Rhonda

Thank You for the link. I ran accross that a couple of days ago and found it interesting.

I have not been able to find anything absolutely certain about these guns. Most I have talked too seem to think that the guns attached to the 1st Indiana Cavalry were rifled 2 pound Woodruff Guns. But again nothing more than the same conjecture to support that belief either.

The cannon in the link that you show reminds me that it was not uncommon for there to be artillery not on any "official" roster, which was owned by local militias and even civilians, which were pressed into service. There are several accounts, especially among the Confederates, where details were ordered to go to such and such aplace and get the cannon, which was being held at that location by citizens.

It was also very common for almost every cavalry unit west of the Mississippi both Union and Confederate to have small light artilley attached to the regiment. Usually these were 12 pound Mountain Howitzers. But in the case of the 1st Indiana Cavalry, during the Battle of Helena, the OR's mention the guns as being "2 pounders". How accurate this description was is a matter of much discussion.

Certainly "IF" they were 2 pound guns it would seem to narrow the possible choice to the Woodruff and Ellsworth Guns. And certainly the Woodruff gun, although rare in it own rights, was more plentiful that the Ellsworth Gun. However, because 12 Ellsworth guns were sold prior to the war to the Kansas Militia, I don't believe that the Ellsworth gun can be ruled out in favor of the Woodruff gun for this reason, that the Kansas Guns could have been "confiscated" into federal service in the same manner that other civilian own artillery was during the war.

It sure would be nice to find some Official table of organization and equipment issue which would accurately describe these guns used by the 1st Indiana Cavalry. I understand that such records may exist in the quarterly reports of the 1st Indiana Cavalry which were required to have been submitted. But where those records are, Who Knows?