US Navy 9-Inch Dahlgren at NSWC Dahlgren
US Navy 9-Inch Dahglren Number 1006 is displayed at Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division. These photos were taken by Haze Grey History in 2023. Many thanks for the permission to share them here. Number 1006 served aboard USS Brooklyn in the 1870s.
US Army 4.5-Inch Siege Rifles at Chatham Manor
Two US Army 4.5-Inch Siege Rifles are displayed at Chatham Manor on the Rappahannock River across from Fredericksburg. According to Olmstead et al., the two are:
US Army 4.5-Inch Siege Rifle, Pattern 1861, Number 81 manufactured at Fort Pitt Foundry in 1863. Weight as Manufactured 3,616 pounds.
US Army 4.5-Inch Siege Rifle, Pattern 1861, Unknown Number (damaged at muzzle).
The display of these two 4.5-Inch Rifles recalls a war time photo of a battery of three of the type limbered but in position overlooking Fredericksburg.
US Navy 12-Pounder Boat Howitzers at Manassas National Battlefield
Two US Navy 12-Pounder Dahlgren Boat Howitzers, Heavy, are displayed at Manassas National Battlefield Park. The two howitzers are:
12-Pounder Boat Howitzer, Heavy, Number 45 manufactured by the Washington Navy Yard in 1856. Weight as manufactured was 757 pounds. Served aboard USS Lancaster.
12-Pounder Boat Howitzer, Heavy. Unknown. Nearly all markings have been polished off this howitzer, so nothing can be known of its place of manufacture, weight, or service.
US Navy 8-Inch Bureau of Ordnance Shell Gun Number 26 at NSWC Dahlgren
A US Navy 8-Inch Bureau of Ordnance Shell Gun of 6,500 Pounds is displayed near Gate A at NSWC Dahlgren Division. These photos were taken by Haze Grey History in 2023. Many thanks for the permission to post them! The shell gun was cast by Fort Pitt Foundry in 1864. It is registry number 26 and weighed at manufacture 6,455 pounds. Bureau of Ordnance records show that it was one of ten guns of this type mounted aboard the cruiser USS Madawaska in July of 1866 (registry Numbers 26-35).
The cut down Dahlgrens of Lee Hall
Two US Navy Dahlgren guns which were both eventually transferred to “Yards and Docks” are seen at Lee Hall in Newport News, Virginia. Photographs are by Haze Grey History - many thanks for the permission to use them! As is visible in the photos, a large portion of the chase of both guns has been removed. They are displayed beside a portable navy boiler.
The two guns are an 9-Inch Dahlgren cast in 1859 and a 8-Inch Bureau of Ordnance Shell Gun cast in 1867.
US Navy 20-Pounder Breech Loaders at Naval Weapons Station Yorktown
Two US Navy 20-Pounder Breech Loaders are displayed at Naval Weapons Station Yorktown. Photographs taken in May 2024 by Haze Grey History - many thanks for the permission to use them!
These two breech loaders were originally manufactured by West Point Foundry in 1862 as standard, muzzle-loading 20-Pounder Parrott Rifles for the US Navy. As the Navy model, they would have originally had a small ring cascabel to take a breeching rope.
A.B. Reading & Bro. 3-Inch Rifle at Petersburg
A 3-Inch Rifle produced by A.B. Reading & Bro. of Vicksburg in 1862 is displayed at Petersburg National Battlefield. Number 24 which was cast in 1862 was displayed at Battery 5 at the time of my most recent visit.
US Navy 12-Pounder Dahlgren Boat Howitzer at the Mariners’ Museum
A US Navy 12-Pounder Boat Howitzer, Heavy, is displayed at the Mariners’ Museum in Newport News, Virginia. It is mounted on a reproduction boat carriage. It may be registry number 386 which served upon USS Clematis in the Civil War and the monitor USS Manhattan in the 1870s and 1880s.
Two “State of Connecticut” marked 3.8-Inch James Rifles at Manassas
Two 3.8-Inch James Rifles marked “STATE OF CONN.” are part of a display on Matthews Hill at Manassas National Battlefield Park. Both were cast by Ames Manufacturing Company of Chicopee, Massachusetts in 1862. They are part of a display representing the 2nd Rhode Island Battery which took a position near this point on July 21st, 1861. The 2nd Rhode Island Battery was equipped with six James Rifles.
12-Pounder Dahlgren Boat Howitzer, Small, at the National Museum of the Marine Corps
A US Navy 12-Pounder Dahlgren Boat Howitzer, Small, is displayed at the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Quantico, Virginia. It was manufactured at the Washington Navy Yard in 1864. It is registry number 19, and as manufactured it weighs 305 pounds.
Number 19 is displayed on a landing carriage, and is part of an exhibit on Marine landing parties in the 19th Century.
Additional Photos of the 8-Inch Columbiad at Drewry’s Bluff
An 8-Inch Confederate Columbiad is displayed at Fort Darling at Drewry's Bluff on the James River near Richmond, Virginia. The Columbiad, Number 66, was cast at Bellona Foundry in 1862. The Columbiad, mounted on the commanding position overlooking the James, represents the battery which fought USS Galena and USS Monitor on May 15th, 1862.
US Navy 30-Pounder Parrott Number 307
US Navy 30-Pounder Parrott Rifle Number 307 is displayed at Trophy Park at Norfolk Naval Shipyard. It was manufactured at West Point Foundry in 1864 and weighs 3,500 pounds. According to the research of Wayne Stark, Number 307 did not see any shipboard service in the US Navy, however it was loaned to the Treasury Department from 1864 to 1876. Given that a stereotypical armament for US Revenue Cutter Service cutters during this period was a single 30-Pounder Parrott and two to four boat howitzers, Number 307 may have seen service aboard a Revenue Cutter.
US Navy 8-Inch MLR of USS Trenton and USS Wyoming
US Navy 8-Inch MLR Number 11 was carried aboard USS Trenton before being sent to the US Naval Academy and mounted aboard the training ship USS Wyoming.
US Navy 9-Inch Dahlgren Number 887 of USS Enterprise
US Navy 9-Inch Dahlgren Number 887 is displayed at Trophy Park at Norfolk Naval Shipyard. It was cast at Cyrus Alger and Company in 1864. As manufactured it weighed 9,329 pounds. It served aboard USS Tennessee and USS Enterprise.
US Navy 20-Pounder Number 115 of USS Sumpter
A US Navy 20-Pounder, Registry Number 115, is displayed in Trophy Park at Norfolk Naval Shipyard. It was manufactured at West Point Foundry in 1862 and weighs 1,795 pounds. According to the research of Wayne Stark, Number 115 was carried aboard USS Sumpter which was accidentally sunk in a collision with the transport steamer General Meigs on June 24th, 1863.
USS Navy 100-Pounder Parrott Rifle of USS Franklin
US Navy 100-Pounder Parrott Rifle, Number 165, is displayed in Trophy Park at Norfolk Naval Shipyard. Manufactured at West Point Foundry in 1863, Number 165 weighs 9,727 pounds. According to the research of Wayne Stark, Number 165 served aboard USS Franklin - likely from the time of her commissioning until at least 1872.
US Navy 9-Inch Dahlgren Number 242 at Trophy Park
US Navy 9-Inch Dahlgren Number 242 was manufactured by Cyrus Alger & Company in 1859. As manufactured it weighed 9,045 pounds. It served aboard USS Richmond from her commissioning until 1865. During this time it was fired 250 times. USS Richmond, of course, saw a very active career including at New Orleans, Vicksburg, and Mobile Bay. After 1872, it was mounted aboard USS Sabine.
The 32-Pounder of USS St. Lawrence
US Navy 32-Pounder of 57 Hundredweight, Number 384, is displayed at Trophy Park at Norfolk Naval Shipyard. Number 384 was manufactured at Tredegar Foundry in Richmond, Virginia in 1848. According to the research of Wayne Stark, Number 384 was carried aboard the sailing frigate USS St. Lawrence.
The Rifled Boat Howitzers of Norfolk Naval Shipyard
Two US Navy 12-Pounder (3.4-Inch) Rifled Dahlgren Boat Howitzers are displayed near the 4th Street Entrance at Norfolk Naval Shipyard: Numbers 314 and 403. Two other rifled boat howitzers are nearby: Numbers 249 and 298.
US Navy 32-Pounder of 57 Hundredweight of USS Congress
US Navy 32-Pounder of 57 Hundredweight, Number 125, was carried aboard USS Congress - when she was sunk after surrendering to the ironclad CSS Virginia during the Battle of Hampton Roads in March 1862.