6-Pounder Field Gun, Model of 1841, No. 144 - Gettysburg, PA
N 39° 47.424 W 077° 15.255
18S E 306981 N 4406924
The Latham's Branch Artillery Monument is flanked on either side by artillery pieces representing this battery artillery used during the Battle of Gettysburg. The Rebel guns & tablet are along S. Confederate Ave. This waymark is for the left gun.
Waymark Code: WME4MK
Location: Pennsylvania, United States
Date Posted: 04/02/2012
Views: 4
There are hundreds of cannons at Gettysburg, many of them flanking monuments and markers. Such is the case with this artillery piece. If standing in front of the marker, the cannon to the left which points due east is a 6-Pounder Field Gun, Model of 1841. The 6-pounder was the smallest caliber cannon used in the War Between the States. My usual SOURCE for cannon documentation provided me with the following line of information (the same information I had trouble reading on the outer muzzle face) about this specific cannon:
Alger - Reg #144 - INSP BH - FDY #610 - YR 55 - WT 879 - S Confed Ave., from Shiloh NMP
Alger refers to the Cyrus Alger & Company, a foundry out of Boston, Massachusetts and the place where this gun was manufactured. Reg #144 is simply the registration number and the foundry's way of documenting and identifying each individual gun produced by their company. INSP BH refers to the military officer responsible for inspecting the final product to make sure it meets all standards. (More on the inspector below). FDY #610 represents the word Foundry and refers to the foundry's own internal control number. YR 55 is the year of manufacturing and WT 879 refers to the weight of the cannon or bronze tube which fired projectiles. As also indicated, this cannon is of course on South Confederate Avenue. Finally, it is my understanding this weapon was procured from Shiloh National Military Park. Finally, if standing to the rear of the cannon, I saw an inscription on the left trunnion (cylindrical protrusion used as a mounting and/or pivoting point - secures the cannon to the carriage) which reads C.A. & Co Boston. This stands for Cyrus Alger & Company, the aforementioned foundry out of Boston, Massachusetts. More information about the specifics of this weapon can be found HERE.
The Inspectors
I did some digging to find out who these inspectors were or at least learn their name. I found a decent site HERE which lists those responsible in the 19th century for inspecting the guns and cannons at the various foundries. The left cannon was inspected by BH. I believe BH was Benjamin Huger, an Confederate inspector of ordnance from 1862-1864. Another book I found had him working out of South Carolina (The National Almanac and Annual Record For The Year 1863, page 690). It is my understanding he was the Chief of Ordnance for that state. Another source has this fellow as an ordnance inspector out of Marshall, Texas so perhaps he moved around as needed. Finally, one last source reports BH as a Major Benjamin Huger, USA 1854-1858.