Civil War Cannons

[smokemjoe]

 When the last battle of the civil war was finished, What happen to all the cannons when they knew the war was over. Thanks

[GGaskill]

Most of them were returned to arsenals.  I suppose a few went home with generals and other political bigwigs.

[Artilleryman]

Supposedly a large number of Confederate Napoleons were condemned by the US because the bores were worn out from firing so much canister.

[subdjoe]

The Ordnance Rifles stayed in service for quite a while until phased out with the advent of the French 75.  A lot of other types went to state militia.  And military academies.  I had come across some editorials about cadets being killed or injured by exploding Parrott guns in the early 1870s.

My guess would be that most of the smooth bores were scrapped or donated to patriotic organizations or towns.

On the Ordnance Rifles - when they were finally out of the inventory (at least for the regular Army) around 200 of them were converted at Watervliete into breach loading salute guns and placed on various military posts. 

[rampa room artillery]

i know of many that have been found in barns and buried in the woods, and in the rivers,  as for southern guns as many as they could hide were hidden in barns,  we are still finding rifles under houses in my area,  last year, a friend doing some remodeling work in yorktown found a brown bess and the owner of the home gave it to him.  it was under the house off the ground.   so it still shoots,
   
  many many many were sold off by the government after the war. in the 1880s,   bannermans island.


 

[MR.GADGET]

A lot were scraped in WWI and WWII for the Iron and broonze or brass.
Word is that is what happed to a lot of the big stuff.

[subdjoe]

A lot were scraped in WWI and WWII for the Iron and broonze or brass.
Word is that is what happed to a lot of the big stuff.

Yep.  Especially the bronze guns.  Lake Co. CA had two Dahlgren Boat Howitzers donated to it in the 1880s (arranged for by a retired Col).







 They were given back to the US early in WWII with the promise that they would be replaced with something else - a pair of Type 92 70mm Japanese Battalion guns.  Actually mentioned here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_92_Battalion_Gun as surviving examples.