When Guns & Blackpowder were Simplier

I was doing a little research yesterday and came across historical info about the 1st. Connecticut Artillery and wanted to share. Partly the reason is I'm a novice when it comes to the Civil War since I found out a few years ago that I had a great great grandfather who fought at Gettysburg and survived to live until he was 93. I have also undoubtedly become a big fan of blackpowder shooting.

Here is a picture of the 1st. Connecticut Artillery practicing, (exact date unknown)

Men of the 1st Connecticut Artillery practicing with their 20-pounder Parrott field rifle. One of the U.S. Army's great battlefield advantages was in the quality of its field artillery. Federal batteries usually held six guns of the same type, while Confederate batteries were usually four guns, but not necessarily of the same type. Both U.S. and C.S. batteries were broken down into two-gun sections. The sections were commanded by lieutenants and the batteries by captains. Each gun crew was comprised of eight men including the gun sergeant who was the "chief of the piece." The full complement for a Union battery was roughly 100 men. Parrott guns were among the most modern artillery pieces used in the Civil War. Their rifled tubes and conical shells gave them a greater accuracy, range and destructive capacity.

Here is the Springfield Hawken I just recently aquired and if you think about it there are similarities between the two guns except for their size.

For one thing you load them both from the muzzle and both barrels are rifled. They both take some type of spark to ignite the powder charge that they both need. They both take a projectile which is seated on the powder charge by a ramrod although cannon shells were typically made out of cast iron back then where as now the rifle bullets are lead. Most importantly you only could shoot one round at a time.