Bernd
03/15/2023 (Wed) 20:13
No.49965
del
The basic armament of the artillery were the 6 pounder cannons, made of bronze. Weight about 700 kgs, four horses pulled one piece, 9 man crew served each on paper, but three can make it work. Two shots could be fired per minute, with an effective range of ~1500 m.
The field artillery also used 3, 12, and 18 pdr cannons, siege guns were 18 and 24 pdrs. The stationary guns they used for defending forts were made of iron, and came in 12, 18, and 24 pdr versions.
Howitzers and mortars fired in a high angle. The first ones were used in mountainous terrain and in settlements, while the latter proved useful in sieges. They lobbed bombs, exploding projectiles, the largest mortars were 60 pdrs.
The last artillery piece were the Congreve rockets. I remember them from dramatic depictions of battles in literature.
That's it for today.