Field Artillery

In 1863, artillery, together with infantry and cavalry, was one of the most important branches of a Civil War army. Field guns could easily devastate assaulting infantrymen advancing in mass formations, shoulder-to-shoulder. At Chickamauga, artillery batteries were handicapped by woods and undergrowth that limited visibility and maneuverability, and the guns were most effective when used behind breastworks overlooking open fields. Six types of muzzle-loading field guns used at Chickamauga and Chattanooga are represented here; the iron and bronze tubes are authentic Civil War pieces, while the carriages are reproductions. More than 200 other cannon visible on the battlefield today were placed by veterans in the 1890s to mark the positions of batteries during the fighting. In the spring of 1863, Bridges’ Independent Company of Illinois Light Artillery drilled in camp at Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and this Union battery later fought in the Battle of Chickamauga and Chattanooga. An experienced six-man crew could fire a field gun up to four times a minute by following a strict procedure, with one crew beginning to load while another stood ready to fire.

Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia · United States