US Navy 12-Pounder Boat Howitzers at Manassas National Battlefield

Jun 25

Two US Navy 12-Pounder Boat Howitzers, Heavy, at Manassas National Battlefield Park

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.
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.

Number 45 was placed on board USS Lancaster, according to US Navy Bureau of Ordnance Records, and served upon that ship until 1867. After 1867 Number 45 seems to have seen no further service afloat. USS Lancaster served on the Pacific Station throughout the American Civil War, thereby missing the battles that her near sisters Hartford, Brooklyn, Richmond, and Pensacola fought.

Both howitzers were eventually loaned to Fairfax County where they were displayed near the old courthouse. In November of 2020 they were moved to Manassas National Battlefield Park. There they are situated on Matthews Hill and the represent the two boat howitzers brought into action that day by the 71st New York State Militia. The 71st NYSM had guarded the Washington Navy Yard in the first weeks of the war and had joined several expeditions on the Potomac River. John Dahlgren presented two boat howitzers to the 71st. The 71st used the boat howitzers effectively during the 1st Battle of Manassas, but they had to abandon them during the retreat which followed. It is unknown which two boat howitzers Dahlgren presented to the 71st.

Update: The second boat howitzer was originally manufactured as 12-Pounder Rifle Number 316 according to research by Jim Burgess, Museum Specialist, Manassas NBP. To quote this post: “The markings on the other howitzer appear to have been polished off. Navy regulations dictated that boat howitzer tubes were not to be polished so this would suggest possible use by the army or a military school after the war. When the tube was dismounted to perform restoration work on the carriage, we found the initials “T.A.H.” (Navy inspector Timothy A. Hunt) and its foundry number, 1442, on the underside mounting loop. This was enough information to determine the tube was registry number 316 made in September 1863 by Cyrus Alger & Co. in Boston. The front sight, rear sight socket, and firing mechanism slot are all situated on the left side of this contract piece (see photo). Navy records indicate it was originally a 3.4-inch rifled howitzer but later bored out to a 12-pounder smoothbore. These records also list this tube assigned to the USS Hartford, Admiral David Farragut’s famed flagship, but sometime after the August 5, 1864, Battle of Mobile Bay. In 1869 the howitzer was transferred at the New York Navy Yard to the screw frigate USS Franklin.”