US Navy 24-Pounder Dahlgren Boat Howitzer at Shiloh
US Navy 24-Pounder Dahlgren Boat Howitzer Number 656 is displayed at Shiloh National Military Park. (Many thanks to James Murray for sharing these photos with us!) It was cast in 1864 by Ames. As manufactured it weighed 1305 pounds. This boat howitzer has a portion of its hammer still in place - and a something (a projectile?) lodged in the tube.
The 32-Pounder of 4,500 Pounds of San Luis Obispo
A US Navy Bureau of Ordnance 32-Pounder of 4,500 Pounds is displayed in the San Luis Cemetery in San Luis Obispo, California. This 32-Pounder was manufactured at Builders Foundry (Providence, Rhode Island) in 1866. According to the data in a 2000 edition of the registry, it weighed 4,530 pounds as manufactured in 1866. It is US Navy registry number 333. The 32-Pounder is mounted on an original iron Marsilly carriage.
8-Inch Rifle Number 45 of USS Lancaster
US Navy 8-Inch Muzzle Loading Rifle Number 45 of USS Lancaster at Patriots Point Soccer Stadium in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. This is one of four 8-Inch Rifles which were carried aboard USS Lancaster in the 1880s which are displayed at the stadium. Previously these 8-Inch MLR were displayed beside the aircraft carrier Yorktown. Before that they were at the Charleston Navy Yard.
8-Inch Rifle Number 44 of USS Lancaster
US Navy 8-Inch Muzzle Loading Rifle Number 44 is one of four of the type displayed outside the Patriots Point Soccer Stadium in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. All four are mounted on original circa 1880 US Navy carriages which came off of USS Lancaster.
US Navy 9-Inch Dahlgren in Downtown Vicksburg
A US Navy 9-Inch Dahlgren is displayed in downtown Vicksburg, Mississippi. I was not able to read the registry number or the weight on the breech of the cannon. I have been told by a friend of the Facebook page that it is one of the two in Vicksburg which was originally carried aboard USS Tuscumbia and later used by the US Army’s 17th Corps.
USN BuOrd 32-Pounders of 4,500 Pounds in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania
Two US Navy Bureau of Ordnance 32-Pounders of 4,500 Pounds are displayed in front of the courthouse in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. They are:
32-Pounder of 4,500 Pounds Number 10 cast by Seyfert, McManus, and Co. in Reading, Pennsylvania in 1865. As manufactured it weighed 4,601 pounds.
32-Pounder of 4,500 Pounds Number 13 cast by Seyfert, McManus, and Co. in Reading, Pennsylvania in 1865. As manufactured it weighed 4,564 pounds.
USS Seneca’s 11-Inch Dahlgren in Holgate, Ohio
US Navy 11-Inch Dahlgren Number 313 was cast by Hinkley, Williams, and Company in 1863. In 1864 it was mounted aboard the "90 Day Gunboat" USS Seneca after that ship's 1864 refit. This Dahlgren would fire over 300 shells at Fort Fisher during the First and Second Battles in December 1864 and January 1865. It is displayed in Holgate, Ohio in front of the historic firehouse.
9-Inch “Confederate Dahlgren” at Vicksburg
A 9-Inch Naval Shell Gun cast at Bellona Foundry in 1862 is displayed behind the Mississippi Monument at Vicksburg. This shell gun generally follows the shape of US Navy 9-Inch Dahlgrens and may be called a “Confederate Dahlgren.”
US Navy 9-Inch Dahlgren 703 at Vicksburg
US Navy 9-Inch Dahlgren Number 703 was cast at Fort Pitt Foundry in 1863. It is currently displayed at Vicksburg National Military Park, but in 1864 it was one of twenty 9-Inch Dahlgrens sent to the Navy Yard at Sackets Harbor, New York. It weighs 9,265 pounds.
12-Pounder Boat Howitzer of USS Pittsburg at Vicksburg
US Navy 12-Pounder Dahlgren Boat Howitzer, Heavy, Number 96 is displayed in the museum beside USS Cairo at Vicksburg. As the sign attests, the boat howitzer served aboard USS Cairo’s sister ship USS Pittsburgh. The markings on the tube show a weight of 759 pounds with 65 pounds preponderance (the howitzer is breech-heavy by this amount when placed on its carriage). It was manufactured at the Washington Navy Yard in 1862, and it was inspected and approved for service by John A. Dahlgren himself.
USS Canadaigua’s 11-Inch Dahlgren in La Moille, Illinois
An 11-Inch Dahlgren carried aboard USS Canandaigua is displayed in La Moille, Illinois. The Dahlgren, US Navy registry Number 216, was dedicated on Memorial Day, 1897 by the local Grand Army of the Republic Post Number 66.
The 8-Inch Rifles at the University of Maine
Two US Navy 8-Inch (180-Pounder) Muzzle Loading Rifles have been displayed at the University of Maine in Orono since Llewellyn N. Edwards, Class of 1898, facilitated their donation by the Navy in 1932. The cannons, originally cast as 11-Inch Dahlgrens, would serve aboard US Navy ships including USS Pensacola, USS Juniata, and USS Galena in the 1870s and 1880s.
The 10-Inch Dahlgren of USS Cumberland
USS Cumberland, the first ship to be sunk in the Battle of Hampton Roads, carried a 10-Inch Dahlgren as her forward pivot gun. That cannon kept firing against CSS Virginia until Cumberland sank. Artifacts recovered from the wreck of USS Cumberland and displayed at the Hampton Roads Naval Museum are also shown in this post.
Sunday Aboard USS Richmond in 1890
A set of six photos taken aboard USS Richmond on a Sunday - likely in 1890 - show a wealth of details about the Old Steam US Navy. The high resolution photos show facial expressions, equipment, arms, and more aboard a ship little changed since its service in the American Civil War.
The 9-Inch Dahlgrens of Webster, New York
Two 9-Inch Dahlgren cannons are displayed at Webster Rural Cemetery in Webster, New York. These two Dahlgrens are displayed on concrete recreations of the wooden carriages that they would have had in service aboard US Navy warships during the American Civil War. Both cannons were originally part of a shipment sent to Sackets Harbor.
The 9-Inch Dahlgren of Sackets Harbor
A US Navy 9-Inch Dahlgren is displayed alongside a 30-Pounder Parrott Rifle at Sackets Harbor Battlefield State Historic Site in Sackets Harbor, New York. Originally part of twenty such cannons sent to Sackets Harbor, the reason that these cannons were sent in 1864 remains a bit of a mystery. Sackets Harbor is a beautiful and historic site on Lake Ontario.
The Cannons at Fort Fisher
The Second Battle of Fort Fisher was fought from January 13th - 15th, 1865. This post gives an overview of the major types of heavy cannons present in the fort and aboard the fleet. The cannons pictured include Columbiads, Brooke Rifles, Dahlgren Cannons, and Parrott Rifles.
BuOrd 32-Pounders of 4,500 Pounds in Townsend, Massachusetts
Two US Navy Bureau of Ordnance 32-Pounders of 4,500 Pounds are displayed in front of Memorial Hall in Townsend, Massachusetts. Notably, one of the cannons still has a firing hammer attached on the lug at the breech.
Heavy Artillery of the Confederacy in the American Civil War
This post is an overview of the major types and systems of heavy naval and seacoast artillery operated by the Confederate Army and Confederate Navy during the American Civil War. The principle types used were: Pre-War US Army cannons and Columbiads, Pre-War US Navy cannons and Dahlgren guns, Confederate Columbiads, Brooke Rifles and Smoothbores, banded and rifled cannons, and British rifles.
The 9-Inch Dahlgren of USS Minnesota and USS Richmond in New Hope, Pennsylvania
A 9-Inch Dahlgren which served aboard USS Minnesota and USS Richmond is preserved in New Hope, Pennsylvania.