The Gettysburg Gun, a brass field cannon called a "Napoleon," was manned by members of the 1st Regiment Rhode Island Light Artillery Battery B, who participated in some of the fiercest fighting at Gettysburg during the second and third days of the battle.
The one from Gettysburg was just yards from the "copse of trees" during Pickett's charge on the afternoon of July 3, when a Confederate shell struck the gun's muzzle, killing two of the solders manning the gun. The remaining Union cannoneers tried to load the gun and continue fighting, but the charge became stuck in the mouth of muzzle, where it remains to this day.
It's a M1857 12-pdr bronze Napoleon manufactured by the Henry N. Hooper & Co. foundry in 1862. The registry no. is 2, the foundry no. is 19, its weight is 1232 lbs, and it was inspected by Thomas Jackson Rodman.
The cannon was on exhibit in Washington, DC, until 1874, when it was returned to Rhode Island.
In the statehouse lobby there are two cannons: one from the Battle of Bull Run (one of the few not abandoned on the field by fleeing Union troops), the other recovered from Gettysburg.
Both are rare in that they still have their original wood undercarriages, and both are also unique in having proof of their battle experience.
The black powder was removed by putting the cannon underwater and drilling into the powder and drained it with water under pressure
With approval from the governor and in a partnership with the Pennsylvania and Maryland National Guard, the cannon was trucked back to Gettysburg in 1988.
“We took it, and we placed it on the actual spot where it was disabled 125 years earlier,” DiMaria said. “We told the story of the gun to thousands of people.”
Trivia. It's called "Napoleon" cannon popularly but it original it have much longer name and even in short it was know as Canon de l’Empereur. As this small piece of artillery would be translated to Emperor cannon in English, they probably pick a more modest short name after Emperor Napoleon III. Alongside very efficient and reliable piece of artillery it did get a rather grim legend being one of the main cannon in US Civil War and it was used and manufactured by both sides. To such level that it was probably one of the most numerous cannon type of that conflict.
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