Austrian 6 Pounder Bronze Rifled Howitzer
National Museum Of The U.S. Navy, Washington, District Of Columbia
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Date: 1852
Content Description: This is an Austrian rifled 6-pounder howitzer of a pattern, later than that of No. 1. Made in Vienna in 1852, it has one reinforce instead of the two of No. 1, and its outline is noticeably more functional, lacking the older weapons ornamental rings and astragals. In dimensions and lines, though, the relation between older and newer pieces shows clearly. The howitzer has the same type of sights as the 1843 weapon and, like it, was captured from the blockade runner Columbia. A trophy inscription on No. 3 commemorates this. A number of Austrian rifled howitzers were bought and used by the Confederacy; 6-pounders like this can be seen at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, as well as at Petersburg and Fort Monroe, Virginia; two bronze 24-pounder howitzers are at Gettysburg National Military Park. Seven pieces of this type were sold to the Grand Army of the Republic in 1883 to be melted down and cast into members' badges for that association of Union veterans.
Contributor: Vienna
Identifier: 61-84-GO
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