_It is usual in an Estimate of Artillery and Ammunition for the Defence
of Fortified Places, to divide them into Eight Classes, as follows_:
+-----------------------+-----+-----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
|CLASSES. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
+-----------------------+-----+-----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
|Garrisons |12000|10000|8000|5000|3500|2500|1600| 400|
|Cannon | 100| 90| 80| 70| 60| 50| 40| 30|
|Triangle Gins | 4| 3| 2| 2| 2| 1| 1| 1|
|Sling Carts | 4| 3| 2| 2| 2| 1| 1| 1|
|Jacks of Sizes | 4| 3| 2| 2| 2| 1| 1| 1|
|Truck Carriages | 6| 6| 4| 4| 2| 2| 2| 2|
|Ammunition Carts, &c. | 12| 12| 12| 6| 6| 6| 2| 2|
|Tools for Pioneers | 9000| 6000|5000|4000|3500|3000|1000|1000|
| ” ” Miners | 300| 200| 100| 100| 100| 100| 50| 5|
+----------+------------+-----+-----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
|Tools for | ⅓ Axes | | | | | | | | |
| Cutting | ⅔ Billhooks| 1200| 900| 600| 500| 450| 300| 150| 150|
+----------+------------+-----+-----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
|Forges, complete | 6| 4| 2| 2| 2| 2| 1| 1|
+-----------------------+-----+-----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
The guns will be of the following calibers: ⅓ of 18 Prs.—⅓ of 12
Prs.—and ⅓ of 24, 9, and 4 Pounders in equal proportions. If the place
does not possess any very extraordinary means of defence, it will be
very respectably supplied with 800 rounds of ammunition per gun for the
two larger calibers, and 900 for each of the others.
_Gun Carriages_—⅓ more than the number of guns.
_Mortars_—About ¼ the number of guns in the three first classes; and ⅕
or ⅙ in the other classes. Of these ⅖ will be 13 or 10 inch mortars,
and the rest of a smaller nature.
_Howitzers_—¼ the number of mortars.
_Stone Mortars_—⅒ the number of guns.
_Shells_—400 for each of the 10 and 13 inch mortars, and 600 for each
of the smaller ones.
_Beds_ for mortars—⅓ to spare.
_Carriages_ for howitzers—⅓ to spare.
_Hand Grenades_—4 or 5000 for the two first classes; 2000 in the three
following classes; and from 1500 to 600 in the three last classes.
_Rampart Grenades_—2000 for the first class; 1000 for the four
following classes; and 500 for the sixth class; none for the two last.
_Fuzes_—¼ more than the number of shells.
_Bottoms_ of wood for stone mortars—400 per mortar.
_Sand Bags_—500 for every piece of ordnance in the large places, and ¼
less in the small ones.
_Handspikes_—10 per piece.
_Tackle Falls_ for gins—1 for every 10 pieces to spare.
_Musquets_—1 per soldier, and the same number to spare.
_Pistols_, pairs—½ the number of musquets.
_Flints_—50 per musquet, and 10 per pistol.
_Lead_ or _Balls_ for small arms—30 pounds per musquet.
_Powder for Small Arms_—5 pounds for every musquet in the garrison,
including the spare ones.
The above proportions are taken from Durtubie’s Manuel De l’Artilleur.
The following method of regulating the management of the artillery, and
estimating the probable expenditure of ammunition in the defence of a
fortified place, is extracted from a valuable work on fortification
lately published at Berlin. It is particularly applied to a regular
hexagon; the siege is divided into three periods, _viz._
1st. From the first investiture to the first opening of the trenches,
about 5 days.
2d. From the opening of the trenches to the effecting a lodgement on
the glacis, about 18 days.
3d. From this time to the capitulation, about 5 days.
_First Period._ Three guns on the barbette of each bastion and on
the barbettes of the ravelins in front of the gateways, half 24 Prs.
and half 18 Prs.[4] three 9 Prs. on the barbette of each of the other
ravelins.
Twelve 12 Prs. and twelve 4 Prs. in reserve.
One 13 inch mortar in each bastion.
Six of 8 inch in the salient angles of the covert way.
Do. in reserve.
Ten stone mortars.
[4] For 16 Prs. in the French work, the compiler has said 18 Prs.—for 8
Prs. 9 Prs.—for 12 inch mortars, 13 inch; to which they nearly answer.
The 12 Prs. in reserve, are to be ranged behind the curtain, on
whichever side they may be required, and the 4 Prs. in the outworks;
all to fire _en ricochet_ over the parapet. By this arrangement, the
whole of the barbette guns are ready to act in any direction, till the
side of attack is determined on; and with the addition of the reserve,
49 pieces may be opened upon the enemy the very first night they begin
to work upon the trenches.
The day succeeding the night on which the trenches are opened, and the
side to be attacked determined, a new arrangement of the artillery
must take place. All the 24 and 18 Prs. must be removed to the front
attacked, and the other bastions, if required, supplied with 12 Prs.
The barbettes of the bastions on this front may have each 5 guns,
and the 12 18 prs. may be ranged behind the curtain. The six mortars
in reserve must be placed, two in each of the salient angles of the
covert way of this front, and with those already there, mounted as
howitzers,[5] to fire down the prolongations of the capitals. Three
4 pounders in each of the salient places of arms of the ravelins on
the attacked fronts, to fire over the palisading, and five 9 Prs.
in the ravelin of this front. This arrangement will bring 47 guns,
and 18 mortars to fire on the approaches after the first night; and
with a few variations will be the disposition of the artillery for
the second period of the siege. As soon as the enemy’s batteries are
fairly established, it will be no longer safe to continue the guns _en
barbette_, but embrazures[6] must be opened for them; which, embrazures
must be occasionally masked, and the guns assume new directions, as the
enemy’s fire grows destructive; but may again be taken advantage of,
as circumstances offer. As the enemy gets near the third parallel, the
artillery must be withdrawn from the covert way to the ravelins, or to
the ditch, if dry, or other favorable situations; and, by degrees,
as the enemy advances, to the body of the place. During this period
of the siege, the embrazures must be prepared in the flanks, in the
curtain which joins them, and in the faces of the bastions which flank
the ditch of the front ravelins. These embrazures must be all ready to
open, and the heavy artillery mounted in them, the moment the enemy
attempts a lodgement on the glacis.
[5] Our iron mortars, on iron beds, all admit of being fired at low
angles.
[6] A German author proposes that the mounds of earth which enable
the guns to fire _en barbette_, should be so arranged, that the
embrasures may be opened between them; and when the guns descend to the
embrazures, the barbettes will serve as traversers.
Every effort should be made to take advantage of this favorable moment,
when the enemy, by their own works, must mask their former batteries,
and before they are able to open their new ones.
The expenditure of ammunition will be nearly as follows:
_First period_ of the siege—5 rounds per gun, per
day, with only half the full charge, or ⅙ the weight
of the shot, and for only such guns as can act.
_Second period_—20 rounds per gun, per day, with
⅙ the weight of the shot.
_Third period_—60 rounds per gun, per day, with
the full charge, or ⅓ the weight of the shot.
_Mortars_—At 20 shells per day, from the first
opening of the trenches to the capitulation.
_Stone Mortars_—80 rounds per mortar, for every
24 hours, from the establishment of the demi
parallels to the capitulation; about 13 days.
_Light_, and _Fire balls_—Five every night,
for each mortar, from the opening of the trenches to
the eighth day, and three from that time to the end
These amount to about 700 for guns.
400 for mortars.
1000 for stone do.
This proportion and arrangement is however made upon a supposition,
that the place has no countermines to retard the progress of the
besiegers, to a period beyond what is abovementioned; but the same
author estimates, that a similar place, with the covert way properly
countermined beforehand, and those countermines properly disputed,
may retard a siege at least 2 months; and that if the other works be
likewise effectually countermined and defended, the siege may be still
prolonged another month.
The above proportion is therefore to be further regulated, as the
strength of the place is increased by these or any other means. These
considerations should likewise be attended to, in the formation of an
estimate of ammunition and stores for the siege of a fortified place.
See _Carriage, Platform, Park_, and the different natures of artillery,
as _Gun, Mortar, Howitzer_, &c.
The small arms ammunition is estimated by this author as follows:
¼ of a pound of gunpowder, or 10 rounds per day,
per man, for all the ordinary guards.
1¼ lbs. or 50 rounds per man, per 12 hours, for
all extraordinary guards.
⅝ of a pound, or 25 rounds for every man on
picket, during the period of his duty.
_AXLETREES_—See the word _Carriages_.
_BALLS_—of lead, of different natures.
+--------------+--------+----------+--------------+
| | Number | Diameter | Number made |
| Nature. | to one | in | from one ton |
| | Pound. | Inches. | of Lead. |
+--------------+--------+----------+--------------+
|Wall pieces | 6¾ | .89 | 14,760 |
|Musquets | 14½ | .68 | 32,480 |
|Carbine | 20 | .60 | 44,800 |
|Pistol | 34 | .51 | 78,048 |
|7 Barrel guns | 46½ | .46 | 104,160 |
+--------------+--------+----------+--------------+
Lead balls are packed in boxes containing each 1 cwt. About 4 pounds of
lead in the cwt. are generally lost in casting. See _Shot_.
_BARRELS for powder_--Their dimensions.
+--------------------+----------+----------+----------+
| | Whole | Half | Quarter |
| | Barrels. | Barrels. | Barrels. |
| +----------+----------+----------+
| | Ft. In. | Ft. In. | Ft. In. |
+--------------------+----------+----------+----------+
|Depth | 1 9.61 | 1 5.13 | 1 2.25 |
|Diameter at top | 1 3.61 | 1 0.37 | 9.35 |
| ” at bulge | 1 5.36 | 1 2. | 10.71 |
| ” at bottom | 1 3.51 | 1 0.31 | 9.41 |
+--------------------+----------+----------+----------+
The whole barrels are made to contain 100 pounds, and the half barrels
50 pounds of powder; but of late only 90 pounds have been put into the
barrels, and 45 into the half barrels; which, by leaving the powder
room to be shifted, preserves it the better.
_Budge Barrels_ contain 38 lbs.
Weight of barrel—copper hooped—10 lbs.
” ” hazle hooped—6
Length of barrel 10½ inches.
Diameter 1 foot 1 inch.
_BASKETS._—Ballast, ½ bushel—weight, 5 lbs. Diameter, 1 foot 6
inches—length, 1 foot.
_BATTERY._—_Dimensions of Batteries._
1. _Gun Batteries._—Gun Batteries are usually 18 feet per gun. Their
principal dimensions are as follow:
_Ditch._—Breadth 12 feet.
Depth 8
NOTE. These dimensions give for a battery of two guns 3456 cubic feet
of earth; and must be varied according to the quantity required for the
epaulment.
_Epaulment._—Breadth at bottom 23 feet.
” at top 18
Height within 7
” without 6 ft. 4 in.
Slope, interior ²/₇ of height.
” exterior ½ of height.
NOTE. The above breadths at top and bottom are for the worst soil; good
earth will not require a base of more than 20 feet wide, which will
reduce the breadth at top to 15 feet; an epaulment of these dimensions
for two guns will require about 4200 cubic feet of earth, and deducting
300 cubic feet for each embrazure, leaves 3600 required for the
epaulment. In confined situations the breadth of the epaulment may be
only 12 feet.
_Embrazures._—Distance between } 18 feet.
their centers }
Openings, interior 20 inches.
” exterior 9 feet.
Height of the sole above the platform 32 inches.
NOTE. Where the epaulment is made of a reduced breadth, the openings of
the embrazures are made with the usual breadth within, but the exterior
openings proportionally less. The embrazures are sometimes only 12 feet
asunder, or even less when the ground is very confined. The superior
slope of the epaulment need be very little, where it is not to be
defended by small arms. The slope of the sole of the embrazures must
depend upon the height of the object to be fired at. The _Berm_ is
usually made 3 feet wide, and where the soil is loose, this breadth is
increased to 4 feet.
2. _Howitzer Batteries._—The dimensions of howitzer batteries are
the same as those for guns, except that the interior openings of the
embrazures are 2 feet 6 inches, and the soles of the embrazures have a
slope inwards of about 10 degrees.
3. _Mortar Batteries_—Are also made of the same dimensions as gun
batteries, but an exact adherence to those dimensions is not so
necessary. They have no embrazures. The mortars are commonly placed 15
feet from each other, and about 12 feet from the epaulment.
NOTE. Though it has been generally customary to fix mortars at 45°,
and to place them at the distance of 12 feet from the epaulment, yet
many advantages would often arise from firing them at lower angles;
and which may be done by removing them to a greater distance from the
epaulment, but where they would be in equal security. If the mortars
were placed at the undermentioned distances from the epaulment, they
might be fired at the angles corresponding:
At 13 feet distance for firing at 30 degrees.
21 ” ” 20
30 ” ” 15
40 ” ” 10
over an epaulment of 8 feet high.
A French author asserts, that all ricochet batteries, whether for
howitzers or guns, might be made after this principle, without the
inconvenience of embrazures; and the superior slope of the epaulment
being inwards instead of outwards, would greatly facilitate this mode
of firing.
If the situation will admit of the battery being sunk, even as low as
the soles of the embrazures, a great deal of labour may be saved. In
batteries without embrazures, this method may almost always be adopted;
and it becomes in some situations absolutely necessary in order to
obtain earth for the epaulment; for when a battery is to be formed on
the crest of the glacis, or on the edge of the counterscarpe of the
ditch, there can be no excavation but in the rear of the battery.
4. _Batteries on a Coast_—generally consist of only an epaulment,
without much attention being paid to the ditch: they are, however,
sometimes made with embrazures, like a common gun battery; but the guns
are more generally mounted on traversing platforms, and fire over the
epaulment. When this is the case, the guns can seldom be placed nearer
than 3½ fathoms from each other. The generality of military writers
prefer low situations for coast batteries; but M. Gribauvale lays down
some rules for the heights of coast batteries, which place them in such
security, as to enable them to produce their greatest effect. He says
the height of a battery of this kind, above the level of the sea, must
depend upon the distance of the principal objects it has to protect or
annoy. The shot from a battery to ricochet with effect, should strike
the water at an angle of about 4 or 5 degrees at the distance of 200
yards. Therefore the distance of the object must be the radius, and the
height of the battery the tangent to this angle of 4 or 5°; which will
be, at the above distance of 200 yards, about 14 yards. At this height,
he says, a battery may ricochet vessels in perfect security; for their
ricochet being only from a height of 4 or 5 yards, can have no effect
against the battery. The ground in front of a battery should be cut
in steps, the more effectually to destroy the ricochet of the enemy.
In case a ship can approach the battery so as to fire musquetry from
her tops, a few light pieces placed higher up on the bank, will soon
dislodge the men from that position, by a few discharges of case shot.
It is also easy to keep vessels at a distance by carcasses, or other
fire balls, which they are always in dread of.
DURTUBIE estimates, that a battery of 4 or 5 guns, well posted, will be
a match for a first rate man of war.
_To estimate the Materials for a Battery._
Fascines of 9 feet long are the most convenient for forming a battery,
because they are easily carried, and they answer to most parts of the
battery without cutting. The embrazures are however better lined with
fascines of 18 feet. The following will be nearly the number required
for a fascine battery of two guns or howitzers: