THE CIVIL WAR ARTILLERY PAGE

Dictionary of Artillery Terms

To the extent possible, the definitions in this dictionary are intended for the reader new to artillery, and nuances for the expert may be obscured in the process. Consult the glossaries in Olmstead, Stark and Tucker, The Big Guns: Civil War Siege, Seacoast and Naval Cannon, and Ripley, Artillery and Ammunition of the Civil War, for more detailed explanations. For a wonderfully detailed online glossary, consult Jack Melton's Civil War Artillery - The Projectiles.

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Base line

A line behind the vent, distinguishing the cascabel, to its rear, from the remainder of the breech. Traditionally marked by a base ring, as on the six-pounder gun or 12-pounder field howitzer, the base line is for later models an imaginary line at about the point of sharpest curvature.

Battery

The basic unit of organization in the artillery, typically consisting of four or six guns and the accompanying personnel and materiel. For more information, see Organization and Drill.

Bolt

Solid shot for rifled cannon, typically a cylinder with a pointed nose. For illustrations and more explanation, see the Ammunition page.

Bore

The cylindrical hole, opening at the muzzle, into which the charge and projectile are inserted.

Breech

The portion of the cannon to the rear of the base of the bore, including the cascabel.

Caisson

A two-wheeled cart, bearing two ammunition chests, drawn by a limber and its team.

Canister

Anti-personnel ammunition, consisting of a tinned-iron can full of iron or lead balls packed in sawdust. For more explanation, see the Ammunition page.

Carriage

The structure that holds a piece of ordnance in place and allows it to be aimed. For field ordnance, typically a two-wheeled device drawn by a limber; carriages for fortifications and naval use were more complex. See the Equipment page for illustrations and a more detailed description.

Cascabel

Also cascable; the portion of the breech to the rear of the base line, including the cascabel knob and neck. The term is often loosely (and erroneously) used to refer to the knob alone.

Case Shot

Also called shrapnel or shrapnel shell; a shell whose cavity has been partly filled with small lead or iron balls. For illustrations and more explanation, see the Ammunition page.

Chamber

A narrower portion of the bore, at its base. Most typically found in howitzers, it allows a projectile to be fired using less powder than a gun of the same caliber.

Chase

The tapering portion of the barrel forward of the reinforce; traditionally terminates at the chase ring, a decorative molding found chiefly on the six-pounder during the Civil War period.

Elevating screw

A heavy screw in the upper face of a carriage, under the breech, used in aiming to adjust the range by raising and lowering the piece.

Grape shot

Similar in concept to canister, but with fewer and larger balls, held together with iron rings or trussed up with fabric and twine. See the Ammunition page for more explanation.

Gun

A relatively long-barreled cannon designed to fire projectiles with a nearly flat trajectory. For a discussion of the distinguishing characteristics of field guns, siege guns, smoothbores and rifles, see the Weapons page. For more examples, see the Encyclopedia.

Handspike

A heavy wooden bar, variously shaped for different pieces of ordnance, used as a crowbar or lever, whether for aiming or otherwise manhandling the piece; see pointing rings.

Howitzer

A relatively shorter-barreled cannon with a chamber at the base of the bore, designed to take a smaller charge. Its range is shorter than that of a gun, and the trajectory of the projectile shows more arc.

Lanyard

A length of cord secured to a wooden handle, with a hook at the free end, used to pull the primer and fire the piece.

Limber

A two-wheeled cart, bearing an ammunition chest, used for drawing a gun carriage, caisson, wagon, or forge; see Equipment for illustrations and further explanation.

Lunette

A ring at the end of the trail of a field piece, which fits over the pintle and is keyed into place to hold the limber and carriage together during transportation.

Muzzle, muzzle swell

The muzzle is the front face of the cannon; the muzzle swell, where present, is the flaring portion of the barrel just behind the muzzle.

Pintle

The knob (basically a trailer hitch) at the rear of the limber, by which the carriage or other piece to be towed is attached.

Pointing rings

A pair of iron rings on the upper face of the trail, just ahead of the lunette, into which a handspike is inserted to turn the piece to left and right in aiming.

Preponderance

The weight needed to balance a piece when suspended freely from its trunnions. Preponderance is typically at the breech, to seat the gun against the elevating screw.

Primer

Or friction primer; a small brass tube filled with powder, inserted in the vent and used to ignite the main charge. For a detailed description, see the Ammunition page.

Priming wire

Also called the vent pick, a length of heavy copper or brass wire, looped for a handle at one end, pointed on the other, used for punching the powder bag by inserting it through the vent.

Prolonge

A heavy rope, 26'7" long, with an iron ring at one end and a toggle at the other, used for towing. When not in use, it was wound around two prolonge hooks on the top of the trail. See Equipment.

Reinforce

The thicker portion of the barrel of a gun, forward of the breech, and leading to the chase. There may be first and second reinforce, the first being that starting at the breech. Earlier models often had a molding, or at least a sharp discontinuity, between the reinforce and chase, as with the M1841 six-pounder gun, but this was usually smoother, almost invisible, in the more common guns of the Civil War period.

Rifling, lands and grooves

Spiral grooves cut into the bore of a cannon, for the purpose if imparting spin to the projectile. The portions of the bore surface not cut away are referred to as the lands.

Rimbase

The shoulders of the trunnions, which center the cannon and strengthen the joint between the trunnions and the body of the piece.

Sabot

For smoothbores, the (typically wooden) short cylinder to which the shot or shell is strapped, for attaching the powder bag and keeping the fuse pointed toward the muzzle. For rifles, the mechanism (typically a cup or ring) which engages the rifling. For illustrations and more explanation, see the Ammunition page.

Shell

A hollow projectile, filled with powder and equipped with a fuse, intended to explode at some distance from the piece. For illustrations and more explanation, see the Ammunition page.

Shot

A solid non-explosive projectile. For illustrations, see the Ammunition page.

Sponge, sponge-rammer, rammer

The sponge is a staff with a wool-covered cylinder at one end, which can be moistened and is used to clean the bore and extinguish sparks. A similar staff with a wooden cylinder used for seating the charge is called a rammer. These functions were often placed at either end of a single staff - the sponge-rammer

Thumbstall

A padded deerskin cover for the left thumb of the cannoneer covering the vent; see the section on Drill.

Trail

Also stock; the rear portion of a field carriage, which rests on the ground when firing.

Trunnions

The metal cylinders on either side of a piece, typically just ahead of the center of gravity (see preponderance) by which the piece is seated on its carriage.

Vent

The small hole leading from the top of the barrel to the base of the bore, by which a spark is communicated to the charge.

Windage

The difference between the principal diameter of the bore and the largest diameter of the projectile.

Worm

A double spiral hook, mounted on a staff, used to remove debris from the bore.

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