Museum of the Confederacy Ctd.

Designed and named for the French Emperor Napoleon III, the Napoleon was the workhorse gun of the Civil War artillery. Cast of bronze, the smoothbore Napoleon was capable of firing a 12-pound solid ball, shell, case shot, or canister. The Confederate Army deployed this versatile gun in large numbers.

Designed by Robert Parrott of the West Point Foundry (NY), the Parrott Rifle was deployed by both the Union Army and the Confederates. Parrott rifles were produced in 10- and 20-pounder models for use on the battlefield and as large as 200-pounders for use in fortifications. Parrotts are easily identified by the reinforcing band around the breech of the gun.

One of the most advanced infantry weapons of its day, the Spencer fired a self-contained, metallic, rimfire cartridge that fit inside a seven-shot magazine in the butt. When the trigger guard was lowered, the spent cartridge was expended. As the guard was raised, a new cartridge would be drawn into the breech. A popular weapon with Union troops, however the Confederates employed them in great numbers, collecting them from the bodies of dead union soldiers, the US Government purchased over 95,000 during the war.