expensive, as a whole cannon commonly weighs 8000lbs., requiring 90 men,
or 16 horses, with a charge of 40lbs. of powder, and a ball weighing
64lbs”.
~Length and weight gradually reduced.~
The length and diameter of cannon became gradually much reduced,
experience having determined how much they might be diminished in weight
without injury to their safety, or to the effects they were intended to
produce.
~Horse artillery by Frederick the Great.~
Frederick the Great of Prussia made some improvements with regard to the
calibre of field guns, and to him may be given the credit of the
introduction of Horse Artillery.
~Guns bored.~
Guns, at this period, were cast hollow by means of a core, which was
kept suspended in the centre of the mould, while the metal was being run
in. Owing, however, to the great difficulty experienced in keeping this
core in a perfectly true position, several artillerists deliberated
whether guns, cast hollow or solid, had the preference, and
investigations took place as to the possibility of boring the latter,
the result of which was, that Maritz, who had a foundry at Geneva,
informed the Court of France, in 1739, that he had discovered a method
of boring guns and mortars which had been cast solid. He was at once
invited to France, where, first at Lyons, and afterwards at Strasbourg,
he secretly worked at boring pieces of ordnance, which, on trial, proved
perfectly satisfactory.
~Guns of ice.~
In the year 1740, a curious experiment in artillery was made at St.
Petersburgh, where guns were cut out of solid ice, from which balls of
the same substance were fired repeatedly, without bursting.
~Improvements.~
~Axle-trees.~
~High limbers.~
~Reduction of windage.~
From this period, the science of artillery progressed rapidly, and
various improvements were made in this arm of the service, such as the
introduction of iron axle-trees, and high limbers for the carriages of
field guns. The reduction of windage, (mainly owing to the invention of
carronades), and the use of cartridges and elevating screws, which
latter served to render the fire of artillery much more rapid and
regular.
~Rifled ordnance 1774.~
The invention of rifled ordnance is claimed by a Dr. Lind and a Capt. A.
Blair, late 69th regt. Experiments were made at Landguard Fort, 26th
August, 1774, by which it was intended to prove that shot weighing
42lbs., in the shape of a pear, would do as much execution, fired out of
an 18 pounder, with a third of the quantity of powder, as could be
effected by round balls of the same weight, fired from a 42 pounder.
~Perforated and fluted shot.~
Sundry trials were also made with shot perforated through the centre,
and spirally fluted on the surface, suggested by Professor Anderson, of
Glasgow, in order to prevent the common aberration in the flight of
shot.
~Leaden projectiles.~
~Breech-loading Rifled cannon.~
There were different modes of charging the rifled guns; one was, after
the powder was put in, to take a leaden bullet something larger than the
bore of the gun, and grease it well; in ramming it down with an iron
rammer hollow at one end, the spiral threads of the rifle entered and
cut into the bullet, and caused it to turn round in going down, and on
being shot out, it would rotate on an axis coincident with its flight.
Another mode was to charge them at the breech, where an opening for the
reception of the powder and ball was afterwards closed up by a screw;
but some barrels were screwed off at the breech-end to be charged, where
they were made stronger than common.
~Congreve’s rockets.~
The adaptation of the rocket to the purposes of war, by Sir William
Congreve, in 1806, introduced a new feature into the artillery of this
and other countries.
~Mr. Monk’s improvements.~
Recently, at the suggestion of a Mr. Monk, of Woolwich Arsenal, a
quantity of useless metal has been removed from before the trunnions,
and the thickness increased considerably at the breech end, where alone
it was wanted.
~Mallet’s monster mortar.~
The monster mortars recently constructed by Mr. Mallet, of separate
compound hoops, must be regarded as a triumph of constructive skill. The
shell is 30 inches in diameter, holding a bursting charge of 480 lbs.,
and weighing when charged 1¹⁄₂ tons (3,360 lbs.). Value of shell
charged, £25. Weight, without bed, 42 tons. Weight of bed, 8 tons.
Total, 50 tons.
~Cavalli’s and Wahrendorff’s~
In 1846, two rifled cannon were invented, one by Major Cavalli, of the
Sardinian Artillery; and the other by Baron Wahrendorff, a Swedish
nobleman. Both of these were iron breech-loading guns, having two
grooves in order to give the requisite rifle motion to their
projectiles.
~Experiments to test.~
Experiments were carried on at Shoeburyness, in 1850, with these guns.
The deviations were always in the direction of the rotation of the
projectiles; but they were so variable in amount that no allowance could
be made for them in laying the gun with respect to the object. The
Cavalli gun became unserviceable after having fired four rounds, by the
copper ring or bouche imbedded in the metal of the gun at the bottom of
the bore being damaged. The Wahrendorff gun stood well, the wedge
resisting more effectually the force of the discharge than that of the
Cavalli gun.
~Lancaster’s rifle gun.~
Mr. Lancaster’s novel invention of applying the rifle principle to
cannon, may be described as “a two-grooved rifle in disguise,” having a
“gaining twist,” the bore being an ellipse.
~Defects of.~
The chief defect in the Lancaster gun is the liability of the projectile
to jam in the bore, both in loading and firing, the former rendering the
loading difficult, while the latter endangers the safety of the gun. In
consequence of several of these guns bursting, and also from the
anticipated large range with great precision not being obtained from
them, the Lancaster guns were removed from the service after the Crimean
war.
~Sir W. Armstrong.~
Sir W. Armstrong submitted a proposal for his breech-loading gun to the
Duke of Newcastle, then Minister at War, towards the end of 1854; his
proposal being accepted, and a gun accordingly constructed, it was
submitted to numerous trials, both at Shoeburyness, and near Sir W.
Armstrong’s private factory at Newcastle. This gun is now made entirely
of wrought iron, although the original one had a steel bore. It is a
built-up gun, that is to say, it is composed of separate pieces, each
piece being of such moderate size as to admit of being forged without
risk of flaw or failure. By this mode of construction, great strength,
and consequently, great lightness, are secured. The shell used combines
the principle of the shrapnel and percussion shell, i.e., it may be made
to explode either as it approaches the object, or as it strikes it.
Moreover, it may be made to explode at the instant of leaving the gun,
in which case, the pieces spread out like a fan, and produce the usual
effect of grape or canister. Armstrong’s guns are now (1860) being
employed in China.
~Whitworth.~
Mr. Whitworth’s rifled gun, with which experiments were lately made near
Liverpool, is also a breech-loading piece, and of the following
construction. The form of the bore is that of a hexagonal spiral, the
corners of which are rounded off. The inclination of the spiral varies
with the diameter of the bore, but is in all these guns very great, the
projectiles being comparatively long.
~French rifled ordnance.~
Rifled ordnance were introduced into the French service just previous to
the commencement of the late Italian war of 1859, and aiming at the
greatest practical simplicity, the French government adopted only one
nature of gun for field service, and one for siege purposes, both made
of bronze. The French rifled cannon are muzzle loading, and those first
introduced had two or three grooves, but the field pieces used in Italy
had six grooves, their inclination being about one turn in 59 inches. A
number of heavy cast-iron guns are rifled with two grooves, and have
been placed on board French ships of war; and these, unless
strengthened, could be used but with very small charges.
~Advantages of rifled guns.~
The advantages obtained by the successful employment of rifled guns--
Great accuracy of fire,
Long range,
Penetration,
Small charge,
Simplicity of equipment and ammunition,
Lightness of gun.
~Classification of artillery.~
Artillery may be classed under the several heads of field artillery
(including artillery of position), siege artillery and artillery for the
armament of garrisons, fortresses, and coast defences; its equipment is
a combination of men, materiel, and horses necessary for these services.
~Three kinds of guns.~
All ordnance employed in the service, may be divided into three classes,
viz., Guns, Mortars, and Howitzers.
~Carronades discontinued.~
Carronades may be considered obsolete, although a certain number are
still supplied to the navy, and a few will be found mounted in some
garrisons and coast batteries.
~Classification of guns and their uses.~
Guns are used for projecting shot and shell, horizontally or at very low
angles, and as they are fired with large charges of powder, which are
fixed for each nature of gun, very great strength and considerable
weight are required in their construction. Guns are of two kinds, viz.,
(solid) shot guns, and shell guns. Some guns are also classed as heavy,
medium, and light. Those generally employed for field service, are made
of bronze or gun-metal; all guns of higher calibre, of cast-iron.
~Mortars.~
Mortars are short pieces of ordnance, used to throw shells at high
angles (vertical fire), generally 45°, the charge varying with the range
required; they are distinguished by the diameters of their bores.
Mortars are made of cast-iron or bronze; the former being principally
intended for garrisons, battering trains, the navy, &c., and the latter,
which are of small calibre, and very light, are chiefly employed in
sieges.
~Howitzers.~
Howitzers resemble guns in form, but are much shorter and lighter in
proportion to their calibre, and are, consequently, fired with less
charges of powder; shells and case are fired from them, but not solid
shot.
~Use of Howitzers.~
~Superseded by shell guns.~
These pieces were originally introduced for the purpose of firing shells
at low angles, and have constantly been found most useful both in the
field and in siege operations during the wars of the last and present
centuries. Since, however, the introduction of shell guns their utility
has greatly decreased, for the shell gun possesses greater accuracy and
range than the howitzer, those being in the present day of greater
importance than small weight.
~Artillery from the East.~
The Germans claim the invention of cannon for their countryman,
Bartholdus Schwartz, who is said to have discovered it in 1336, but
seeing that fire-arms first became prevalent in Europe in those
countries which mixed with the Saracens, we are constrained to lean to
the opinion that fire-arms were not re-invented in Europe, but
introduced from the East.
This part of our subject might be much enlarged, but we have merely
attempted to give heads of information, which can be pursued by those
who desire to do so. We must now leave it, in order to treat upon that
more immediately interesting to officers of infantry, viz., the history
of portable fire-arms.
* * * * *
The following extract from an account of the furniture of the ship,
called the “Harry Grace de Dieu,” will give a good idea of the state of
the ordnance at the time of Henry VIII.:--
_Gonnes of Brasse._
Cannons,
Di. cannons,
Culveryns,
D. culveryns,
Sakers,
Cannon perers,
Fawcons,
_Gonnes of Yron._
Port pecys,
Slyngs,
Di. slyngs,
Fowlers,
Baessys,
Toppe peces,
Hayle shotte pecys,
Hand gonnes complete.
Another account of ancient English ordnance in Queen Elizabeth’s time,
mentions the following:--
Bombards,
Bombardilles,
Cannon royal,
Cannon,
Cannon serpentine,
Bastard cannon,
Demi cannon,
Cannon petre,
Culverin,
Basilisk,
Demi culverin,
Bastard culverin,
Sacar,
Minion,
Faulcon,
Falconet,
Serpentine,
Rabinet.
ETYMOLOGIES.
CANNON.--From the Latin word _canna_, signifying a tube or cane.
HOWITZER.--From the German word _haubitz_, (derived from _haube_, top of
a furnace), in French, _obus_, or _obusier_.
CARRONADE.--From _Carron Ironworks_, near Stirling, where it was
invented in the year 1774.
BOMBARD.--From the Greek word _bombos_, or noise.
BOMBARDILLE.--A smaller kind of bombards.
BASILISK.--The name of a snake.
CULVERIN.--From the French _couleuvrine_, from _couleuvre_, a snake.
SAKER.--From _Saker_, or _Sacre_, a bird of the falcon species.
FALCON.--From the _bird_ of that name.
CANNON PERERS.--_Stone-throwers_, from the French word _pierre_, a
stone.
TOPPE PECES.--To be used in the tops, _i.e._, the stands on the ship’s
masts.
NOTE.--The History of Artillery is mainly compiled from the
following:--“Engines of War,” by Wilkinson; “Ancient Armour and
Weapons in Europe,” by John Hewitt; “Military Antiquities,” by F.
Grose; “Critical Inquiry into Ancient Armour,” by Meyrick; “Elementary
Lectures on Artillery,” by Major C. H. Owen and Capt. T. L. Dames,
R.A.; and “Our Engines of War,” by Capt. Jarvis, M.P., Royal
Artillery.
HISTORY OF PORTABLE FIRE-ARMS.
~Form of early hand-guns.~
The earliest hand-guns differed in nothing but in size from the small
cannon of the day: they consisted of a metal tube fixed in a straight
stock of wood; the vent was at the top of the barrel; there was no lock
of any kind. The barrels were short and made of iron or brass; they were
occasionally furnished with moveable chambers. (Plate 19, fig. 1.)
~With trunnions.~
~Breech-loader.~
A specimen of hand-cannon of the early part of the reign of Henry VI.,
is made of iron, and furnished with trunnions, which from this specimen,
appear to have been appropriated to small fire-arms before they were
adopted for artillery. The breech is made of a separate piece and
screwed on to the tube, on the further end of which is a sight. It was
placed on a stock or club, and fired by hand with a match. (Plate 19,
fig. 2.)
~Invented 14th century.~
That hand-guns were invented, though but rarely appearing, in the
fourteenth century, seems very probable from several cotemporary
evidences. An inquisition taken in 1375, at Huntercombe, (a place
belonging to the Abbey of Dorchester) and now preserved among the
records at the Chapterhouse, Westminster, states that one Nicholas
Huntercombe, with others, to the number of forty men, armed with
“haubergeons, plates, bacenettes, cum aventayles, paletes, lanceis,
scutis, arcubus, sagittis, balistis, _et gonnes_, venerunt ad Manerium
de Huntercombe, and there made assault,” &c. It appears very improbable
that a body of men making a sudden attack upon an abbey manor-house,
would be armed with any kind of “gonnes” except hand-guns.
~Bohemia 1340.~
~Lithuanians 1383.~
Mons. Mangeot states that “canons de fusil” were said to have been first
invented in Bohemia, 1340, but that it is safer to fix the date at 1378,
when mention is made of the “arquebuse à mèche” in Germany. In the year
1381, the inhabitants of Augsburg had thirty six arquebusiers, and in
the following year they had portable fire-arms at the battle of
Rosabecque. In 1383 the Lithuanians were acquainted with hand fire-arms,
and used them at the siege of Froski. All these arms had straight
stocks.
In the excavations of the Castle of Tannenberg, dismantled in 1399,
there was found a hand-gun of brass, with part of the wooden stock
remaining, and the iron rammer belonging to it.
An early mention of the hand-gun is that of Juvenal des Ursins, who
tells us, under the year 1414, that they were used at the siege of
Arras.
~Siege of Lucca 1430.~
~Said to have been invented in Italy.~
Billius, a learned and noble Milanese, who lived at the time, says that
hand-guns were first used at the siege of Lucca, in 1430. The
Florentines were provided with artillery, which, by the force of
gunpowder, discharged large stones, but the Luccquese perceiving that
they did very little execution, came at last to despise them, and every
day renewed their sallies to the great slaughter of their enemies, by
the help of _small fire-arms_, to which the Florentines were strangers,
and which before this time were not known in Italy. Billius explains
this by saying, “That besides darts and balistas for arrows, they
invented a new kind of weapon. They carried in their hand a club, a
cubit and a half long, to which were affixed iron barrels. These they
filled with sulphur and nitre, and by the power of fire, iron balls were
thus ejected.” (Plate 19, fig. 1 and 10).
~Scorpion.~
About this time the scorpion (afterwards a piece of ordnance) was a tube
for firing gunpowder, held in the hand, and called by the English,
hand-cannon, and also hand-culverines.
~Made of brass.~
From a roll of purchases for Holy Island 1446 is,--“bought 11 hand
gunnes de ere,” from whence we learn that they were made of brass.
~Edward IV.~
~Harquebus invented.~
~Stock, &c., from cross-bow.~
~Match-lock. 1478.~
Hand-guns, or hand-cannons were used in the early part of the reign of
Edward IV., and towards the close of it, we learn from Philip de
Comines, that the harquebus was invented; this seems to have been an
improvement on the hand-gun. The Latin word used for this weapon was
arcusbusus, evidently derived from the Italian, arca-bouza, a bow with a
tube or hole; to that people, therefore, are we to ascribe the
application of the stock and trigger in imitation of the cross-bow.
Hitherto the match had been applied by the hand to the touch-hole, but
the trigger of the arbalest suggested the idea of one to catch into a
cock, which having a slit in it, might hold the match, and by the motion
of the trigger be brought down on a pan which held the priming, the
touch-hole being no longer at the top but at the side. (Plate 19, fig.
9).
~Hand-gun improvements.~
~Sighted.~
The hand-gun was _cast_ in brass, and, as a tube, was of greater length
than the hand cannon; a flat piece of brass, made to turn upon a pin,
covered the pan which contained the powder; it had also a piece of brass
fixed on the breech, and perforated to ensure the aim.
~Hand-guns in England 1471.~
~Made in England, 1474.~
The first introduction of hand-guns into England, we find, was soon
after their invention in Italy; in the year 1471, King Edward IV.,
landed at Ravenspurg, in Yorkshire, and brought with him, among other
forces, three hundred Flemings, armed with “hange-gunnes.” In 1474, he
directed “all the bombs, cannon, culverines, fowlers, surpentines, and
all other cannon whatsoever, as also powder, sulphur, saltpetre, stones,
iron, lead and other materials, fit and necessary for the same cannon,
wherever found, to be taken and provided for his use, paying a
reasonable price for the same.”
~Harquebusiers.~
~Morat 1476.~
Arquebusiers, or harquebusiers, are mentioned as troops, by Philip de
Comines, in these words, where he speaks of the battle of Morat, fought
on the 22nd of June, 1476. “The said towns had in their army, as some
that were in the battle informed me, 35,000 men, whereof fower thousand
were horsemen, the rest footmen, well chosen and well armed, that is to
say, 10,000 pikes, 10,000 halberds, and 10,000 harquebusiers.”
~Improvements.~
~Held to breast.~
~Bent butt.~
~Hackbutt.~
Hitherto the harquebuss had only a straight stock, but now it had a wide
butt end, which might be placed against the right breast, and thus held
more steadily. Many ancient pieces were held to the breast instead of
the shoulder, which will account for their being so short in the stock.
A notch was made in the butt for the thumb of the right hand, in order
to hold the piece more firmly. When the butt was bent down or hooked as
it was at a later period, it was called, from the German word Hake, a
hackbutt, haggebut or hagbut, the small sort being denominated
demi-hags.
~Mounted Harquebussiers.~
Philip de Commines mentions that there were at the battle of Fourniée,
in 1495, German harquebusiers, on foot and on horseback. (Plate 19, fig.
6.)
~Arms in time of Henry VIII.~
The small arms in the time of Henry VIII., were hand-guns, haguebuts,
demi-hagues and the pistol, and it was enacted, “that no hand-gun should
be used, of less than one yard, gun and stock included, and the haguebut
was not to be under three-quarters of a yard.” The demi-hagues were
still smaller, and gave occasion for the origin of pistols, which were
invented in the latter part of this reign, at Pistoria in Tuscany. The
dag, dagger, or tache, differed from the pistol merely in the shape of
its handle.
~Inconveniences of match.~
~Objections to fire-arms.~
~Rest.~
~Wheel-lock, 1517.~
~Used at Parma, 1521.~
~In England, 1530.~
~Serpentine and wheel.~
The match was a constant source of trouble to the soldier, both from the
difficulty of keeping it alight in bad weather, and from the length of
time it sometimes took to ignite the charge. It was therefore not
without justice that many persons clamoured about this time against the
introduction of fire-arms. They contended that upon no point, save that
of penetration, was the harquebuss superior or equal to the long-bow;
its great weight 16 or 18lbs. (seldom less than 12lbs.) obliged it to be
supported by a rest, which had a kind of fork to receive the musket, and
at the bottom a sharp metal spike, to strike into the ground; (Plate 19,
fig. 5, 7, and 8). When the harquebuss was shouldered the rest was
carried in the right hand, and subsequently hung upon it, by means of a
string or loop. The difficulty of keeping the powder and match dry, the
time taken to load, and its comparative inaccuracy, rendered it of low
reputation. Nevertheless it held its ground, and the next improvement
was the wheel-lock, by which a more instantaneous ignition of the charge
was secured; it was invented at Nuremberg, 1517. It consisted of a
little solid wheel of steel, fixed against the plate of the lock of the
harquebuss or pistol; it had an axis that pierced it in its centre; at
the interior end of this axis which went into the lock, a chain was
fastened, which twisted round it on the wheel being turned, and bent the
spring by which it was held; to bend this spring a key was made use of,
into which the exterior end of the axis was inserted. By turning this
key from left to right, the wheel was made to revolve, and by this
movement a little slider of copper, which covered the pan with the
priming, retired from over it; and by the same movement the cock, armed
with a flint like the cock of a fusil, was in a state to be discharged
on pulling the trigger with the finger; the cock then falling on the
wheel, produced fire, and communicated it to the priming. The wheel-lock
was first used at the siege of Parma, 1521, and was brought to England
1530. It was however complicated and difficult to repair, for which
reason it could not always be depended upon, as is proved by some
fire-arms of this description at the Tower, which are made with a
serpentine, as well as with a wheel, both acted upon by the same
trigger.
~Musket in Spain.~
~At Pavia, 1525.~
~Low Countries, 1567.~