Civil War Cannon

HISTORY OF THE SENECA GUN

by

Michael Philbrick

Cannon S. C. L. No. 817 was cast by the Phoenix Iron Company of Phoenixville, Pennsylvania. This firm began manufacturing wrought iron cannon in 1855. During the Civil War the company produced the 3-inch ordnance rifle. Seneca’s 3-inch ordnance rifle was produced on January 14, 1864, for the Allegheny Arsenal at Pittsburg. The cannon inspector was Stephen Carr Lyford. The cannon was soon afterward sent to the First Vermont Artillery at New Orleans, Louisiana. Later the cannon was transferred to the First Illinois Light Artillery. It was captured by the Confederates at the bridge of Bayou de Glaise, Louisiana, during the Red River Campaign. This artillery piece was recaptured during engagement at Cold Harbor, Virginia, in early June of 1864 by the Sixth Michigan Cavalry. The 6th Michigan Cavalry was a part of the Michigan Cavalry Brigade commanded by Brevet Brigadier General George Armstrong Custer. Although made near the end of the Civil War, the cannon was used in thirty-two general engagements besides skirmishes. Later the gun saw service during the Indian War in Montana. Being badly torn by shot and shell, it was remounted in 1885 on a 12-inch Howitzer and triunion axle.

The six-pounder had remained in (Butte), Montana, as a possession of the Montana state militia. General Crozier, Chief of Ordnance of the United States Army, had ordered the old gun returned to the government arsensal at Rock Island, Illinois. The gun had been assigned to the Valley Forge Commission. Before the old cannon was shipped to Valley Forge Park, Congressman D. R. Anthony, in cooperation with General Crozier (a Kansas boy), Seneca’s G. A. R. Commander E. R. Murphy, and Seneca lawyer Ira K. Wells worked out a successful plan to alter the shipping destination of the cannon. The plan required Seneca’s post to guarentee payment of the freight bill to ship both the cannon from the Illinois arsenal and cannon balls from the Frankfort arsenal at Philadelphia to Seneca. The people raised $170, which easily paid the freight bill amounting to over $36. It appears that General Crozier changed the final destination of the cannon because the G. A. R. Post of Seneca had previously applied for an obsolete cannon. Ira K. Wells had handled the correspondence for the Seneca post’s cannon request with Congressman Anthony. The cannon was requested so it could be used as a soldiers’ monument for the G. A. R. lot in the Seneca Cemetery. Congressman Anthony made a personal call to the war department in Washington, D.C. in regard to Seneca’s application and request. On Sunday, May 28, 1911, the ordnance rifle and balls were formally presented by Congressman Anthony to Seneca’s George Graham Post 92. Commander Murphy accepted and dedicated the cannon S. C. L. No. 817 to the memory of the dead and in the words of the editor of The Seneca Tribune for “Union, one and inseparable, now and forever.”

The “Ordnance Rifle” or “Ordnance Gun” was admired by both the Union and Confederate artillery. This 3-inch wrought iron field rifle was also known as the “Griffen Gun”. John Griffen was an ingenious young man. He had considerable experience in Pennsylvania iron foundries. In 1854 he turned his talents to the invention of a wrought iron field gun. He developed a process whereby strips of wrought iron about 3/4-inch thick and 4 1/2 -inches wide were wrapped by lathe around an iron core. Five layers were laid on in alternate spirals until the tube, with a thin covering of iron staves on the outside, was built to the required thickness. The core was removed and an iron plug driven into the breech to close it and form the cascabel. The metal was then brought to a welding heat and upset 2 inches in a press. Finally, it was rolled out from 4.5 to 7 feet. Trunnions were welded on, the bore reamed out, and the chase reduced to proper size by turning in a lathe.

Griffen’s first cannon was a 3.67-inch smoothbore. It was successfully tested in 1855 by the founder, Phoenix Iron Company of Phoenixville, Pennsylvania. A year later the cannon passed the Army’s bursting test. The Griffen cannon did not burst until filled with 7 pounds of powder and thirteen balls. Army orders failed to materialize until the outbreak of the war when government contracts were received by the company. The first order at $250 per cannon was for 300 iron field pieces not to weigh more than 1000 pounds. It was recommended that all pieces be rifled as drawn by the Army’s Ordnance Board. Since Griffen’s original models were smoothbores and a letter from Lieutenant Colonel J. W. Ripley to Phoenix Iron Company stated the Ordnance Board was drafting a design, it seems Griffen’s connection was the process of construction. The form was a product of the Ordnance Board and hence the name “Ordnance Gun” or “Ordnance Rifle.”

Phoenix Iron Company rifled all 300 of the originally ordered guns and turned out about 1,100 more. Typical rifling consisted of lands .5-inch wide and grooves .84-inch wide. The Seneca gun has measured lands and grooves compatible with this typical rifling. It has markings of the letters U S stamped mid-barrel, the right trunnion has stamped Phoenix Iron Co., the left trunnion has stamped PATENTED DEC 1862, and the end of the barrel has S C L No. 817 P I Co. 1864 816 lbs.

Toward the end of the war, Hotchkiss and Schenkl projectiles were mainly used with ordnance rifles. The Hotchkiss was a 9 pound projective designed in 1855. This projectile was produced by Hotchkiss & Sons of New York. The Hotchkiss projectile included shot, shell, case and rifled cannister. The Schenkl projectiles were either 7.8 pounds or 9.2 pounds. These projectiles were made for U.S. rifle calibers in shell, case, cannister and occasionally shot. The Schenkl projectiles were used extensively for ordnance rifles. Various other projectiles could be fired including the Read and Dyer. The Read, a confederate projectile, was probably the type used in the gun after its capture by the Confederates. The Dyer was invented by General Brydie Dyer, who in 1864 was chief of the U.S. Ordnance Department. A Dyer 9-pound test projectile and one pound of powder with the rifle elevated at 10 degrees resulted in 2,788 yards or a little over 1.5 miles of range. Setting the elevation at 20 degrees, the projectile traveled 3,972 yards or 2.25 miles. The physics of projectile motion states that the best angle for distance is 45 degrees. Using the test results for 10 and 20 degrees, a 45 degree elevation would result in the projectile possibly traveling 6,176 to 8,158 yards or 3.5 to 4.6 miles as long air friction is disregarded. Trying to take into account motion slowing factors from the 10 degree to the 20 degree test, mathematics indicates hardly any gain of range would take place when the gun would be elevated to 45 degrees.

Skirmishes

Sources: