Union Eleventh Corps Artillery - Stafford, Virginia - Signs of History on Waymarking.com

Eleventh Corps artillery units in 1863 were equipped with 3-inch ordnance rifles and 4.62-inch model 1857 Napoleon cannon often referred to as 12-pounders. Ordnance rifles could fire a solid or hollow 3-inch, iron, buIlet-shaped projectile nearly 2,800 yards. Explosive shells contained iron or lead shot around a black powder explosive charge. The Napoleon guns also fired both solid and explosive cannonballs. Both types of guns could fire canister shot, iron balls inside a tin container propelled by an iron plate between the powder and the shot. Canister, once fired, spread out rapidly and was very lethal out to 400 yards against massed infantry. If Napoleon guns were “double- shotted” (a second round stripped of its powder bag and placed on top of the first one) 96 iron balls over 1-inch in diameter could be fired at one lime. Artillery placement in this area would have been driven by terrain, visibility, gun range and the threat. Battery #2, with its exceptional visibility and range in three directions, likely utilized ordnance rifles. Battery #1 covered the Potomac Church road and Daniel Bridge, both potential avenues of enemy attack. Battery #3 with its more open, less steep terrain, may have utilized 12-pounders which had shorter range and were more lethal in close combat. Several 11th Corps soldier letters and diaries describe the construction of the batteries or fortifications in and around this park to include deployed artillery. Unfortunately, documents found to date do not detail the specific units or type of artillery in each of the fortifications preserved in this park. Research is continuing.

Group that erected the marker: Stafford Address of where the marker is located. Approximate if necessary: 400 Mt Hope Church Road Stafford, Virginia United States of America 22554 URL of a web site with more information about the history mentioned on the sign: Not listed

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