.67" caliber or other calibers, and that those should instead be referred to as "Rifled 6 (or other) pounder", etc. SOURCE
Although the James rifles were reported to be extremely accurate, bronze rifling wears rapidly and the James rifles and projectiles soon fell out of favor. No new James rifles were known to have been produced after 1862. The total numbers of James rifles are uncertain, but the 1862 Ohio Quartermaster General annual report recorded 82 rifled bronze pieces (44 of those specified as "3.80 bore [James rifles]") out of a total of 162 of all field artillery types. Unusual or out of favor types migrated to the Western theaters. SOURCE
The tablet marks the position of the 2nd Battery, Connecticut Artillery on July 3, 1863 reads as follows:
(Front):Artillery Reserve
Position July 3, 1863.
2d Conn. Light Battery
(Back):Tribute from the State of Conn.
Mustered in Sept. 10, 1862.
Mustered out Aug. 10, 1865.
engagements
Gettysburg. Fort Morgan.
Fort Gaines. Blakeley.
(Sides):1863
1888