Another weapon used during the Civil War did not go though nearly the innovation that hand held weapons of the era did, the cannon. These large guns had remained the same for several hundred years, only getting slightly larger and more reliable during their use in the Civil War. Most all cannons worked on the same simple design principle. The cannon was made up of a hollow tube of metal (iron, bronze, or brass were most often used) which was open at one end. A powder charge was rammed down the tube, and the ammunition was placed in the tube. The charge was then set off using either a touch fuse or ,more likely, a copper priming fuse. The firing of one of these giant cannons was quite an experience, a loud roar was followed by the ball being launched out of the end of the cannon, often being followed by a thirty yard long jet of flames. A low, white smoke often hung over battlefields where cannons were being used.

While the basic design of cannons remained unchanged, the ammunition that they fired did see some innovations during the Civil War. Most shots were still solid shot, solid pieces of metal, and did little damage unless they hit an opposing artillery piece. But during the war, several innovations helped make the cannon into more of an anti-personnel weapon, with varying degrees of success. This was made possible by the firing of a round, or sometimes cylindroconoidal, shot that was hollowed out in the middle and contained a powder charge that was lit on firing. When this charge went off, the shell exploded sending deadly pieces of shrapnel at the opposing soldiers. These rounds, while deadly, were quite unreliable. At times only about one in fifteen of the charges actually went off correctly. This fact, combined incorrect estimates in timing and trajectory on the part of the gunner, made this type of shot unpopular.

A more effective method of using cannons as anti-personnel weapons was the spherical case shot, which was a round, hollow ball that contained up to 78 musket balls and an exploding powder charge. While only about a third of the 78 musket balls ever headed in the right direction, a spherical ball exploding near a line of soldiers could cause considerable damage. But the most dangerous incarnation of the cannon-as-antipersonnel-weapon had to be the canister. On top of a powder charge in a cannon was loaded a tin can filled with 27 cast iron balls, each about ½ of one pound in weight. This charge was used against attacking infantry who were within 300 yards of the cannon. When fired, this load made the cannon into a giant shotgun.

Although cannon technology had changed very little, there were still several different types of cannons used during the Civil War. The most popular, by far was the gun-howitzer model, such as the Model 1857 12-pounder Napoleon. These guns, nicknamed after the great dictator and artillery advocate, were very much unchanged from Napoleon’s day. The Model 1857 had a smooth bore of 4.62 inches, and shot a solid shot weighing 12.3 pounds. These 1,227 pound cannons could fire a projectile about twice a minute, with a range of up to 1,600 yards. This gun was nearly indestructible and of very simple design, which led to it’s fairly reasonable manufacture cost of about $600 each. All told, the Union army manufactured over 1,100 Napoleons during the war, with the Confederacy building about 500 more.

The smoothbore cannons like the Napoleons, the most popular during the war, also appeared in a smaller, six-pound size, as well as sizes all the way up to 24- or 32-pound. Most of the larger (over 20 pound) cannons were used by the Union to defend seacoasts and large stationary fortifications. The largest of these could fire shots weighting up to one half ton, and one Isaac Rodman smoothbore could fire a shot almost five miles out to see, which was much further than anyone could see to aim. These larger weapons rarely saw use during the war, mostly because they defended Union fortifications farther North than the fighting ever progressed.

Mortars were another cannon-like device used during the Civil War, These short, fat, stubby weapons were very purpose specific. They were built to sit low to the ground and fire an exploding charge high into the air at a high trajectory. This made them quite useless on the battlefield, but when the mission called for the attack of a fortified fortress, the mortar became invaluable. The mortar played a major role in sieges at both Vicksburg and Petersburg. Mortars also came in a wide variety of sizes, some with bores up to thirteen inches.

The Civil War didn’t pass without some experimentation by designers when cannons were concerned. Although the rifling revolution hit shouldered arms the hardest, some rifling cannons appeared during the war. The three-inch ordnance rifle was one of the most popular. It had a bore of three inches, which had deep rifling grooves in it. It shot an elongated shell with surprising range and accuracy. It was lighter and used a smaller charge that Napoleons, which made it more portable. Another popular model was the ten-pound Parrott rifle. These large rifling guns used iron bands around the breech to reinforce it for larger loads. This allowed it to fire the same size load as an ordinance rifle, but with a range about 100 yards greater, up to 1,900 yards. Parrotts, which were designed in sizes up to 300-pound shot, were used mostly by the Northern army, who had the money and the means to experiment with and build weapons of greater innovation.

The South tended to rely on British pieces that they were able to get past Union sea blockades. The two most popular British imports were the Blakely and the Armstrong, both of which used the same reinforcing technique the Parrott did. Both of these guns illustrated a great innovation, the breechloader. In an attempt to increase rate of fire, the Armstrong contained a screw for the breach of the gun. When the breach was cranked back and a solid breechblock removed, the charge and projectile could be shoved in, and the breechblock replaced. When the screw was cranked back, the weapon was ready to fire. The Whitworth rifle, had a similar idea but took it even further. The breechblock unscrewed and turned to the side for loading. Unfortunately, the breakloading cannon was highly temperamental, and was not much used during the war. Lee did use several in his army though, some of which were capable of firing up to six miles, which did little good since a gunner could seldom see more than ½ mile to aim.