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 two Napoleons and Dilger's (Oh) US Battery Tablet are located inside the National Cemetery, at the eastern most corner, just before the fence line that separates this cemetery form the Evergreen cemetery. The monument is located on the southwest side of the road if traveling southeast along the pike. There are also two 12-pounder bronze Napoleon guns which flank the monument. On the left side is gun no. 146 and on the right, gun no. 104. Both guns were manufactured @ the Henry N. Hooper and Co. armory out of Boston, MA. Both guns point to the walking path or the northwest. 
Parking is available in front of the cemetery at metered spots along Baltimore Pike (State Highway 97). You can also park for free a few hundred feet away @ N 39° 49.363 W 77° 13.824. I visited this monument on Friday, September 10, 2010 In the afternoon and again on August 7, 2012 @ 301 PM Eastern Daylight Time and @ al elevation of 634 feet ASL using a Canon PowerShot 14.1 Megapixel, SX210 IS digital camera.
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.
H.N.H. & Co. ......1240 ......1863 ......T.J.R. ......No 104 ......FDY #113
Registry Information Explanation
H.N.H. & Co. stands for the Henry N. Hooper and Co. armory out of Boston, MA and the foundry responsible for producing this weapon. 1240 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 104 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 #113 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
This armory was founded by Henry Northey Hooper (1799 – 1865), a preeminent 19th century American manufacturer and merchant of decorative lighting, Civil War artillery, and bells and chimes. He was a Boston politician and foundry owner and in his firm he cast the first life-size bronze statue in the United States. He was an apprentice of Paul Revere in the latter’s Boston foundry. He later purchased the foundry and established Henry N. Hooper & Co. to produce lamps and lighting fixtures, bells, and by 1862, artillery for the Union Army.
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:
The 1st Ohio Artillery Battery I was also known as Dilger’s Battery. The battery was organized in Cincinnati, Ohio and mustered in for a three year enlistment on December 3, 1861 under Captain Hubert Dilger. The regiment was organized as early as 1860 under Ohio's militia laws, under Colonel James Barnett. Battery I, 1st Ohio Light Artillery mustered out of service on June 13, 1865. The battery lost a total of 29 men during service; 1 officer and 13 enlisted men killed or mortally wounded, 15 enlisted men died of disease. During the battle of Gettysburg, it served as a member of Osborn’s Brigade in the Eleventh Corps, Army of the Potomac. The unit was commanded by Captain Hubert Dilger (March 5, 1836 – May 4, 1911). Dilbert was a German immigrant to the United States who became a decorated artillerist in the Union Army during the American Civil War. After relocating to Cincinnati, Ohio, he became the captain of Battery I, 1st Ohio Light Artillery and fought at several battles of the Army of the Potomac, including under fellow German native Maj. Gen. Carl Schurz at the Second Battle of Bull Run. He was noted as one of the finest artillerists in the Army of the Potomac, winning the Medal of Honor for his valiant work at the 1863 Battle of Chancellorsville. Dilger is buried in Rock Creek Cemetery in Washington, D.C. Under his command, the Battery I had 137 men (& 6 Napoleons) @ Gettysburg and among them, 13 were wounded.
The tablet narrates the events associated with Dilger's (Oh) US Battery Tablet at the opening of the battle on July 3rd battle and reads as follows:
Army of the Potomac
Eleventh Corps
Battery I First Ohio Artillery
Six 12 pounders
Captain Hubert Dilger commanding
July 1 Arrived at Gettysburg before noon and went into position west of the Carlisle Road. Engaged with two Confederate batteries. A Confederate rifled battery having opened fire. Wheeler's Thirteenth New York battery was added to the command of Capt. Dilger and a fierce artillery duel ensued. About 4 p.m. retired to take position on Cemetery Hill. One section was posted on Baltimore street above the square in town to cover the retreating infantry until relieved by two pieces of battery G Fourth U.S. Artillery. At 5 p.m. took position in the Cemetery next to the Baltimore pike facing westerly. Remained there until the close of the battle. One gun disabled.
Casualties. Wounded 13 men.
28 horses killed.
The National Cemetery and East Cemetery Hill across the street are perhaps the most visited of the Gettysburg sites, attracting thousands upon thousands of visitors each year. As such, and with a waymarkers eye. the free parking is probably the best way to go if you truly want to sate your Civil War palate and take up to the full eight hours this part of the park demands.
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.
