American Civil War Artillery 186165 (1): Field Artillery (Osprey New Vanguard #38)

Perhaps the most influential arm of either army in the prosecution of the American Civil War, the artillery of both sides grew to be highly professional organizations, centralizing their artillery, organizing artillery battalions from individual batteries and giving their commanders higher ranks than field artillerymen had previously held. In battle, the introduction of the 12-pdr. Napoleon , followed closely by rifled cannon, provided a range and power previously unknown on American soil. This book details this vital cog in the war-machine of both sides. Because of the length of the coastline of the United States, from the beginning American ordnance and engineers placed an emphasis on heavy artillery mounted in coastal defences. The Union army organised its 'Heavy Artillery' into separate regiments, uniformed and equipped differently. While the Field Artillery was assigned across the fighting fronts Heavy Artillery units served the big guns in the forts and the defences of Washington. The Confederates did not differentiate types of artillery and those that became known as Heavy Artillery did so through informal association rather than formal designation. This book details the development and usage of the big guns Field artillery played a massive part in the prosecution of the American Civil War on both sides. This book details the war artillery looking at a range and power of weaponry which provided huge advantages in arsenal to battles throughout the States. In the 1860s, at the start of the American Civil War, American artillery experts were in the midst of a major change of direction.