THE CIVIL WAR
ARTILLERY PAGE

Civil War Guns

Where are they now?

The artillery at our national parks are the silent sentinels of the battlefield. Unfortunately, most of the records for assignment and use of these weapons are lost or unavailable. We are fortunate that even a few scraps of information have been unearthed by dedicated researchers. The following descriptions have been provided by Arthur W. Bergeron, Jr., historian of the Pamplin Park Civil War Site.
These four guns belonged to the 10th Massachusetts Battery. All four were captured by the Confederates in the Battle of Reams's Station on August 25, 1864. Supposedly two were turned over to Col. David McIntosh's battalion and one to Maj. Gen. Wade Hampton's cavalry corps, but this is unconfirmed. The guns and their marks:
3-inch ordnance rifle, No. 533, C. C. C., P. I. Co., 1862, 816
3-inch ordnance rifle, No. 542, C. C. C., P. I. Co., 1862, 816
3-inch ordnance rifle, No. 543, C. C. C., P. I. Co., 1862, 816
3-inch ordnance rifle, No. 541, C. C. C., P. I. Co., 1862, 816

The muzzle marks show the serial number, the inspector, the manufacturer (the Phoenix Iron Company) and the weight in pounds.

The following guns were issued to the 5th Company, Washington Artillery, at Mobile on April 10, 1865, just prior to the evacuation of the city. The battery surrendered them a month later.
3-inch rifle - Skates & Co., Mobile; 1862
12-pounder Napoleon - Macon Arsenal; 1863; No. 34, 1170 lbs.
12-pounder Napoleon - Columbus Arsenal; 1864; No. 39; 1221 lbs.
12-pounder Napoleon - Columbus Arsenal; 1864; No. 31; 1220 lbs.
According to Wayne Stark, the latter still exists and is located in Middletown, Conn.

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