What was the most common cannon in the civil war?

Answer 1

Why cannons were used in Civil WarTo blow up forts. Ex: Fort Sumter was fired on by a cannon, to stop charges (or at least weaken them, and to force enemies in and out of trenches. However this is a very general question since cannon could be used for anything that you could think they'd help with and they have been utilized for different things from hundreds of years ago to modern day.

Answer 2

Yes. There types included Cannon, Howitzers and Mortars. Some cannon had smooth bores inside the barrel and later ones were rifled with sprial grooves to induce a spin to the shell and make it go straighter and thus more predictable. The smooth bores were easier to load.

Some cannon used shells that were 6-sided shape to fit exactly in the barrel that was cut in 6 sides to the bore.

Mortars were used to throw explosive charges up and over a wall or trench works.

Some cannon could fire a solid ball. Others fired a shell that had a fuse that caused it to explode in the air. Some cannon were loaded with grapeshot, which made it fire out multiple smaller balls like a shotgun.

Then there is a whole category of experimental cannons---ones that never made it into production.

Custermen

ALSO NOTE: some cannons used in the civil war were much larger then the cannons your probably thinking of.

Answer 3

The most common cannon used in the US Civil War was the 12 pound Napoleon, with 6 pounders used by the cavalry.

Other names include Whitworth, a rifled gun, and big Columbiads used in fortifications and at times in the field.

There were others, and hopefully someone will add to this list. It should be noted that there are differences in artillery types, such as cannon, gun, howitzers, and mortars. Since "cannon" is a name applied generally to all Civil War artillery, the above names show a range of them without getting into specifics.