Artillery Through the Ages Part 10

The gunner put his finger over the vent, and with his right hand turned the elevating screw to adjust the piece conveniently for loading. No. 3 picked up the rammer.

At the command _Sponge_, the men at the sponge pressed the tool against the bottom of the bore and gave it three turns from right to left, then three turns from left to right. Next the sponge was drawn, and while No. 1 exchanged it for No. 3's rammer, the No. 2 man took the cartridge from No. 4, and put it in the bore. He helped No. 1 push it home with the rammer, while No. 4 went for a ball and, if necessary, a wad.

_Ram!_ The men on the rammer drew it out an arm's length and rammed the cartridge with a single stroke. No. 2 took the ball from No. 4, while No. 1 threw out the rammer. With the ball in the bore, both men again manned the rammer to force the shot home and delivered a final single-stroke ram. No. 1 put the rammer back on its prop. The gunner stuck his pick into the vent to p.r.i.c.k open the powder bag.

The command _In battery_ was the signal for the cannoneers to man the handspikes again, Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 4 working at the wheels and Nos. 5 and 6 guiding the trail as before. After successive _heaves_, the gunner halted the piece with the wheels touching the hurter--the timber laid at the foot of the parapet to stop the wheels.

_Point_ was the next order. No. 3, the man with the tube-pouch, got out his lanyard and hooked it to a primer. Nos. 5 and 6 put their handspikes under the trail, ready to move the gun right or left. The gunner went to the breech of the gun, removed his pick from the vent, and, sighting down the barrel, directed the spikemen: he would tap the right side of the breech, and No. 5 would heave on his handspike to inch the trail toward the left. A tap on the left side would move No.

6 in the opposite direction. Next, the gunner put the breech-sight (if he needed it) carefully on the chalk line of the base ring and ran the elevating screw to the proper elevation.

As soon as the gun was properly laid, the gunner said _Ready_ and signaled with both hands. He took the breech-sight off the gun and walked over to windward, where he could watch the effect of the shot.

Nos. 1 and 2 had the chocks, ready to block the wheels at the end of the recoil. No. 3 put the primer in the vent, uncoiled the lanyard and broke a full pace to the rear with his left foot. He stretched the lanyard, holding it in his right hand.

At _Fire!_ No. 3 gave a smart pull on the lanyard. The gun fired, the carriage recoiled, and Nos. 1 and 2 chocked the wheels. No. 3 rewound his lanyard, and the gunner, having watched the shot, returned to his post.

_The development of heavy ordnance through the ages is a subject with many fascinating ramifications, but this survey has of necessity been brief._ _It has only been possible to indicate the general pattern.

Most of the interesting details must await the publication of much larger volumes. It is hoped, however, that enough information has been included herein to enhance the enjoyment that comes from inspecting the great variety of cannon and projectiles that are to be seen throughout the National Park System._

GLOSSARY

Most technical phrases are explained in the text and ill.u.s.trations (see fig. 51). For convenient reference, however, some important words are defined below:

*Ballistics*--the science dealing with the motion of projectiles.

*Barbette carriage*--as used here, a traverse carriage on which a gun is mounted to fire over a parapet.

*Bomb, bombsh.e.l.l*--see projectiles.

Breechblock--a movable piece which closes the breech of a cannon.

*Caliber*--diameter of the bore; also used to express bore length. A 30-caliber gun has a bore length 30 times the diameter of the bore.

*Cartridge*--a bag or case holding a complete powder charge for the cannon, and in some instances also containing the projectile.

*Casemate carriage*--as used here, a traverse carriage in a fort gunroom (casemate). The gun fired through an embrasure or loophole in the wall of the room.

*Chamber*--the part of the bore which holds the propelling charge, especially when of different diameter than the rest of the bore; in chambered muzzle-loaders, the chamber diameter was smaller than that of the bore.

*Elevation*--the angle between the axis of a piece and the horizontal plane.

*Fuze*--a device to ignite the charge of a sh.e.l.l or other projectile.

*Grommet*--a rope ring used as a wad to hold a cannonball in place in the bore.

*Gun*--any firearm; in the limited sense, a long cannon with high muzzle velocity and flat trajectory.

*Howitzer*--a short cannon, intermediate between the gun and mortar.

*Lay*--to aim a gun.

*Limber*--a two-wheeled vehicle to which the gun trail is attached for transport.

*Mandrel*--a metal bar, used as a core around which metal may be forged or otherwise shaped.

*Mortar*--a very short cannon used for high or curved trajectory firing.

*Point-blank*--as used here, the point where the projectile, when fired from a level bore, first strikes the horizontal ground in front of the cannon.

*Projectiles*--_canister or case shot_: a can filled with small missiles that scatter after firing from the gun. _Grape shot_: a cl.u.s.ter of small iron b.a.l.l.s, which scatter upon firing. _Sh.e.l.l_: explosive missile; a hollow cast-iron ball, filled with gunpowder, with a fuze to produce detonation; a long, hollow projectile, filled with explosive and fitted with a fuze. _Shot_: a solid projectile, non-explosive.

*Quoin*--a wedge placed under the breech of a gun to fix its elevation.

*Range*--The horizontal distance from a gun to its target or to the point where the projectile first strikes the ground. _Effective range_ is the distance at which effective results may be expected, and is usually not the same as _maximum range_, which means the extreme limit of range.

*Rotating band*--a band of soft metal, such as copper, which encircles the projectile near its base. By engaging the lands of the spiral rifling in the bore, the band causes rotation of the projectile.

Rotating bands for muzzle-loading cannon were expansion rings, and the powder blast expanded the ring into the rifling grooves.

*Train*--to aim a gun.

*Trajectory*--curved path taken by a projectile in its flight through the air.

*Transom*--horizontal beam between the cheeks of a gun carriage.

*Traverse carriage*--as used here, a stationary gun mount, consisting of a gun carriage on a wheeled platform which can be moved about a pivot for aiming the gun to right or left.

*Windage*--as used here, the difference between the diameter of the shot and the diameter of the bore.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 51--THE PARTS OF A CANNON.]

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

The following is a listing of the more important sources dealing with the development of artillery which have been consulted in the production of this booklet. None of the German or Italian sources have been included, since practically no German or Italian guns were used in this country.

*SPANISH ORDNANCE.* Luis Collado, "Platica Manual de la Artilleria"

ms., Milan 1592, and Diego Ufano, _Artillerie_, n. p., 1621, have detailed information on sixteenth century guns, and Tomas de Morla, _Laminas pertenecientes al Tratado de Artilleria_, Madrid, 1803, ill.u.s.trates eighteenth century material. Thor Borresen, "Spanish Guns and Carriages, 1686-1800" ms., Yorktown, 1938, summarizes eighteenth century changes in Spanish and French artillery. Information on colonial use of cannon can be found in mss. of the Archivo General de Indias as follows: Inventories of Castillo de San Marcos armament in 1683 (58-2-2,32/2), 1706 (58-1-27,89/2), 1740 (58-1-32), 1763 (86-7-11,19), Zuniga's report on the 1702 siege of St. Augustine (58-2-8,B3), and Arredondo's "Plan de la Ciudad de Sn. Agustin de la Florida" (87-1-1/2, ms. map); and other works, including [Andres Gonzales de Barcia,] _Ensayo Cronologico para la Historia General de la Florida_, Madrid, 1723; J. T. Connor, editor, _Colonial Records of Spanish Florida_, Deland, 1930, Vol. II., Manuel de Montiano, _Letters of Montiano_ (Collections of the Georgia Historical Society, v. VII, pt. I), Savannah 1909; Albert Manucy, "Ordnance used at Castillo de San Marcos, 1672-1834," St. Augustine, 1939.

*ENGLISH ORDNANCE.* For detailed information John Muller, _Treatise of Artillery_, London, 1756, has been the basic source for eighteenth century material. William Bourne, _The Arte of Shooting in Great Ordnance_, London, 1587, discusses sixteenth century artillery; and the anonymous _New Method of Fortification_, London, 1748, contains much seventeenth century information. For colonial artillery data there is John Smith, _The Generall Historie of Virginia, New-Englande, and the Summer Isles_, Richmond, 1819; [Edward Kimber] _Late Expedition to the Gates of St. Augustine_, Boston, 1935; and C. L.

Mowat, _East Florida as a British Province_, 1763-1784, Los Angeles, 1939. Charles J. Foulkes, _The Gun-Founders of England_, Cambridge, 1937, discusses the construction of early cannon in England.

*FRENCH ORDNANCE.* M. Surirey de Saint-Remy, _Memoires d'Artillerie_, 3rd edition Paris, 1745, is the standard source for French artillery material in the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. Col. Fave, _etudes sur le Pa.s.se et l'Avenir de L'Artillerie_, Paris, 1863, is a good general history. Louis Figurier, _Armes de Guerre_, Paris, 1870, is also useful.