War, the Moralist may raise his voice against the justice of it, but the
practical philosopher can see very little chance of its cessation, and
actuated with the very best intentions, will endeavour to render War as
terrible as possible, well knowing, that as soon as certain death awaits
two rival armies, princes must fight their own battles, or war must
cease.
~First missile weapons, sticks and stones.~
~Javelin.~
~Sling.~
~Bow.~
~Arbalest.~
Man’s first rude attempts at missile weapons were doubtless limited to
throwing sticks and stones by the mere aid of his hands; acts in which
the monkey, the bear, and even the seal are very successful emulators. A
desire of more successful aggression, together with increased facilities
for the destruction of game and wild animals, doubtless soon suggested
to man the use of projectiles more efficient than these. By a very
slight change of form, the simple stick would become a javelin, capable
of being hurled with great force and precision. An aid would suggest
itself for casting a stone, by means of a fillet or band, subsequently
called a sling, and next would be invented the bow, which, in process of
time by subsequent additions would become the arbalest or cross-bow.
~Axes used as projectiles.~
It appears that axes have been used as _projectiles_: for Procopius,
describing the expedition of the Franks into Italy, in the sixth
century, tells us:--Among the hundred thousand men that King Theodobert
I. led into Italy, there were but few horsemen. The cavalry carried
spears. The infantry had neither bow nor spear, all their arms being a
sword, an axe, and a shield. The blade of the axe was large, its handle
of wood, and very short. They _hurl_ their axes against the shields of
the enemy, which by this means are broken; and then, springing on the
foe, they complete his destruction with the sword.
~Tomahawk used as a projectile.~
A hatchet or tomahawk is used as a projectile weapon by the North
American Indians. The difficulty of throwing such a weapon with effect,
would of course consist in causing the edge to strike the object aimed
at. Now, such a hatchet as they usually make use of, if thrown by its
handle, will revolve in a perpendicular plane about once in every three
yards, irrespective of the force with which it moves. An Indian judges
his enemy to be distant from him any multiple of 3 yards as 15, 18, 21,
and strikes him full with the edge of his weapon accordingly.
~“Chuckur” or disk used as a projectile.~
A circular disk or quoit is in use in India amongst the Sikhs,
particularly that sect of them called Akali, as a weapon, and in their
warlike exercises; the species used in war have a triangular section,
those thrown for amusement are flat with a sharp edge. A skilful man
will throw one of these chuckers or quoits to a distance of a hundred
and thirty yards, or more, with very considerable accuracy, the quoit
being at no period of its flight above six feet from the ground. The
sharpness of edge, combined with the rotatory motion of these quoits,
and the difficulty of avoiding them, renders them formidable weapons in
skilled hands. The Akali wear them on their turbans, of several
different sizes and weights; a small one is often worn as a bracelet on
the arm. Many of these fanatics took part in the last Sikh war, and
severe wounds made with these weapons were by no means uncommon.
~Armour and fortifications.~
By the time portable weapons would have been brought to some degree of
perfection, man’s increasing sciences and civilization would have led
him to make armour, to build cities, and enclose them with walls. Now
would arise the necessity for other projectiles of greater force,
inasmuch as in the event of war, the armour should be penetrated, and
walls, &c., would have to be demolished.
~Improved projectiles.~
~Change to heavy projectiles.~
~Catapulta.~
~Balistæ.~
~Sling principles.~
The transition from portable projectiles to those of a heavier class was
obvious enough. Enormous javelins and darts were hurled by cross-bows of
corresponding size, termed Catapultæ, (plate x.), and stones, &c., were
thrown by Balistæ (plate ix. and xii); and secondly, instruments formed
on the principle of the sling.
~Projectiles used with Catapulta.~
These machines threw not only large darts and stones, but also the
bodies of men and horses. Athenæus speaks of a Catapulta which was only
one foot long, and threw an arrow to the distance of half a mile. Other
engines, it is said, could throw javelins from one side of the Danube to
the other. Balistæ threw great beams of wood, lances twelve cubits long,
and stones that weighed three hundred pounds.
~Millstones, &c., used in England.~
Our forefathers used to cast forth mill-stones. Holinshead relates that
when Edward I. besieged Stively Castle, he caused certain engines to be
made, which shot off stones of two or three hundred weight.
~B. C. 1451.~
~B. C. 809.~
~First mention of Artillery.~
The first intimation of trees being cut down “to build bulwarks against
the city till it be subdued,” occurs in Deut. xx., 19, 20, but the
earliest precise mention of Artillery is in 2nd Chron., xxvi, 15, where
we are told that Uzziah “made in Jerusalem engines invented by cunning
men, to be upon the towers and upon the bulwarks, to shoot arrows and
great stones withal;” and Josephus relates that Uzziah “made many
engines of war for besieging cities, such as hurl stones and darts with
grapplers, and other instruments of that sort.” He must therefore be
considered the inventor of them, and from that time they began to be
employed in attacking and defending towns.
~Balistæ at Regium, B. C. 388.~
~At Motya B. C. 370.~
The earliest instances of projectile machines in profane history appear
to be at the siege of Regium and Motya by Dionysius, where, having
battered the walls with his rams, he advanced towards them towers rolled
on wheels, from whence he galled the besieged with continual volleys of
stones and arrows, thrown from his Balistæ and Catapultæ.
~At Rhodes B. C. 303.~
The next memorable instance is the siege of Rhodes by Demetrius
Polyorcetes, who brought forward a newly invented machine, called
Helepolis, (taker of Cities), with a variety of other engines, and
employed 30,000 men in the management of them.
~Balistæ at Cremona.~
Tacitus mentions an extraordinary engine, used by the 15th Legion at the
battle of Cremona, against the troops of Vespasian. It was a Balista of
enormous size, which discharged stones of weight sufficient to crush
whole ranks at once. Inevitable ruin would have been the consequence,
had not two soldiers, undiscovered, cut the ropes and springs. At
length, after a vigorous assault from Antonius, the Vittelians, unable
to resist the shock, rolled down the engine, and crushed numbers of
their assailants, but the machine, in falling, drew after it a
neighbouring tower, the parapet, and part of the wall, which afforded
the besiegers easier access to the city.
~Balistæ at siege of Jotapata.~
~Dead men and horses projected.~
Josephus relates that at the siege of Jotapata, “a stone from one of the
Roman engines carried the head of a soldier, who was standing by him,
three furlongs off;” that “lances were thrown with great noise, and
stones, weighing 114lbs. troy, “together with fire and a multitude of
arrows.” The dead bodies of men and horses were also thrown at this
siege, and at that of Jerusalem, A. D. 70, to inspire terror.
~Form of Balistæ.~
The earliest form of Balistæ appears to have been a very long beam,
suspended in a frame on a centre of motion, one end being considerably
longer than the other. To the short end was attached a great weight,
such as a chest filled with earth or stones. To the longer end a sling
was affixed, in which, after being drawn down, a stone was placed, and
on being suddenly let go, the long end flew up, and discharged the stone
with great violence.
~Form of Catapultæ.~
Catapultæ were sometimes constructed to discharge a flight of arrows at
once, by placing them on a rack, and causing a strong plank, previously
drawn back, to strike against their ends. The more perfect engines of
the Romans were all dependent on the elasticity of twisted cords made of
flax, hemp, the sinews or tendons of animals, from the neck of the bull,
or legs of the deer species, and ropes formed of human hair were
preferred to all others, as possessing greater strength and elasticity.
Catapultæ were immensely powerful bows, drawn back by capstans, levers,
or pulleys, having only a single cord for the arrow, (plate x.), but the
Balistæ had a broad band, formed of several ropes to project the stone,
which was placed in a kind of cradle, like a cross-bow. (plate xii.)
~Balistæ at battle of Hastings 1066~
The Normans appear to have introduced a kind of Field-Artillery,
consisting of instruments or machines, from which darts and stones were
thrown to a considerable distance, as they occur at the battle of
Hastings. They also employed arrows, headed with combustible matter, for
firing towns and shipping.
~Fiery darts, A. D. 64.~
We read in the Scriptures of “Fiery Darts.” Ephns. vi., 16.
~Fire from Balistæ.~
Our ancestors derived the knowledge of some composition from the
Saracens, which resembled Greek-fire, and was often thrown in pots from
the Balistæ.
~Fire by Arabs commencement of 13th century.~
From a treatise on the “Art of Fighting,” by Hassan Abrammah, we learn
that the Arabs of the 13th century employed their incendiary
compositions in four different ways. They cast them by hand; they fixed
them to staves, with which they attacked their enemies; they poured
forth fire through tubes; and they projected burning mixtures of various
kinds by means of arrows, javelins, and the missiles of great engines.
~Bombs of glass, &c.~
~Fire-mace.~
Vessels of glass or pottery, discharged by hand or by machines, were so
contrived, that on striking the object at which they were aimed, their
contents spread around, and the fire, already communicated by a fusee,
enveloped everything within its reach. A soldier, on whose head was
broken a fire-mace, became suddenly soaked with a diabolic fluid, which
covered him from head to foot with flame.
~Bombs from Balistæ.~
Bombs were also thrown from Balistæ. An engine was constructed at
Gibraltar, under the direction of General Melville, at the desire of
Lord Heathfield, for the purpose of throwing stones just over the edge
of the rock, in a place where the Spaniards used to resort, and where
shells thrown from mortars could not injure or annoy them.
~Onager.~
Of machines formed on the sling principle, that called Onager (plates
vii. and viii.) may be regarded as typical of all the rest. Its force
entirely depended upon the torsion of a short thick rope, acting upon a
lever which described an arc of a vertical circle. The lever had
attached to its free extremity a sling, or sometimes it merely
terminated in a spoon-shaped cavity. When bent back, it was secured by a
catch or trigger, and charged with a stone. On starting the catch by a
blow with a mallet, the lever described its arc of a circle with great
velocity, and projected the stone to a considerable distance.
I shall now briefly describe some of the portable missive weapons which
have been used by different nations.
~Javelin.~
~Arms of the early Romans.~
~Aid to projection.~
The Javelin, or dart, variously modified, is known under several names.
The ancients were well acquainted with it. In the Scriptures, we have
frequent notice of it; and the ancients instituted javelin matches. It
would appear that the javelin used on horseback was about five feet and
a half long, and headed with steel, usually three-sided, but sometimes
round. The Roman Cavalry, after the conquest of Greece, were armed much
like the Infantry, carrying swords, shields, and javelins with points at
both ends. Sometimes, in order to launch it with greater force, it was
not propelled by the unaided arm, but by the assistance of a thong
fastened to its butt end; and we are informed that the Greeks and Romans
projected darts and javelins by the assistance of a sling or strap, girt
round their middle.
~Djereed.~
~Pilum.~
~Australian mode.~
~Harpoon.~
At the present time, a javelin, termed Djereed, is used with
considerable effect by certain oriental nations, who invariably employ
it on horseback. The Roman infantry possessed a weapon of the javelin
kind, termed Pilum, every man of the legionary soldiers carrying two.
The point of this weapon being very long and small, was usually so bent
at the first discharge as to be rendered useless afterwards. With every
improvement that the javelin was susceptible of, it never could acquire
a long range; hence we find, that as Archery became developed, the use
of the weapon declined. Amongst savage nations, the use of the javelin
is very common, but the inhabitants of Australia have a manner of
throwing it altogether peculiar to themselves, not throwing it while
poised at the balance, but projecting it by means of a stick applied at
the butt end. This contrivance accomplishes a great increase of range,
but does not contribute to accuracy of direction. At short distances,
the penetrating force of the javelin is considerable, as is learned from
the act of harpooning a whale, a harpoon being merely a javelin.
THE SLING.
~Slings mentioned in Judges. B. C. 1406.~
~Slings used B. C. 1406.~
Means by which stones would be thrown by greater force than the hand,
would naturally be resorted to; accordingly we find the sling ranks
amongst the first of ancient offensive weapons. Numerous examples are
mentioned in Scripture, as in Judges xx., 16, “Among all this people,
there were seven hundred chosen men left-handed; every one could sling
stones at a hair breadth and not miss;” and also that of David and
Goliath, &c.
~Siege of Troy between 800 and 900 B. C.~
~Battle of the Granicus B. C. 334.~
~First Punic war 241 to 263 B. C.~
At the siege of Troy, the masses were organized into two kinds of
infantry: one light and irregular, carrying horn bows, short darts, and
slings; the other regular and heavy, armed with spears. At the battle of
the Granicus, B. C. 334, Alexander the Great had in his army light
infantry, consisting of slingers, bow-men, and javelin-men. The
Carthagenians had slingers in their pay before the first Punic War.
~Slings common in Greece.~
~Slingers in Roman armies.~
The Sling was very common in Greece, and used by the light armed
soldiers. Arrows, stones, and leaden plummets, were thrown from them,
some of which weighed no less than an Attic pound. Seneca reports that
its motion was so vehement that the leaden plummets were frequently
melted!!! The Romans had slingers in their armies, for the most part
inhabitants of the Islands of Majorca, Minorca and Ivica.
~Invention ascribed to Phœnicians and also to inhabitants of Balearic
islands.~
Pliny ascribes the invention of slings to the Phœnicians, but Vegetius
to the inhabitants of the Balearic Islands, who were famous in antiquity
for using them. It is said, those people bore three kinds of slings,
some longer and others shorter, to be used as their enemies were nearer
or more remote; the first served them for a head band, the second for a
girdle, and the third they always carried in their hands. In fight they
threw large stones with such violence, that they seemed to be projected
from some machine, and with such exactness, as rarely to miss their aim;
being constantly exercised from their infancy, their mothers not
allowing them to have any food, until they struck it down from the top
of a pole with stones thrown from their slings.
~Materials of slings.~
~Slings with cup.~
~Staff-sling.~
The Latin for our English word farm is _fundus_, which originally
signifies a “stone’s-throw of land,” or as much land as could be
included within the range of a stone thrown from a sling. The materials
of which slings were composed, were either flax, hair or leather, woven
into bands or cut into thongs, broad in the centre to receive the load,
and tapering off to the extremities. Slings have been made with three
strings, with a cup let into the leather to hold the bullet or stone,
and were called “Fronde à culôt.” In plate xiii, fig. 3, there is a
representation of a slinger of the early part of the thirteenth century,
whose weapon differs from that of the Anglo-Saxon or common sling, in
having a cup for the reception of the projectile. Slings were sometimes
attached to sticks to increase their power, as, besides the ancient cord
sling, there appears in the manuscripts of the thirteenth century a
variety of this arm; the “Staff Sling.” (plate xiii, fig. 2.) It seems
to have been in vogue for naval warfare, or in the conflicts of siege
operations.
~Force of slings.~
~Used for the English, A. D. 1342.~
~Bullets out of slings.~
The slings projected their missiles with such force that no armour could
resist their stroke. Slings never appear to have been much used by the
English, although Froissart mentions an instance of their having been
used for them by the people of Brittany, in a battle fought in that
province during the reign of Philip de Valois, between the troops of
Walter de Manin, an English knight, and Louis d’Espagne, who commanded
six thousand men on behalf of Charles de Blois, then competitor with the
Earl of Montford for the Duchy of Brittany. Froissart says, that what
made Louis lose the battle was, that during the engagement the country
people came unexpectedly and assaulted his army with _bullets_ and
slings.
~Slings at the siege of Sancere, 1572.~
~Range.~
~Slings last used, 1814.~
According to the same author, slings were used in naval combats, when
stones were also sometimes thrown by hand.[2] Slings were used in 1572,
at the siege of Sancere by the Huguenots, in order to save their powder.
They were also used by the people of Brittany to such an extent against
the Roman Catholic party, that the war was called “Guerre de Fronde.”
With respect to the range of this projectile, it is said, that a good
slinger could project a stone 600 yards. This seems doubtful. The most
recent instance of slings being used in war, occurs in “Straith on
Fortification,” page 121, and which contains an extract from the siege
journal of Serjeant St. Jacques of the French Corps de Genie, who was
most successfully employed with a small French garrison in the defence
of the Castles of Monzowin, Arragon, against the Spaniards, 1814.
[2] It is stated by Sir Robert Wilson that at the battle of Alexandria
the French and English threw stones at each other, during a temporary
want of ammunition, with such effect that a Serjeant of the 28th
Regiment was killed, and several of the men were wounded. Stones were
thrown by the English Guards at the battle of Inkerman.
THE BOW.
~The bow almost universal.~
This weapon under some shape or other was employed by most nations of
antiquity, but not always as a warlike instrument. Scarcely any two
nations made their bows exactly alike. The Scythian bow we are told, was
very much curved, as are the Turkish, Persian, and Chinese bows (plate
iv. figs. 1 & 2) at the present day, whilst the celebrated weapon of our
ancestors when unstrung was nearly straight.
It is now used among those savage tribes of Africa and America, to which
fire-arms have not yet reached.
~Bows in Scripture.~
~Bows B. C. 1892.~
~B. C. 1760.~
~B. C. 1058.~
~Manner of drawing the bow.~
~First used by Romans.~
We frequently read of the bow in Scripture, and the first passage in
which the use of the bow is inferred, is in Gen. xxi. 20, where it is
said of Ishmael, “And God was with the lad, and he grew, and dwelt in
the wilderness and became an archer.” But in the 16th verse it is said
that Hagar his mother, “sat her down over against him, a good way off,
as it were a _bow shot_; for she said let me not see the death of the
child”:--this verse implies an earlier practice with the bow than can be
adduced by any profane historian. In Gen. xxvii. 3, Isaac directs his
son Esau: “Now therefore take I pray thee thy weapons, thy quiver and
thy bow, and go out to the field, and take me some venison; and make me
savory meat, such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, and that
my soul may bless thee before I die.” The overthrow of Saul was
particularly owing to the Philistine archers; and “David bade them
teach the children of Judah the use of the bow.” The companies that came
to David at Ziklag were armed with bows, and “could use the right hand
and the left in hurling stones and shooting arrows.” (I. Chron. xii. 2.)
The bow is of very high antiquity among the Greeks, whose bows were
usually made of wood, but sometimes of horn, and frequently in either
case beautifully ornamented with gold and silver; the string generally
made of twisted hair, but sometimes of hide. The ancient Persians drew
the strings towards their ears, as is the practice still with the
English. The ancient Greeks, however, drew the bowstring towards their
breast, and represented the fabled Amazons as doing the same, and hence
the tradition of these people cutting off their right breasts, in order
to give facility for drawing the bow. Until the second Punic war, the
Romans had no archers in their armies, except those who came with their
auxiliary forces. Subsequently they became more employed, although as
far as we can learn, not by native troops, but by Orientals in their
pay.
~Bows of Britons.~
~Bows of Welsh.~
~Bows of Anglo-Saxons.~
The early Britons had merely bows and arrows of reed, with flint or bone
heads. Arrows were used by the Welch in Norman reigns, who were famous
archers; their bows were made of wild elm, but stout, and not calculated
to shoot a great distance, but their arrows would inflict very severe
wounds in close fight. Their arrows would pierce oaken boards four
inches thick. The bow was also a weapon of war among the Anglo-Saxons.
The Salic law shows that both the sling and the bow were used by the
contemporary Franks; and they even used poisoned arrows. The Anglo-Saxon
bow was of the form of the Grecian, but it was only under the Normans
that the bow became a master weapon; the Saxons principally using it,
like the people of Tahiti of the present day, for killing birds.
~No bows in France A. D. 514.~
During the reign of Clovis, the French made no use of the bow in their
armies, but it was employed during the reign of Charlemagne, who
flourished in the end of the eighth century; as a Count is mentioned,
who was directed on conducting soldiers to the army, to see they had
their proper arms; that is a lance, a buckler, a bow, two strings, and
twelve arrows.
~A. D. 1066. Harold shot with an arrow~
~Known by Danes and Saxons.~
~As a military weapon at the battle of Hastings.~
~Archery encouraged by statute.~
~Long bow in conquest of Ireland 1172.~
William the Conqueror was a skilful archer, and the battle of Hastings
was decided by the bow, and we hear that Harold was shot with an arrow.
Although the Anglo-Saxons and Danes were well acquainted with the bow
from the earliest period, it appears to have been only employed for
obtaining food, or for pastime, and we are perhaps indebted to the
Norman Conquest for its introduction as a military weapon. The Normans
at the battle of Hastings are said to have used the arbalest or
cross-bow as well as the long bow. Ever after this, the bow became a
favourite weapon. During the reign of Henry II., archery was much
cultivated, and great numbers of bowmen were constantly brought into the
field; and to encourage its practice, a law was passed, which freed from
the charge of murder any one who in practising with arrows or darts,
should kill a person standing near. This appears to be the first
regulation to be found in our annals, and was probably founded on the
old law of Rome. The English conquests in Ireland during the reign of
Henry II. were principally owing to the use of the long bow in battle,
which the Irish wanted. The Invasion of Ireland was headed by Richard de
Clare, Earl of Pembroke, surnamed “Strong-bow.” His force was
numerically very small, consisting chiefly of archers, and it is stated
that such was the advantage their superior arms and military skill gave
the invaders, that 10 knights and 70 archers defeated a body of 3000
Irish opposed to them, on their landing near Waterford.
~A. D. 1199.~