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, limber 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. The muzzle stamp on this gun is extremely worn and identification was difficult but thanks to my usual reference site, I was able to determine the origins of the weapon. 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 the Battery C, 5th Artillery monument are located at Cemetery Ridge on Hancock Avenue on the right or east side of the road if traveling north northeast on the avenue. The monument is south of the United States Regulars Monument and the High Watermark of the Rebellion monument at the Copse of trees (further away than the regulars monument). The tablet is flanked on either side by 12-pounder Bronze Napoleon guns. The gun to the left of the monument is registered as Number 133 (this waymark) manufactured at the Hooper foundry. The gun to the right is registered as Number 138, also produced at the Hooper foundry. This information can be found on their muzzle stamps and can be found in the photo gallery of this waymark. The monument and guns face due west (where the Confederate lines once formed) at a 45 degree angle to the road. In fact, all the monuments and cannons here face the west and are askew to Hancock Avenue. The site of the monument and guns is one of the most popular at the battlefield so there is plenty of side-of-the-road parking. Do not park on the grass or you will be ticketed by Park Police. I visited this monument on the afternoon of Monday, August 13, 2012 @ 3:28 P.M. and was at an elevation of 529 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, 12 o'clock position and moving clockwise.
H.N.H. & Co. ......1238 ......1863 ......T.J.R. ......No 133 ......FDY #143
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. 1238 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 six 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 133 is the registry or registration number, a way for the army to keep track of its weapons obtained from the foundry's commissioned to do so. FDY #143 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 |
The monument, marks the position of the Battery C, 5th U.S. Artillery from July 2 -3, 1863 during the Battle of Gettysburg and reads as follows:
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Army of the Potomac
Artillery Reserve
First Regular Brigade
Battery C Fifth U.S. Artillery
Lieut. Gulian V. Weir commanding
July 2 Arrived at Gettysburg from near Taneytown and in the afternoon was ordered to the front and by direction of Major General W.S. Hancock took position 500 yards further to the front and by order of Brig. General John Gibbon opened fire on the Confederates on the left front. The Confederates in front advanced to within a few yards no infantry opposing. Three of the guns were captured by the Confederates and drawn off to the Emmitsburg Road but were recaptured by the 13th Vermont and another regiment.
July 3 In the rear of the line until Longstreet's assault was made when the Battery was moved up to Brig. General A.S. Webb's line and opened with canister at short range on the advancing Confederates. At 6.30 p.m. returned to the Artillery Reserve.
Casualties. Killed 2 men. Wounded 2 officers and 12 men.