Due of the length of the coastline of the United States, American ordnance and engineers placed an emphasis on heavy artillery mounted in coastal defences from the very beginning. At the start of the war these standardised weapons came in 18, 24, 32 and 42pdr calibres, along with an 8in. and 10in. siege howitzer and mortars ranging from 8in to 24in. In addition army records specify an 8in. and 10in. 'Columbiad' - a large calibre, short shell gun invented by a pre-war chief of ordnance. 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. Despite this Confederate heavy artillerymen saw more active service with their large guns than did most Federal units, since much of the war consisted of assaults on heavily defended Confederate posts and forts such as Fort Wagner, Charleston and Petersburg. This book details the development and usage of the big guns. Text by Philip Katcher with illustrations by Tony Bryan.

Contents

• Introduction
• Heavy Artillery Usage
• US Organisation
• CS Organisation
• The Columbiad
• Howitzers
• Mortars
• Rifled Guns
• Parrott Rifles
• Naval Guns
• British-Made Guns
• Ammunition
• Heavy Artillery Usage
• Conclusion

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