2020 September Premier, Volume I

1861 Phoenix
3-Inch Rifle
138
LOT 136
1861 Dated Civil
War Phoenix Iron
Company U.S. 3-Inch
Ordnance Rifle with Carriage - This
model was invented by John Griffen and was
reported to be very accurate under a mile.
Many of the roughly 350 3-Inch Ordnance Rifles extant lie within national historic sites/military parks.
These were the second most common rifled field artillery pieces during the Civil War, and only one burst
in action. This cannon was manufactured by the Phoenix Iron Company of Phoenixville, Pennsylvania,
just northwest of Philadelphia and inspected in 1861 by Union inspector Theodore Thaddeus Sobieski
Laidley. The company produced most (around 1,000) of the 3-Inch Ordnance Rifles. As this is an early
example, it properly does not have the Reeve’s patent marking; only numbers 1-235 do not have the
stamp. These early rifles were made using Griffen’s method which used wrought iron rods bundled and
then welded together before drilling out the bore. Reeve’s improvement was stronger and involved rolls
of iron. It has “TTSL No 81 PI Co 1861/819 lbs” on the muzzle, “US” on top over the trunnions, “10” and “1[horizontal]/6” on the trunnion straps, 3 inch bore that is
65 inches in length, black painted metal, green painted reproduction wood carriage, roughly 56 inch diameter wheels, a small blade front sight, rods, and a tampion.