I like the Mountain Howitzer.
It is an excellent gun for reenacting and shooting. It is less expensive and easier to transport than a field gun and it is great fun to move around the field during a reenactment. It allows you to experience and portray aspects of artillery that static artillery does not. Practically the only problem with the Mountain Howitzer is the prejudice of event organizers and some misinformed reenactors.
I bought my first Mountain Howitzer a couple of years ago. A lot of research went into my decision to get a Mountain Howitzer on a 1st Model Prairie Carriage. The gun is really beautiful.
The 1st Model Prairie Carriage has the separate cheeks and looks generally like a scaled-down field carriage. It has a folding handspike, which is a very handy feature. A few months afterward I added a 1st Model Prairie Limber, which adds to the overall package.
The Mountain Howitzer is a great design and should be built to the same standards of authenticity and detail that go into the field guns.
I was advised before building a gun that the Mountain Howitzers were not welcome at some of the larger events. I was told to build a field gun, but the advantages of easy transport, light weight, great mobility on the field and the aesthetics of the howitzer on the Prairie Carriage won out.
I have been very pleased with my decision and all of the local events have made me feel quite welcome with my Mountain Howitzer (and Confederate Mountain Rifle which was added a short time later). Most national events are far less welcoming to the little guns. I have heard a lot of comments from self-appointed experts to justify their prejudice against the Bull pups.
We shall examine these comments as well as the hard facts and figures.
“There weren’t that many Mountain Howitzers used during the war”
Figures do not lie. The following statistics from The Big Guns, Civil War Siege, Seacoast and Naval Cannon by Olmstead, Stark and Tucker show total buys and wartime purchases for 10 of the artillery pieces used by the U.S. Army during the war:
Light 12-Pdr. gun, 1857, Napoleon: 1130, 1121
3-Inch Ordnance Rifle: 956, 956
6-Pdr. Gun Model 1841: 806, 134
12-Pdr. Mountain Howitzer Model 1835: 438 total purchase, 262 wartime purchase
20-Pdr. Parrot Rifle: 334, 334
3-Inch Parrot Rifle: 279, 279
2.9-Inch Parrot: 276, 276
12-Pdr. Field Howitzer: 237, 81
3.8-Inch Rifles, James: 138, 138
24-Pdr. Field Howitzer: 69, 40
As you can see the number of Mountain Howitzers produced was not insubstantial. The Mountain Howitzer was also produced after the war. To my knowledge, it is the only cannon on this list that was. The wartime production figures are in some ways even more telling. The howitzers were bought in very high numbers relative to the 6-Pdr. gun and 12-Pdr. howitzer, which were the workhorses of pre-war field batteries.
During the war, the U.S. bought these guns through March 1863. The last substantial contracts for 6-Pdr. guns were filled in early 1862. If the Mountain Howitzers were not used, why were resources diverted to produce them so late in the war? They were produced because they were effective.
“Those little ‘guns’ weren’t that effective”
To judge the validity of this statement you have to ask what role are you referring to. Mountain Howitzers were not meant to be used in a counter-battery role to slug it out with field guns, although there were instances where Mountain Howitzers held their own against field artillery.
Howitzers in general and Mountain Howitzers in particular were at an extreme disadvantage in the counter-battery role with field guns, especially rifled ones. What they excelled at was in the antipersonnel role. They have a relatively short range but within this range they are quite effective. Shell can be effectively fired to 1000 yards, but could go up to 1200 yards after bounding three or four times. Case Shot was effective to 800 yards.
But the most effective round for the Mountain Howitzer was canister. The canister round consists of 148 .69 round musket balls. According to Gibbon, Mountain Howitzer canister was effective to 300 yards.
From experience, the group from canister is about 30 yards across at a range of 250 yards. This would be devastating to any infantry or cavalry unit. This would be especially true of a battery of these guns firing at close range against an exposed foe.
“Mountain Howitzers were not used at THIS Battle”
Well, they may have been. Many Mountain Howitzers were attached as supplements to infantry units and would not have been reported in the order of battle. It is a very frustrating truth that we are not sure exactly what kind of guns many batteries used at all.
“Howitzer” could have been Mountain, 12-Pdr. Field, 24-Pdr. Field or even the 32-Pdr. variety. Unless records indicate, it is hard to tell. How many events would turn away a 3-Inch Parrot rifle from an early war reenactment, or a 6-Pdr. gun from a late war event? Or a 24-Pdr. Field Howitzer or Whitworth at all? This same line of thought somehow justifies some in excluding Mountain Howitzers.
Mountain Howitzers in the East Tennessee Campaign
I am involved in reenacting in the Tennessee Valley, so that is the center of my research. I have found many references to these guns used in this area; in fact, in many locations it was the primary artillery piece used. It was very common for U.S. Army Mounted Infantry units in this area in 1863-64 to have Mountain Howitzers attached to them for extra firepower.
I have also noted that there were several “mega batteries” used in this area. The 18th Indiana was one such unit. The 18th Indiana Battery’s armament consisted of six Ordnance Rifles and four Mountain Howitzers according to Hazlett, Olmstead and Parks’ Field Artillery Weapons of the Civil War.
This seems like an odd mix at first glance, but it makes perfect sense. The Mountain Howitzer excelled in the close range anti-personnel role with shell, case and especially canister. The Mountain Howitzer was more effective with canister than the Ordnance Rifle because the rifling tended to spread the canister shot out too much to be effective. The howitzer’s rate of fire was also faster for those up close and personal moments.
While the Ordnance Rifle was spectacular at long range, accurate fire for counter-battery work etc., the howitzers could keep enemy infantry and cavalry at bay and allow the Ordnance Rifles to work at what they were best suited. This arrangement played to the strength of each while neutralizing their weaknesses as well.
For versatility the howitzers were sometimes detached to support infantry or cavalry units to exploit changing situations on the battlefield.
The versatility of the howitzer ensured its use in the war
Mountain Howitzers were used in mountain batteries with the Pack Carriage for use where no other artillery could go. They were used in batteries and sections as field artillery on the Prairie Carriage. They were used for elemental close support of infantry, cavalry or mounted infantry units.
They were used to supplement field batteries for close range support, or even in siege works or shore batteries to defend against landing parties. They would be loaded with canister and rushed out at the opportune moment to stop an infantry assault.
There is a very famous picture of a lowly Mountain Howitzer defending Fort Sumter during its Confederate occupation. I have read that during the siege of Knoxville, Tenn., Mountain Howitzers were used like mortars by digging the trails into the ground. These Mountain Howitzers were not sitting in an arsenal, they were in the field being used.
Use At Reenactments
The Mountain Howitzer has many of the same advantages for today’s reenactor as it held for the artillerist during the Civil War. The gun is light and easily moved. It is also easy to transport. I have started taking my howitzer and limber on a 5x10-foot trailer pulled by my car! My car is front wheel drive and gets better traction than a 2 WD pickup truck.
The best use of the howitzer is up front, with the infantry. There are several factors that must be taken into consideration when using howitzer like this. Safety is much more of a concern since you are firing close to the infantry, friend and foe alike. You must have a very diligent gunner/chief of the piece to very closely watch the proximity of everyone that might move into your danger zone.
You must have a well-drilled crew. For static field artillery you might get over-run once as part of a battle scenario, but the howitzers are in the exciting and distracting close range area where your opposition is within 100 yards much of the time. Skipping safety steps during the close ebb and flow of battle, or getting in a hurry to fire one more round before you withdraw or get over-run, is a big concern. There is more of a burden of professionalism and safety concern when operating close in.
You also must have a physically fit crew as well. A crew of five is minimum, seven or eight is better if you are really going to move long distances quickly. These guns are light, but gun and limber still constitute a weight of almost 900 pounds.
Many battle scenarios consist of a lot of movement of the front lines; advance and retreat and you quickly gain a great deal of respect when you read of the howitzer crews firing 50-150 rounds during a battle that lasts most of the day. They no doubt moved farther and faster than we do.
We get a real workout if we fire 25 rounds and fight for an hour, and they still had the march to the battle and possibly “the run for your life” episode afterward.
I believe any reenactment is enriched by including howitzers, not excluding them. Mountain Howitzers played a very vital role in the war; they were employed in large numbers and played a very decisive role in many battles. The infantry are always glad to see us roll up when they are pressed and the crowds love to see us move around the field. If we could just get the large event organizers to be happy to see us when we drive up.
(In addition to the two books cited, information came from Josiah Gorgas’ Confederate Ordnance Manual of 1863 and John Gibbon’s The Artillerist’s Manual. The author also recommends the on-line book at www.currensnet.com/cwcongers/mountain_hwtzers)
(About the Author: Steve Cameron is a reenactor with the 1st East Tennessee Battery. He served in the U.S. Army Ordnance, attaining the rank of Captain. He has been interested in ordnance for as long as he can remember, and interest in civil war artillery came about 10 years ago. He has been reenacting and firing cannons for three years. He can be reached at akm556@aol.com)