There are hundreds of guns, rifles and cannons at Gettysburg, many of them flanking monuments and markers. Such is the case with this artillery piece. The carriage, wheels and other 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. The muzzle stamp on this one was somewhat preserved and identification took some time and staring at pictures. I learned the man who made the tablets which accompany the cannons also had a hand in restoring these cannons as well. Gettysburg National Military Park has hundreds of these historic artillery pieces on its field of battle. Their carriages, sights, and caissons, however, have been restored. Much of the restorative work came from Major Calvin Gilbert who owned the Gettysburg foundry.
Calvin Gilbert owned a foundry which bore his name in Gettysburg. This man was responsible for creating all of the cast iron battery tablets (including this one) at this park. His work did not end there as his foundry created many of the carriages for the historic cannons at Gettysburg. Although almost all of the cannons are from the Civil War, their carriages, sights, and caissons have been restored at his foundry in the early part of the 20th century. Gilbert was in his 70s when he did this work and completed work at other battlefields as well.
The three Napoleons and the accompanying Battery B, 4th U.S. Artillery - US Regulars Tablet are located on East Cemetery Hill, across the road from Evergreen Cemetery, this Napoleon being 11 feet from Baltimore Pike. The National Cemetery is also across the road but north of this position. This site is loaded with weapons and monuments. This Hill is located on the east or left side of Baltimore Pike if traveling south southeast along the road. The gun is located (if facing the hill with your back to the pike), just at the midway point, along the beginning of the southern slope, getting somewhat close to the end where the monumentation stops. All three guns and the monument face the northwest or the town square, parallel to the pike. The artillery and monumentation are in the following order; From the roadside and moving away from the road or to the east: this Napoleon, no. 242, no. 283, the Battery B, Fourth U.S. Artillery and no. 300. 
Parking is available on Baltimore street on the cemetery side at metered spaces running parallel to the road. There always seems to be a space open when I visit. Also, there is a free parking lot on the other side of the rifle, along the Pike located at N 39° 49.328 W 77° 13.792. I visited this monument on the afternoon of Tuesday, August 7, 2012 @ 2:28 P.M. and was at an elevation of 622 feet ASL. I used a Canon PowerShot 14.1 Megapixel, SX210 IS digital camera for the photos.
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, 11 o'clock position and moving clockwise.
REVERE ......1225 ......1863 ......T.J.R. ......No 242 ......FDY #246
Registry Information Explanation
REVERE stands for the Revere Copper Company out of Boston, MA and the foundry responsible for producing this weapon. 1225 lbs represents the total weight of the bronze firing tube which was very heavily in comparison to the lighter and newer 3-inch ordnance rifle of 1861 which weighed about four hundred pounds less than the Napoleon and was just as accurate and deadly. 1863 is the manufacture date which means in this year the foundry were still producing the older 1857 design from seven years earlier. T.J.R. are the initials of an unbelievably famous (and somewhat controversial) Union Ordnance Officer responsible for inspecting the cannon before the Union Army took possession of it. No 242 is the registry or registration number, a way for the army to keep track of its weapons obtained from the foundries commissioned to do so. FDY #246 is an internal control number specific to the foundry.
About the Inspector
Thomas Jackson Rodman (July 31, 1816 – June 7, 1871) was an American artillerist, inventor and innovator, ordnance specialist, and career United States Army officer. He served as a Union Army general during the American Civil War, in which he was noted for his many improvements and innovations concerning the artillery used by the Union forces. Rodman worked many armories including Alger, Hooper & Revere, to name a few. Throughout the American Civil War, Rodman was commander and superintendent of the Watertown Arsenal, located along the Charles River in Watertown, Massachusetts. As the American Civil War ended in 1865, Rodman was rewarded for his service with three brevet promotions in the U.S. Army, all occurring on March 13, making him a brevet brigadier general. On March 7, 1867, Rodman was promoted to the permanent rank of lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army. He died on duty at Rock Island on June 7, 1871, and was buried on June 17 in the arsenal's National Cemetery. SOURCE
About the Foundry
The Revere Copper Company was the business that operated North America's first copper rolling mill. It was started by Paul Revere in 1801 in Canton, Massachusetts and developed a commercially viable process for manufacturing copper sheets. Revere Copper Company of Boston, Massachusetts produced more 12-pdr light field guns during the Civil War than any other source. All told, Revere delivered 443 Napoleons against Federal contracts. Revere’s guns matched the specified pattern with one variation. While the first gun produced by Revere lacked handles, at least one of the first production batch of six had them. All later Revere guns lack handles.With all the guns produced, Revere Napoleons are familiar to most battlefield stompers. One good spot to see and compare Revere guns is Malvern Hill on the Richmond Battlefields. I could find no evidence linking the 1801 company to the 1861 company to the 2012 incarnation but I can only assume they are all one and the same as there are no others by this name to be found. The Wikipedia article makes no mention of the Revere Company's endeavors into cannon production. SOURCE
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
Commonly referred to as the "Napoleon", this bronze smoothbore cannon fired a twelve-pound ball and was considered a light gun through each weighed an average of 1,200 pounds. This powerful cannon could fire explosives shell and solid shot up to a mile and charges of canister up to 300 yards with accuracy. The Napoleon was a favorite amongst some Northern artillerists because of its firepower and reliability. Two Union batteries armed with Napoleons at Gettysburg were very effective in holding back Confederate infantry attacks and knocking down opposing southern batteries. Battery G, 4th U.S. repeatedly slowed Confederate infantry attacks against the Eleventh Corps lines on July 1, while Captain Hubert Dilger's Battery G, 1st Ohio Light Artillery almost annihilated two Confederate batteries with accurate and punishing counter-battery fire at long distance. Most Union Napoleons were manufactured in Massachusetts by the Ames Company and the Revere Copper Company. SOURCE
12-pounder bronze gun, Model of 1857 Specifications
| Tube Material |
Bronze |
| Tube Weight |
1,227 lb (557 kg) |
| Powder Charge |
2.5 lb (1.13 kg) |
| Range (5° Elevation) |
1,619 yd (1,480 m) |
| At Gettyburg |
142 |
About the Battery:
This artillery battery was also known as Gibbon’s Battery. During the battle of Gettysburg, it served as a member of Wainwright’s Brigade of the First Corps, Army of the Potomac. The battery was commanded by Lieutenant James Stewart (1826-1905). Stewart was a native of Scotland. He was wounded on July 2. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. Under his command. 90 men (and 6 Napoleons) were engaged at Gettysburg and among them, 2 were killed, 31 were wounded and 3 went missing.
The monument, marks the position of the Battery B, 4th U.S. Artillery for the entire three days of the battle and reads as follows:
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Army of the Potomac
First Corps
Artillery Brigade
Battery B Forth U.S. Artillery
Six 12 pounders
Lieut. James Stewart commanding
July 1 In position about 200 yards south of the Seminary until 3 p.m. when ordered to the support of Brig. General J.C. Robinson's Division First Corps and took position on Seminary Ridge one half the Battery between the Chambersburg Pike and the railroad cut. The other half north of the cut in the corner of the woods was actively engaged. The Battery afterwards retired with the troops to Cemetery Hill where it went into position on the Baltimore Pike opposite the Evergreen Cemetery commanding the approach from the town two guns on the Pike and two in the field two guns having been disabled.
July 2 & 3 Remained in this position.
This area is crazy-stupid with all types of cannons and guns and monuments as far as the eyes (or binoculars) can see, a veritable outside museum. I would suggest allowing up to an hour and a half to walk around East Cemetery Hill to fully inspect all the tablets, monuments and weapons in this area.
Final Note:
Back when I first visited this site on September 10, 2010, and this being my first visit, I simply snapped a few cursory shots of the 'cannons' and thought nothing more of them. I learned a year or so later, each gun was unique and had its own story, so I went back on August 7, 2012 and took better photos which identified each cannon by muzzle stamp. I also took care to snap the trunnions and they have important information stamped on them as well. My original waymark (since archived) for the cannons/guns can be found HERE.
