Cannon's on the Hill
by Rose Guinther
Title
Cannon's on the Hill
Artist
Rose Guinther
Medium
Photograph
Description
In 1857 the U.S. Army adapted the cannon as the light 12-pounder M1857. When the Civil War broke out, the gun’s simplicity enabled the Confederates to replicate it, making the Napoléon virtually a universal artillery piece, with captured cannon easily pressed into service by either side. Wartime foundries produced some 1,100 Napoléons in the North and 600 in the South. Such was the gun’s effectiveness that in 1863 General Robert E. Lee had all six-pounders in the Army of Northern Virginia sent to the Tredegar Iron Works in Richmond, Va., to be melted down and recast as 12-pounders. The November 1863 Union seizure of the Ducktown copper mines near Chattanooga, Tenn., cut Confederate production of bronze, so Tredegar cast later models of the Napoléon in iron.
Uploaded
August 28th, 2019
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