The Story of Cannons
Cannons are a fun subject. (Anything that explodes usually is.) Even the history behind them is interesting.
To fire a cannon you need gunpowder, made from sulfur and saltpeter. Some historians say the Chinese or Arabs first invented this black stuff. All the Chinese did for a long time was make fireworks and firecrackers. The Arabs were more practical: they made a short iron pot, called a madfaa, that was loaded with powder and arrows. The powder was lit from the back so that it exploded, spraying arrows into the target.
The Europeans didn’t get in on the fun until about the 1300’s. A few monks, among them Roger Bacon, had experimented with gunpowder earlier, but these experiments accomplished little.
By about 1325, however, cannons were invented, perhaps inspired by the Arabs and their arrow-flinging pots. The first European cannons were made like long barrels; simple wooden tubes with iron hoops around them to keep them in one piece. The only problem was that they didn’t always stay in one piece. Many a medieval soldier tried to fire his cannon and ended up having it blow up in his face. Cannons became as dangerous to the men who fired them as they were to those at whom the guns were fired. One of the kings of Scotland even lost his life because he got too close to a cannon as it was being fired. Eventually, though, more metal was used to make the cannons, and these little accidents became rarer.
The cannons at first would just shoot scraps of metal, bits of glass, sharp stones- anything to scare the enemy and scratch him up a bit. Then cannonballs were made of brass and copper. These heavy balls could punch holes in castle walls- and in soldiers. Special craftsmen were paid by various kings and nobles to fashion these balls. Then, the kings and nobles decided that these metal balls were too expensive, so they hired men to make balls of stone instead. Iron balls didn’t come about until the 1500’s, when cannons were lighter and people didn’t want to waste powder trying to throw a heavy stone ball at the enemy.
Speaking of size, early cannons could be HUGE. The Ottoman Turks were famous for their colossal artillery pieces, called Great Bombards, capable of firing giant balls of solid marble weighing hundreds of pounds. The marble was taken from ancient Greek statues and idols. As you can imagine, the weight and size of the Great Bombards required scores of oxen to move them, and took three hours to load!
After castles became obsolete (as a direct result of the rise of gunpowder), cannons were needed on the open fields where battles were now more often fought. The cannon makers put big wagon-like wheels on their cannons so they could be wheeled around easier. The barrels were now made of solid brass, bronze or iron. Special cannons called mortars were made to lob balls over fort walls. These had short, pot-like barrels that tilted upwards, allowing them to fire in a high arc.
Not only did the cannons’ structure change; the ammunition was different too. Simple round balls were commonly fired, but there were also other kinds of shot to choose from. There was grapeshot- packs of balls a bit smaller than tennis balls that would scatter into a crowd of enemy soldiers. Canister shot was almost the same thing, only simpler; a can full of musket balls. Shooting it was like firing an entire volley of muskets. Shells were filled with powder, given a fuse, and fired so that they would explode on impact.
Sailors, navy men and pirates also had some interesting ammo for their shipboard cannons. Chain shot consisted of two balls connected by a chain so as to snag and break enemy ship-rigging as the ammo spun through the air. Bar shot was similar, only the two balls were connected by a short metal bar. There was also langrage- a mix of nails, broken glass, and scrap metal – similar to what early cannons fired.
Throughout the 1700’s and 1800’s, cannons were used in such conflicts as the Seven Years War, the Napoleonic War, the American Revolution, and the American Civil War.
Later, people invented machine guns, tanks and bombs. Cannons got put in museums. Of course, there are still Civil War and Revolutionary War reenactors who fire cannons at live artillery demonstrations. You can usually find these experts in historic parks, showing how the weapons worked. They’re worth checking out.
Sources-
Oman, Charles. “The Art of War in the Middle Ages”, Volume II: Greenhill Books, 1991.
Wills, Chuck. “The Illustrated History of Weaponry.”: Moseby Road, Inc., 2006
