12-Pounder Napoleons in Augusta, Georgia

Apr 3

CS Army 12-Pounder Napoleon, Leeds Number 53, in front of the old Augusta Arsenal Gatehouse at Augusta University

UPDATE 6/22/2026: Four 12-Pounder Napoleon guns may be found on display in Augusta, Georgia. Three are displayed on the grounds of the old Augusta Arsenal which is now the site of Augusta, University. A fourth is displayed inside the Augusta Museum of History. The four are:

CS Army 12-Pounder Napoleon, Leeds and Co. Number 45. Manufactured in 1862.
CS Army 12-Pounder Napoleon, Leeds and Co. Number 53. Manufactured in 1862.
US Army 12-Pounder Napoleon, Ames Manufacturing Co. Number 96. Manufactured in 1862. Weight as manufactured is 1,223 pounds.
CS Army 12-Pounder Napoleon, Augusta Foundry and Machine Works Number 72. Manufactured in 1864. Weight as manufactured is 1,170 pounds. It is displayed at the Augusta Museum. According to a sign there, it is displayed on a carriage that has a number of original iron parts.

Leeds and Company Napoleons: Prior to the Civil War, Leeds and Company of New Orleans produced steam engines and equipment for sugar mills, saw mills, and cotton gins. With the beginning of the war, Leeds made an effort to cast heavy artillery, but their 8-Inch Columbiad failed - bursting on its sixty-third round in proof firing. The production of bronze field artillery was more successful. Daniel and Gunter list forty-nine bronze field guns delivered to Confederate arsenals: eleven 6-pounders, seventeen 6-pounder rifles, nine 12-pounder howitzers, and twelve 12-Pounder Napoleons. The Napoleons are among the earliest of the type to have entered Confederate service. With the fall of New Orleans in April 1862, production at Leeds and Company ceased.

In outward appearance, the Leeds Napoleons fairly closely resembles the US Army Napoleon (officially the 12-Pounder Bronze Field Gun, Light, Pattern of 1857). The Leeds Napoleons have a muzzle swell and appear to have been turned on a lathe. The majority of Confederate Napoleons have no muzzle swell and a fairly rough appearance. If Leeds production of 12-Pounder Napoleons was indeed only twelve guns, then very unusually all Leeds Napoleons survive to present as Olmstead, Stark, and Tucker list twelve survivors.

See other surviving Leeds and Company guns.

Semple’s Battery: The two Leeds Napoleons equipped Semple’s Battery (Alabama). According to the National Park Service, Semple's-Goldthwaite's Battery completed its organization at Montgomery, Alabama, in March, 1862, with men from Montgomery. After serving at Mobile it was involved in the Kentucky Campaign and the Battle of Murfreesboro. Assigned to T.R. Hotchkiss' Battalion of Artillery, the battery participated in various conflicts of the Army of Tennessee from Chickamauga to Nashville. It was organized with 109 men, had 121 in December, 1863, and 82 fit for duty in April, 1864. It reported 2 killed at Perryville, 4 at Murfreesboro, 2 at Chickamauga, and 1 at Ringgold Gap. In 1865 the company was ordered to North Carolina, but surrendered at Augusta, Georgia. It was commanded by Captains Richard W. Goldthwaite and Henry C. Semple.

Two other Leeds Napoleons of Semple’s Battery survive. Numbers 46 and 54 were for years displayed at Fort Gordon. They have been put in storage in recent years.