The 24-Pounder Howitzer of CSS Georgia
Iron 24-Pounder Naval Howitzer of CSS Georgia displayed at Old Fort Jackson near Savannah, Georgia.
An iron 24-Pounder Howitzer cast in 1862 by A. N. Miller in Savannah, Georgia is displayed at Old Fort Jackson near Savannah. The tube was recovered from the wreck of CSS Georgia in 1984 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. It weighs roughly 1,500 pounds and is displayed upon a naval carriage. It is the only example of its type known to exist. The 24-Pounder Howitzer is displayed beside a banded and rifled 32-Pounder of 57 Hundredweight also from CSS Georgia which has been previously covered.
Ironclads of the American Civil War were typically armed with a small number of the most powerful cannons available. The battery had to be small in number because it was carried behind (heavy) iron armor. The guns were as powerful as possible because they were intended to attack the ironclads and other large ships of the opposing fleet. However, small numbers of heavy guns generally do not make for a high rate of fire. Compounding the problem, those heavy guns were usually fired through small gun ports which allowed for limited arcs of fire and restricted fields of view for the gunners.
Ironclad warships could be vulnerable to attack by small boats - carrying either boarding parties or as in the case of Cushing’s attack on CSS Albemarle, a spar torpedo.
The 24-Pounder Howitzer was intended to be carried upon the spar deck of CSS Georgia (atop the casemate). A light howitzer mounted on the spar deck could be quickly shifted to face a threat and could fire more rapidly than the heavy guns of the casemate battery.
Ships of both navies in the American Civil War which operated on rivers and in estuaries also needed light howitzers to defend against the enemy’s land forces which might fire upon them from ashore - though this was less likely in the case of CSS Georgia which spent most of its career moored as a floating battery due to its underpowered engines.
Although easy to overlook when surrounded by the many larger and more refined pieces of artillery at Old Fort Jackson, this 24-Pounder Howitzer is both a unique Savannah-manufactured iron howitzer and an example of a type of artillery critical to the defense of an ironclad against asymmetric threats.
Iron 24-Pounder Naval Howitzer of CSS Georgia displayed at Old Fort Jackson near Savannah, Georgia.
Iron 24-Pounder Naval Howitzer of CSS Georgia displayed at Old Fort Jackson near Savannah, Georgia.
The 24-Pounder Naval Howitzer next to the Banded and Rifled 32-Pounder of 57 Hundredweight - both recovered from CSS Georgia.
Model of CSS Georgia at Old Fort Jackson. The howitzer was intended to be carried on the spar deck above the casemate.
