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A Savage Continual Thunder
At Antietam, the open and rolling terrain benefited the artillerymen of both armies. By placing their cannon on high ground, Blue and Gray alike were able to effectively strike enemy troop positions at great distances. Over 500 cannon thundered across the landscape for over twelve hours.
The Artillery was a separate, specialized branch of the army that supported the infantry. The basic organizational unit for artillery was called a battery. It consisted of four to six cannons with approximately 70-100 men and was commanded by a Captain.
There are many models and sizes of Civil War cannon, but there are two basic types - smoothbore and rifled. A smoothbore cannon barrel is just like a pipe, smooth on the inside. In contrast, a rifled cannon has spiral grooves cut into the inside of the barrel, which forces the ammunition to rotate like a football. It is more accurate and has a greater range than a smoothbore gun. The four cannon displayed here represent the majority of the artillery used in this battle. The two right guns are made of bronze and are smoothbore, the two left guns are made of iron and are rifled. |