Glossary
- Battery
- Common term for the division of an artillery regiment. The official term was company, but the terminology was officially changed in 1866.
- Bolt
- A solid, bullet shaped projectile used by rifled artillery.
- Brass
- An alloy of copper and zinc, not suitable for artillery. Many bronze guns of the Civil War were mistakenly called brass.
- Battalion
- A Confederate artillery organization consisting of three to five batteries.
- Breech
- The "closed" end of a cannon. See also: Muzzle.
- Breechloader
- A gun loaded from the rear by opening the breech and placing the projectile and charge directly in the firing chamber. Few Civil War cannons were of this type. See also: Muzzleloader.
- Bronze
- An alloy of copper and tin commonly used in 19th century artillery. Often mistakenly called brass.
- Caliber
- The diameter of the bore of a gun. Expressed both in inches (7 inch), or weight of its shot (42 pounder). A rifled gun's caliber is the diameter of a cylinder that would touch all lands.
- Caisson
- A four wheeled cart carrying two ammunition chests and a spare wheel. The caisson could be attached to the limber for transport.
- Canister
- A form of case shot where the projectiles are placed in a thin walled, cylindrical container that disintegrates upon firing. This creates a giant shotgun effect.
- Cannon
- A generic term including guns, howitzers, mortars, and columbiads.
- Cascabel
- The "knob" at the rear of the cannon barrel.
- Case shot
- A general type of ammunition. By the Civil War, case shot consisted if both canister and spherical case, with the term often being substituted for the latter.
- Company
- Official term for the division of an artillery regiment. More often, the word Battery was used instead, and the term was changed following the Civil War.
- Deflection
- The horizontal (left-right) portion of aiming. See also:elevation.
- Dolphins
- See: Handles.
- Elevating screw
- A large, turning screw on which the breech of the cannon rests. Turning the screw changes the cannon's elevation.
- Elevation
- The vertical component in aiming a cannon, used for ranging purposes. Expressed in degrees above horizontal. See also:deflection.
- Field artillery
- A gun or howitzer of small caliber designed to keep pace with an army on the move. Also called light artillery.
- Friction powder
- A fine powder capable of producing a spark when a rough metal wire is drawn across it. Used in friction primers.
- Friction primer
- A device for igniting the gunpowder charge in a cannon. It was the primary method used in the Civil War.
- Groove
- The spiral cut placed into a smoothbore gun, designed to produce a spin on the projectile. See also: Land, Rifle.
- Gun
- A cannon designed to throw a projectile a long distance with a flat trajectory.
- Handles
- Flattened half-rings case on some bronze weapons. Placed over the center of gravity to facilitie lifiting. On early, heavily decorated weapons, the handles were often cast to resemble dolphins, and were known by this name.
- Handspike
- A wodden bar that attaches to the rear of the trail and allows easier manuvering of the cannon.
- Haversack
- A large leather bag used to carry rations. Used by artillerymen to carry rounds to the guns, in order to protect the gunpowder from errant sparks.
- Howitzer
- A cannon designed to throw a projectile a medium distance at a moderately high trajectory.
- Land
- The portion of the original smoothbore remaining after the grooves are cut in order to produce a rifle.
- Lanyard
- A rope with a hande at one end, and a hook that attaches to the friction primer on the other. Used in firing a cannon.
- Light artillery
- The common name for field artillery.
- Limber
- 1) A two wheeled cart with a single ammunition chest on top. Usually either a cannon or a caisson was attached to the rear of the limber for transport.
- 2) The act of attaching a cannon to a limber for transport. See also: Unlimber.
- Mortar
- A very short barrelled weapon designed to throw a projectile a short distance at a high trajectory.
- Muzzle
- The "opening" of a cannon. See also: Breech.
- Rifle
- In artillery, a cannon that has grooves cut spirally into the bore in order to put a spin on a projectile, increasing accuracy over longer distances. See also: Land, Sabot.
- Muzzleloader
- A gun that is loaded from the front by first placing the charge, then the projectile, in the muzzle of the piece and ramming them each back to the firing chamber. Almost all Civil War cannon were of the variety. See also: Breechloader.
- Pointing
- the aiming of a cannon.
- Sabot
- 1. A wooden disk attached between the projectile and charge bag in fixed ammunition for smoothbores.
- 2. In rifled muzzleloaders, a deformable attachment at the rear of a projectile. Upon firing, the sabot would expand and contact the grooves, causing the projectile to spin. See also: Rifle.
- Section
- A division of an artillery company, usually two guns, normally under the command of a Lieutenant.
- Shell
- A hollow projectile for cannon with an explosive charge, set to explode in flight, on impact, or after penetration of an object.
- Shot
- A sphere cannonball, normally solid. The weight of a shot made of cast iron was the traditional designation for the size of cannon that fired it. Sometimes called solid shot.
- Smoothbore
- A cannon without rifling. Smoothbores were less accurate at long ranges, but canister was better dispersed from a smoothbore gun.
- Spherical Case
- A hollow, spherical projectile containing bullets and a bursting charge. The shot was intended to burs in mid-flight, releasing the smaller bullets to fly towards the target in an increasing cone shape. Often mistakenly called case shot.
- Thumbstall
- A small, leather covering for the thumb of a artilleryman. Used to prevent burning the flesh when closing the vent during loading.
- Unlimber
- The act of unattaching a cannon from it's limber prepatory to firing.
- Vent
- A small tube from the top of the gun to the firing chamber. Used in firing the gun.
- Windage
- The difference between the diameter of the bore and that of the projectile.
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