3" Ordnance Rifle

The 3-inch Ordnance Rifle was developed by John Griffen, who aquired a patent for it in 1855. Most of these weapons were made by the Phownix Iron Company of Phoenixville, Pennsylvannia. The president of Phoenix, Samuel J. Reeves, madr improvements to the wrought iron forging and welding process and was issued his own patent in 1862. It was also a major step forward in material, being made entirely of wrought iron. Strips of wrought iron were hammer-welded in criss-crossing spiral layers around a mandrel; this was then bored out and the finished product lathe turned into shape. Though time consuming and expensive to produce, the result was a singularly sturdy, accurate weapon, which was superior to the 10-pounder Parrott. The Ordnance Rifle is distinctive with its sleek lines and lack of external decoration. Tests with four experimental wrought iron cannons in early 1861 led to their acceptance by the Federal Ordnance Department. Over 1,000 were purchased by the North, many captured guns and their projectiles were used by the South. At Gettysburg, 146 (41 per-cent) of Meade's guns were 3-inch Ordnance Rifles. The 3-inch Ordnance Rifle usually fired Hotchkiss of Schenkl patented shells or case shot. It could shoot 10-pounder Parrott ammunition if necessary, and like the Parrott it was less effective with canister than a smoothbore.

10 Pound Parrot Rifle

The Parrott rifles were patented in 1861, by Robert P. Parrott and cast by him as superintendant of the West Point Foundry, Cold Spring, New York. They werew not the best rifles put into service but they were available, inexpensive, and accurate. The Confederacy even went so far as to produce their own copies. The Parrotts are easily identified by the wrought iron reinforcing band around the breech. Although there were several other types of cannon with similar reinforces (Wiards, Brookes, and British imports like the various models of Blakelys) the Parrott was by far the most common. Parrott's band was made by winding a bar or iron around a form or mandrel and the hammering it until it welded solid. What Parrott claimed as new was his method of attaching the band. While hot, it was forced onto ther breech of the tube that was being water-cooled on the inside. The band greatly increased the strength of the breech, but many Parrott rifles burst in front of the band.

Mountain Howitzer

Howitzers are shorter-barreled cannon with a chamber at the base of the bore, designed to take a smaller charge. Their range is shorter and the trajectory of the projectile shows more arc.