It was very time consuming and expensive.
When the US Civil War began artillery had earned a stellar reputation in the Mexican-American War. This carried over to the Civil War and tactical theory regarded artillery to be equally effective as a defensive weapon as well as an offensive one. General in Chief Winfield Scott believed that artillery would prove to be the most important element of the Civil War.
Modern day artillery in the present century is highly sophisticated, has advanced power and advanced accuracy. The US Civil War, 1861 to 1865, clearly did not use "modern day" artillery.
Most US Civil War historians believe that artillery often played a crucial role in US Civil War battles. They estimate that approximately 3 to 4 cannons per thousand of infantry was a proper and effective ratio.
At the beginning of the US Civil War, both sides split artillery into self-contained batteries. And, each battery was allocated to a particular brigade, regiment or even on a battalion basis.
In the US Civil War artillery batteries were generally assigned to either regiments or battalions.The commanding infantry officer ranked above the officer in charge of the artillery. This made sense as the former officer had a better knowledge of battle plans and overall strategy and tactics.
The artillery batteries on both sides of the US Civil War suffered less casualties then either the infantries or cavalries. At the Battle of Gettysburg, the Union lost about 10% of its cannons, while the South's losses were about 13%.
The battlefields of the US Civil War were booming from artillery shots and rifle and musket shots. There was smoke and shouting among the soldiers and the galloping cavalry horses.
The US Civil War Battle of White Oak Swamp was fought in Virginia on June 30, 1862. It was an artillery duel that which had inconclusive results.
In the late 1850's the US War Department authorized a board of military officers to update the current manual on artillery that was created in 1845. The report was published in 1860 and among its officers were men who would become artillery commanders in the US Civil War. Henry H. Hunt would serve as an artillery commander under General McClellan and William F. Barry would serve under General Sherman. However, for the most part, there were no major changes to the older artillery manual.
The second day of the US Civil War Battle of Gettysburg was the most costly one for the Confederates in this epic Civil War battle. On July 2, 1863, Union artillery batteries held the Plum Run line without any help from the infantry. Union artillery was also effective on July 3rd, as it helped disable the famous Pickett's Charge.
On average it took between 17 troops to operate and maintain a single piece of large artillery. This was the same for both the North and the South.
Yes. Everybody with enough money and technology used artillery.