M1844 32-pounder howitzer
M1844 32-pounder howitzer is located atPetersburg National Battlefield visitor center.
Type	Howitzer
Place of origin	United States
Service history
In service	1848–1865
Used by	United States
Wars	American Civil War
Production history
Manufacturer	Cyrus Alger & Co. N. P. Ames
Produced	1848–1857
No. built	25
Specifications
Mass	1,920 lb (870.9 kg)
Length	82.0 in (2.08 m)
Crew	9
Shell weight	25.6 lb (11.6 kg) shell 2.5 lb (1.1 kg) charge
Caliber	6.4 in (163 mm)
Barrels	1
Action	Muzzle loading
Carriage	1,175 lb (533.0 kg)
Effective firing range	1,504 yd (1,375 m)

TheM1844 32-pounder howitzer was abronzesmoothbore artillery piece adopted by theUnited States Army in 1844 and employed during theAmerican Civil War. Themuzzleloader fired a 25.6 lb (11.6 kg)common shell to a distance of 1,504 yd (1,375 m) at 5°elevation. It also firedcanister shot andspherical case shot. Thehowitzer was originally designed to be used in a mixed battery with 12-pounderfield guns. However, at the time of the American Civil War, the howitzer was replaced by theM1857 12-pounder Napoleon, which combined the functions of both field gun and howitzer. Only a few 32-pounder howitzers were produced, and they were used sparingly asfield artillery in the American Civil War because of the weapon's great weight.

In 1800, armed forces used field guns for direct artillery fire andmortars for high-angle fire. The howitzer was intermediate between the field gun and mortar in that it fired an explosive shell on a curved trajectory against enemy soldiers or fortifications. A howitzer needed a smaller explosive charge than a field gun in order to lob a projectile of similar weight. Howitzers were sometimes named after the size of the bore (or caliber), for example the6-inch howitzer.^[1] By British and American convention, some howitzers were named after the field gun which had the same bore size.^[2] In the US Army, the weapon was called the 32-pounder howitzer since it had the same bore size as the 32-pounder gun, which was 6.4 in (163 mm) in diameter. Since a smaller charge was needed to fire a projectile, the 32-pounder howitzer had a smaller chamber near the breech only 4.62 in (117 mm) in diameter.^[1]

Bronze artillery pieces were made fromcopper andtin. Because theUnited States had few copper and no known tin deposits, in 1800Secretary of WarHenry Dearborn recommended that allcannons be cast fromiron. However, casting guns from iron was unsuccessful, so the Ordnance Board of 1831 underAlexander Macomb determined that field artillery pieces should be manufactured from bronze. The 1834 regulations required that field guns be made in 6-, 9-, and 12-pounder calibers and howitzers in 12- and 24-pounder calibers. The 9-pounder was later suppressed.^[3] TheM1841 6-pounder field gun produced byCyrus Alger and Company andAmes Manufacturing Company was a success and both firms continued making bronze artillery pieces for the U.S. government until the Civil War.^[4] Before the Civil War, light field batteries were organized to consist of four 6-pounder field guns and twoM1841 12-pounder howitzers while heavy field batteries included four 12-pounder field guns and twoM1841 24-pounder howitzers.^[5] The 32-pounder howitzer was conceived as a way to hurl the heaviest possible projectile while still being classed as field artillery. It was designed to replace the 24-pounder howitzer in some field batteries.^[6]

The 32-pounder howitzer was authorized in 1843 as a so-calledshell gun. A shell gun was a cannon that could fire a projectile that would penetrate a ship's hull before exploding. In fact, the howitzer was not a true shell gun because it lacked the power and the penetration to do this. The howitzer's true function was to outrange other field howitzers and utilize the maximum size of projectile.^[7] Between 1848 and 1857, Cyrus Alger manufactured 11 32-pounder howitzers while N. P. Ames produced 14 between 1851 and 1855. There are 9 known survivors out of a total of 25 produced.^[8]

The Model 1844 bronze 32-pounder howitzergun barrel was 75 in (190.5 cm) from the base ring to themuzzle. The length of the bore was 71 in (180.3 cm) and the overall length of the barrel from the end of the cascable (knob) to the muzzle was 82 in (208.3 cm). The diameter of the firing chamber was 4.62 in (117 mm).^[9] The barrel weighed 1,920 lb (871 kg) and the diameter of the bore (caliber) was 6.4 in (163 mm). The carriage weighed 1,175 lb (533 kg) and the total weight of gun and carriage was 3,095 lb (1,404 kg).^[10] Almost all artillery pieces of the Civil War era were muzzleloaders. The very few breechloading guns available were complex and difficult to use.^[11]

The howitzer could fire common shell, spherical case shot (shrapnel), or canister shot. It could not usesolid shot. At 5° elevation, the gun could throw a 25.6 lb (11.6 kg) common shell a distance of 1,504 yd (1,375 m) with the standard propellant charge of 2.5 lb (1.1 kg).^[12][13] At 3°45' elevation, the gun could throw spherical case shot a distance of 1,200 yd (1,097 m) with a propellant charge of 3.25 lb (1.5 kg).^[14] The spherical case shot weighed 32.7 lb (14.8 kg). The canister shot weighed 28.5 lb (12.9 kg) and contained 48 iron balls from 1.46 to 1.49 in (37 to 38 mm) in diameter.^[15]

The Union Army standardized a strength of 6 guns per battery. Each gun was pulled by alimber containing an ammunition chest. Twocaissons each with three additional ammunition chests were assigned to every gun. A battery wagon and a traveling forge were attached to each battery. Therefore, a typical six-gun battery had 20 six-horse teams to pull 6 gun limbers, 12 caissons, 1 wagon, and 1 forge, plus 10 extra horses.^[16] However, the heavy 32-pounder howitzers required 8-horse teams for each gun rather than the usual 6-horse teams.^[7] Each gun was served by asergeant, twocorporals, and sixprivates. Six privates drove the limber and caissons. Two guns formed a section, commanded by alieutenant and the battery was led by acaptain. When a battery's guns were unlimbered, they were placed at regulation 14 yd (12.8 m) intervals, with limbers and caissons to the rear. A six-gun battery occupied a width of 82 yd (75 m) and a depth of 47 yd (43 m).^[17]

The 32-pounder howitzer, Ames Company registry number 12, served with the5th U.S. Artillery, Battery H at theBattle of Shiloh on 7 April 1862, theBattle of Stones River on 31 December 1862, and theBattle of Chickamauga on 19–20 September 1863. It is rare to know the service record of an individual artillery piece.^[7] During theBattle of Malvern Hill on 1 July 1862,Brigadier GeneralFitz John Porter reported thatCaptain Charles Kusserow's battery of 32-pounder howitzers was engaged. Porter believed that Confederate reports of being fired on by the Union gunboats were mistaken, and that the explosions were really rounds from Kusserow's howitzers and some4.5-inch siege rifles.^[18] One of Kusserow's gunners wrote to a friend that he was sickened to see their shells "cut roads through them some places ten feet wide ... they would close up and come ahead".^[19] Kusserow'sBattery A, 1st Battalion, New York Light Artillery was present at theBattle of Antietam on 17 September 1862, during which it was armed with six 32-pounder howitzers.^[20] The battery was rearmed with3-inch Ordnance rifles soon after the battle.^[10]

Union Brigadier GeneralHenry Larcom Abbot wrote, "For defending positions against assault ... no artillery can be more efficient than the 32-pdr. or 24-pdr. field howitzer. The former ... throws very large case shot and canister and from its light weight may be kept out of sight and danger until the assault is delivered when it can suddenly be run into battery and served with murderous effect." Abbot then described an attack by the22nd South Carolina Infantry Regiment on the Dutton redoubt located nearBermuda Hundred.^[21] The position was defended by Company L,1st Connecticut Heavy Artillery Regiment with one 24-pounder howitzer and two 32-pounder howitzers. On 2 June 1864, the Confederate attack on the redoubt was repulsed. The Union soldiers counted 17 Confederates killed, includingColonel Olin M. Dantzler. Alieutenant and 22 enlisted men surrendered rather than try to retreat under fire from the redoubt.^[22]

• Coggins, Jack (2004).Arms and Equipment of the Civil War. New York, N.Y.: Fairfax Press.ISBN 0-517-402351.
• Hazlett, James C.; Olmstead, Edwin; Parks, M. Hume (2004).Field Artillery Weapons of the American Civil War. Urbana, Ill.: University of Illinois Press.ISBN 0-252-07210-3.
• Johnson, Curt; Anderson, Richard C. Jr. (1995).Artillery Hell: The Employment of Artillery at Antietam. College Station, Tex.: Texas A&M University Press.ISBN 0-89096-623-0.
• Porter, Fitz John (1956) [1883]. "The Battle of Malvern Hill".North to Antietam: Battles and Leaders of the Civil War (Vol. 2). New York, N.Y.: Castle Books.OCLC 23275808.
• Ripley, Warren (1970).Artillery and Ammunition of the Civil War. New York, N.Y.: Promontory Press.ISBN 0-88394-003-5.
• Sears, Stephen W. (2001).To the Gates of Richmond: The Peninsular Campaign. New York, N.Y.: Mariner Books.ISBN 0-618-12713-5.

• American Civil War artillery

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