The cannon was used during the early years of the American Civil War, but it was soon outclassed by newer field guns such as the M1857 12-pounder Napoleon.

However, the Confederate States Army continued to use the cannon for a longer period because the lesser industrial capacity of the South could not produce new guns as fast as the North.

Bronze, an alloy made up of about 90% copper and 10% tin, was strong enough to resist the explosion of gunpowder without bursting the cannon.

Iron cannons were heavier than bronze guns; this was not a problem with large caliber weapons aboard ships or in fortresses, but field artillery pieces needed to be lighter and more mobile.

[1] Before a cannon was accepted into service, it was subjected to proof testing in order to determine if the piece met the desired specifications and was safe to fire.

[8] In 1835, the U.S. Army Ordnance Board meeting in Watervliet, New York decided to switch to bronze field guns.

[13] The Eagle Foundry of Miles Greenwood of Cincinnati delivered 97 bronze 6-pounders of which 43 were rifled between August 1861 and December 1862.

The Western Foundry of William D. Marshall & Company of St. Louis manufactured 33 bronze 6-pounders of which six were rifled between December 1861 and May 1862.

[14] The Model 1841 bronze 6-pounder gun barrel was 60 in (152.4 cm) from the base ring to the muzzle and weighed 880 lb (399.2 kg).

The spherical case shot weighed 5.7 lb (2.6 kg) and released 41 musket balls when it burst.

[17] At 5° elevation, the gun could hurl the round shot a distance of 1,523 yd (1,392.6 m) with the standard firing charge of 1.25 lb (0.6 kg).

General Zachary Taylor led a force numbering 2,228 troops that included two 18-pounder heavy cannons and two 4-gun light batteries under Major Samuel Ringgold and Captain James Duncan.

The next morning, the Mexican army withdrew to a second position, but it was defeated that day at the Battle of Resaca de la Palma.

[27] At Palo Alto, both Ringgold's and Duncan's batteries maneuvered rapidly and inflicted severe casualties in the Mexican ranks.

Near the end of the action, under the cover of smoke, Duncan's battery unlimbered 300 yd (274 m) from its opponents and caused the Mexican right flank to pull back.

[30] However, American Civil War combat experience soon showed that bronze smoothbore 6-pounder field guns were no longer effective weapons.

[33] During the Battle of Pea Ridge in the far west Trans-Mississippi theater on 7–8 March 1862, both armies still employed significant numbers of smoothbore and rifled 6-pounder field guns.

Battery A, 2nd Illinois Light Artillery Regiment had two rifled and two smoothbore 6-pounder field guns and two 12-pounder howitzers.

[36] Because the South lacked the North's industrial capacity, the 6-pounders were employed by Confederate armies for a longer period.

[39] On 13 November 1862, the Confederate Chief of Ordnance Josiah Gorgas issued an order that the only bronze guns to be manufactured must be 12-pounder Napoleons.

[40] At the Battle of Brice's Cross Roads the Confederates used canister in this old weapon to deadly effect.