Model 1841 12-pounder howitzer

A bronze smoothbore, the howitzer was designed to fire at higher trajectories to hit targets obscured to guns. It was part of the 1841 US artillery series which also included the 6-lb gun. By the time of the Civil War, these weapons were considered obsolete, and most were replaced with the more effective Napoleons when available. Some iron tubed versions of this piece were in service during the War, but were only common in Confederate units.

There were 3 12-pdr. howitzers in Federal Service at Antietam and 56 pieces in Confederate batteries.

Find units equipped with these.

spherical case, common shell, cannister

4.62 inches

1072 yards

53 inches

1688 pounds

Weight figure is for standard gun carriage (900 lb) + tube (788 lb).
Max range is for 1 lb black powder charge behind a 8.9 lb. shell.

See more about this and other Civil War artillery at the comprehensive Civil War Artillery Page, by Chuck Ten Brink or the very nice Basic Facts page from Jack W. Melton, Jr. The NPS has a fine general introduction to Civil War artillery in a 3-page presentation.

Johnson, Curt & Anderson, Richard C., Artillery Hell: Employment of Artillery at Antietam, College Station, TX: Texas A&M University Press, 1995.