This 1902 field gun's carriage was produced at Rock Island Arsenal, Ill., and the artillery piece is now back on the arsenal, where it is housed in First Army headquarters.
This 1902 field gun's carriage was produced at Rock Island Arsenal, Ill., and the artillery piece is now back on the arsenal, where it is housed in First Army headquarters. (Photo Credit: Warren Marlow) VIEW ORIGINAL

First Army headquarters is now housing a 1902 field gun, the type of weapon that served as the standard U.S. Army field artillery piece from 1902 until 1917.

It fired a 76.2-milimemter projectile and had a maximum range of 7,800 meters. This particular field gun’s carriage was produced at Rock Island Arsenal, Ill., in 1905 and came mounted with a foreign-made barrel. 

At the start of World War I, the U.S. continued to use the Model 1902/1905 field gun until it was replaced with the rapid fire French 75-milimeter cannon. 

The gun was transferred from the Army’s Center for Military History to First Army as part of its Organizational Heritage Material display.