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Civil War cannons came in many different shapes and sizes. The most common Civil War Artillery pieces were the field guns such as the napoleon, whitworth and ordnance rifles.
These guns were fired directly at the enemy, while mortars and howitzers were lobbed over the enemy and would drop on top of them.
Union Soldier in front of a Civil War Cannon
Civil War Cannons: Howitzers
Howitzers used during the Civil War were short barreled cannons usually made of bronze. They looked like standard artillery pieces just with a short barrel. They fired projectiles at a high trajectory lobbing shells over the heads of the enemy. Civil War howitzers were used primarily against fortifications or lobbed into masses of entrenched enemy troops.
