The Model 1857 “Napoleon” 12-pounder was the quintessential Civil War field gun, prized for its versatility and reliability. Cast in bronze, it fired solid shot, explosive shell, grape, and canister with deadly effect out to roughly 1,700 yards, and was especially feared at close range when its canister load turned it into a giant shotgun. Introduced to U.S. arsenals just before the war, the Napoleon quickly became the Union’s standard smoothbore, noted in ordnance manuals as the “light 12-pounder” to set it apart from the longer, seldom-used heavy 12-pounder. Its graceful, flared muzzle—known as the muzzle-swell—became the hallmark of the Federal pieces, though that extra bronze also added weight, making it tough to haul over rough ground. The Confederacy first seized and produced bronze Napoleons—some straight-muzzled, some with the swell—and by early 1863 had melted down its aging 6-pounders to cast more 12-pounders at Tredegar Iron Works. But dwindling copper supplies after November 1863 forced them to switch to iron-cast barrels by January 1864, yielding a handful of iron Napoleons alongside the remaining bronzes. Soldiers on both sides swore by the Napoleon’s all-around utility. One Confederate gunner recalled that his brass Napoleons “were accurate at a mile” and “we would not have exchanged them for Parrott Rifles,” testifying to their reliability, ease of service, and the confidence they inspired among their crews. By war’s end, over 2,500 Napoleons had been produced for Federal service and several hundred for the Confederacy, making it the single most ubiquitous and influential artillery piece of the conflict, its bronze tubes still coveted on battlefields and preserved today in museums across America.

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Civil War Cannon