The Woodruff Gun
Persistence by its creator and the endorsement of President
Abraham Lincoln eventually pushed the 2-pounder Woodruff cannon into production,
but it was successfully used by Union troops ply in cases where the Confederates
had no artillery of their own.
When the Civil War began in 1861, it became increasingly apparent that the limited range of the widely used mountain howitzer (which had a range of 1,005 yards with a shell or 800 yards with grape and canister) would preclude it from effective use on the battlefield. The Civil War was generally fought with larger weapons, such as the 12-pounder field howitzer (which had a range of 1,072 yards) and the 10-pounder Parrott, with a range of between 3,200 and 4,400 yards, depending on caliber. However, small guns still had their die-hard supporters. Among these avid supporters was Illinois manufacturer James Woodruff. Woodruff had no prior experience in designing or manufacturing weapons - in fact, his only real military affiliation was as provost marshal for the Quincy, Illinois, congressional district. But he did have important connections inside the Federal government.
At the outset of the war, Woodruff liquidated his carriage company and took a job with the government. The little Woodruff 2-pounder was to be his brainchild. It was with a certain amount of arrogance that Woodruff wrote directly to Brig. Gen. James W. Ripley, chief of ordnance, on October 6, 1861:
"I submit herewith a description of, and propositions for, furnishing light Cannon, known in the West as the 'Woodruff gun.' They are manufactured from the best charcoal scrap iron, faggotted, brought to a welding heat, and forged, and thoroughly compacted under a heavy trip hammer, then turned, bored, and polished. Their length is 3 feet, the bore is 2 1/8 inches, which just allows the chambering of seven lead ounce balls in the canister, the canister which have been generally used with them have contained 42 lead ounce balls. The carriage part is made light, but strong, and all the materials and workmanship are of the best quality. Each gun is thoroughly proved before it leaves the factory. The weight of each Gun is about 256 lbs. They are accurately sighted, and at repeated trials have proved themselves effective with round ball at 1 1/4 miles, and with canister their most effective range is about 700 yards."
Ripley flatly rejected the Woodruff gun, seeing no realistic place for it within the Federal arsenal. Following the rejection of the 2-pounder, Woodruff began calling for help from his political contacts. Illinois Governor Richard Yates arranged for an audience with President Abraham Lincoln. After this meeting, Lincoln wrote Lt. Gen. Winfield Scott a note scribbled across the document of refusal from General Ripley: "Will Lieutenant General Scott please see Mr. Jas. Woodruff, and in consideration of all the grounds say whether he would advise the purchase of the guns as proposed?"
On receiving the letter, Scott reacted just as Ripley had: "I concur fully with Brigadier General Ripley in the opinion he has expressed within this subject." Nevertheless, Woodruff once again approached the president, accompanied by John Wood, the former governor of Illinois. This time the note to the chief of ordnance was more emphatic. In early November, Lincoln wrote: "Please see Gov. Wood and Mr. Woodruff, bearers of this, and make the arrangements for arms which they desire if you possibly can. Do not turn them away lightly; but either provide for their getting the arms, or write me a clear reason why you can not."
Action was immediately taken by Ripley to incorporate the Woodruff gun into the Federal Army ordnance. On November 15, 1861, Ripley notified Woodruff: "Sir: By direction of the President of the United States I give you an order for thirty Woodruff guns, to be furnished to Colonel Cavanaugh, of the 6th cavalry regiment, Illinois volunteers, for the use of the Governor's Legion, provided they cost no more than two hundred and eighty-five dollars ($285) each, mounted and equipped as per specifications filed by you in this office, dated 6th October, 1861."
The apparent intent of the document was to tie the Woodruffs to the 6th Illinois Volunteer Cavalry, which was formerly at Shawneetown. Woodruff had proposed arming the unit with 9,000 Belgian sabers from the St. Louis Arsenal, 1,500 Navy Colt revolvers and 1,500 rejected Cosmopolitan carbines. Little concern for the quality of the weapons was shown either by Woodruff or the president. In fact, no records have been unearthed indicating the 6th Illinois Volunteer Cavalry actually received any of the Woodruffs. Records do exist, however, that place the Woodruffs with the 10th Illinois Volunteer Cavalry, 2nd Iowa Volunteer Cavalry, 4th Iowa Volunteer Cavalry and 1st Illinois Volunteer Light Artillery, Battery K.
The first documented mention of the Woodruff gun in combat is from the November 10, 1862, report of Captain Hiram E. Barstow of the 10th Illinois Volunteer Cavalry. Company C, under his command, was pinned down near Clark's Mill, Mo., by a Confederate force. About the engagement Barstow said, "If I had known at the outset that they had artillery of that size I should have abandoned the post when I returned from driving in their advance." Barstow was well aware how ineffective his little 2-pounder Woodruff was against even the comparatively small 6-pounders that were employed by the Confederate cavalry.
On Colonel Benjamin Henry Grierson's celebrated raid into Louisiana, the little Woodruff received slightly more favorable reviews. On April 20, 1863, Major Hiram Love of the 2nd Iowa Volunteer Cavalry placed Captain Jason B. Smith in charge of one of the 2-pounder Woodruffs. On April 21, Colonel Edward Hatch's 2nd Iowa Volunteer Cavalry moved a 2-pounder into position in a hedged lane near Palo Alto and commented later that Confederate Colonel Clark Barteau "may have underestimated the frightening effects of the two-pounder cannon."
Apparently, Captain Smith did at some point acquire three more Woodruff guns, to make a total of four. On April 22, 1863, on the road to Louisville he noted, "One of the gun carriages collapsed." It was dismantled and lashed to the back of a mule. On May 5, Grierson, Colonel Edward Prince, Major Mathew Starr, Lieutenant Samuel Woodward and two privates boarded a steamship in Baton Rouge to have the Woodruff repaired in New Orleans. The problem more than likely occurred because Woodruff did not use a proven carriage type for his invention. Woodruff's carriages were made by Battle and Boyd, of Quincy, Ill. No examples of the carriage are known to exist today, but considering that one simply collapsed and the others later required repair, it is safe to assume that they were not well-constructed.
On May 1, 1863, Colonel Prince placed two of Smith's Woodruffs in support of A and D companies in the immediate area of Wall's Bridge, north of Baton Rouge, and there they helped repel the Confederates. However, as in every case of successful use of the Woodruff, there was no enemy artillery on hand to counter the little 2-pounders.
The 10th Illinois Volunteer Cavalry had six Woodruffs, and apparently all of them ended up at Fort Davison in Pilot Knob, Mo. Five months before the assault on Fort Davison, Lt. Col. John N. Herder reported optimistically to Brig. Gen. Thomas Ewing, "I wish guerrillas would show themselves in force so as to give us a chance to whip them to hell from where they can rise no more." On September 28, 1864, the report of Confederate Major W. W. Dunlap listed six of Herder's Woodruffs as being captured at Pilot Knob. There is little mention of the Woodruffs in the actual fighting, probably because the fort also was equipped with four 32-pounders and two 24-pounders. No doubt the large pieces did the real fighting.
Despite this, the logistical information given by Herder is interesting. He reported on April 15, 1864, that "the boxes belonging to caissons for the Woodruff smooth-bore guns are being altered to suit the new kind of ammunition." He later wrote, "The last issue of ordnance a new kind of cartridge was received not fitting the boxes, being 1 1/2 inches longer than the old ones." His words are evidence that the new cartridges were heavier, dart or Minie bullet-like projectiles. They weighed 2 pounds, 14 ounces, with an extremely deep, wide cavity and a heavy nose designed to make the projectile fly like a dart. It seems possible that the St. Louis Arsenal, where the cartridges presumably originated, was trying to improve the hitting power of the Woodruff. However, if this was the case, no real improvement was ever noted.
William Forse Scott was considerably less impressed by the performance of the Woodruff than Grierson had been. In Scott's The Story of a Cavalry Regiment, The Career of the Fourth Iowa Veteran Volunteers, he described the Woodruffs as being "small iron pieces, throwing a two-pound solid shot." He said further: "They were of no value and were generally voted a nuisance. They were never known to hit anything, and never served any useful purpose, except in promoting cheerfulness in the regiment. The men were never tired of making jokes and teasing Washburn [Cyrus Washburn was the private in charge of the three Woodruffs] about them." In fact, the most practical purpose the Woodruffs rendered to the 4th Iowa Volunteer Cavalry was to serve as carts for dead bodies.
The Woodruff gun, despite an occasional successful engagement, was a completely obsolete piece of equipment. Its only claim to fame was that it was pressed into service with several noteworthy units and had been indirectly placed in these units by order of President Lincoln himself. Two of the most qualified men in the Union Army, General Scott and General Ripley, went on record as being completely against the Woodruff's incorporation into Federal service. Their rejection was based on several flaws in James Woodruff's gun plan. One, the ordnance department did not need to deal with the complication of production and issue of yet another type of odd ammunition. Two, the M1841 Mountain and Prairie Howitzers were generally better proven designs already within the Federal ordnance system. Three, the Woodruff gun had a "claimed" range of 2,200 yards with solid shot. This was exactly half the range of the Parrott, one of the most common guns on the Civil War battlefield. Its shell was also approximately eight pounds heavier than the Woodruff's.
It is doubtful that the Woodruff had any real effect on advancing infantry or cavalry, except when firing canister. In this role it was limited to a range of 700 yards, and its light projectile weight greatly limited its effectiveness. Even without artillery support, determined infantry should have been able to overrun Woodruff gun batteries.
The Civil War marked a real turning point in American history. It was the first war in which the need for industrial technology was at least as great as the need for troops. In the case of field artillery in 1861, technology had developed to include rifled long-range, large-caliber guns, light enough for field service. That year also saw the continued use of 1840s-style howitzers that served well against infantry. Their lesser range, however, often prohibited their use as counter battery weapons. This was the niche for the rifled gun.
The Woodruff, with its short-range, non-rifled small bore, did not fit into that niche. The Woodruff was left with no logical place on the Civil War battlefield, except the rare occasion when there was no enemy artillery to counter it. Even in the Western territories, where fewer modem weapons were available, there was virtually no place for the Woodruff. It would have made far more sense for the Federal government to have used the funds devoted to the Woodruff and its ammunition for modem rifled guns or even the M1841 Mountain Howitzer.
This article was taken from: Lovett, Ralph. “The Undistinguished Woofruff Gun Had Only One True Supporter, Abraham Lincoln - But One Was Enough.” (American’s Civil War, July 1994), 8, 75-77. It is used with permission.