12-pounder field gun - Napoleon - Federal Manufacture

This smoothbore weapon was developed in France in the 1850's and was named after Emperor Napoleon III. It was designed to fire shot, shell, case shot and canister.
The Napoleon has been termed the "workhorse of Civil War Artillery, for its manouverability and overall effectiveness both at long range duelling and in close against onrushing infantry, it had no peer.
Confederate General Robert E. Lee was impressed with its worth. On December 5, 1862, he wrote to the Secretary of War:
". . . The best guns for field service, in my opinion, are the 12-pounder Napoleons, the 10-pounder Parrotts, and the approved 3-inch rifles. . . . The contest between our 6-pounder smoothbores and the 12-pounder Napoleons of the enemy is very unequal, and in addition, is discouraging to our artillerists. . . "
In July 1863, an interesting statistic reveals that Napoleons comprised 39 per-cent of the artillery armament of both the Union Army of the Potomac and the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia.
U.S. - 142 out of 360
C.S - 117 out of 272
Napoleons were produced by both North and South. In general terms they are distinguished by the Federal Napoleon having a muzzle swell, and the Confederate version merely a straight tube.

12-pounder field gun - Napoleon - Confederate Manufacture

RE-ENACTMENT NOTE
All four guns used by the Federal Artillery, A.C.W.S., are of this type.