Holmes County farmer. [volume] (Millersburg, Ohio) 1857-1926, 1861-04-18
WAR MATERIAL.


and foreign countries have caused extern
sive preparations in all quarters for turn
ing out war material, to be used in case
OF an emergency. and great proficiency
has been attained in the manufacture of
garrison and seacoast defenses, among
which may be enumerated heavy Colum-
biads, Dahlgreen guns, mortars, howit-
zers, and rocket batteries. To give some
idea of the great proficiency in the art of
warfare, we must compare the warlike
implements of centuries gone by with
those of the present day and generation,
and we will commence by few intro
ductory remarks relative to the war ma
terial of earlier generations.
The principal military engines of the
Romans were the balista and the catapul-
Ia. The balista was used for throwing
large stones, and is said to have been in
vented by the Phenicians, while the cat
apulta was used for throwing darts; and
some writers report that both these en-
gines of destruction were of Sicillian
manufacture. Others were invented af
terward for throwing fire, stones, javelins,
DC, DC; and history states that one of
the machines used by EDWARD l. at the
siege of the Castle of Stirling threw stones
weighing over 800 lbs. The explosive
force of gunpowder YVES known to Bacon
in the twelfth century, but it was at a
considerable later period that firearms be-
gan to supersede the ancient artillery
We find that common were usen by Ed
ward III. in his first campaign against the
Scots in 1927, and the four cannon EN-.
ployed by the same monarch at the bat
tie of Cresay in 1346, contributed as
much to The surprise, that they occasion
ed to the French troops as by their execu-
ton, to the success of the day. The con-
struction of the most ancient cannon we
are informed, was of pieces or bars Of
iron soldered to each other lengthwise
and bound together by lead Or iron hoops
and the cannon balls used were Of stone.
Cannon were first cast about the middle
of the fifteenth century, about the end Of
which period bronze was used. Brass
cannon were first cast in England by j.
Owen in 1885. A foundry was estab
lished in Edinburgh about the same time,
under James H. of Scotland. Mortars
were made in England during the sci gn
of Henry Will, and cast iron cannon du-
ring the reign of Edward VI. AT the
beginning of the fifteenth century they be-
gan to give them names such as Falcon,
'Culverin, 'Basalisk, Dragon, 'Syren,
etc., supposed to be so called from some
fanciful application to them for swiftness,
force, cruelty or other attributes which
were fancied resemblance. AT the
present day they are principally designa-
ted by weight and calibre--for instance a
piece carrying ball weighing 32 lbs, is
called 32-pounder; IL lbs. 12-pound-
er end 6 lbs. a 6-pounder. A field bat
terry such as is usually termed light battery
consists of six guns, comprising four six
FOUNDER guns and two six FOUNDER how
itzers, while a siege battery consists Of
guns of heavier calibre such as Is, "a,
and 32-pounders. We will more par
ticularly designate the different guns I'M
der their proper headings, and we will
first notice:
HEAVY ORDNANCE.
Heavy ordnance is manufactured from
cast iron and brass, and of late years, oi
wrought iron. Brass field pieces are made
of gun-metal which is an alloy of two
parts of copper to one of tin. Cannon
were formerly cast with cave or hollow,
but are now cast solid, being stronger and
less liable to burst; the metal is freer from
honeyeombing and the bore is rendered
more perfect. In boring cannon the gun
is made to revolve about the bit or borer,
the size of which is successfully increased
The heaviest piece of ordnance known to
exist is brass cannon at Beejapoor, cast
in memory ofthe capture of that place
in 1856, by Alum Geer. Its length is IA
feet inch, diameter of bore 2 feet inch
es, and which requires an iron shot to fiji
it weighing over 1000 pounds. Anoth
er enormous gun, "Mons. Veg" j.
shown to the curious traveller on the ram
parts at the Castle in Edinburgh, Scot
land. 1t is made of iron and carried a
heavy stone ball weighing over two hun
dred pounds; it is now only used as al
ornament, beiug imperfect in its construc-
ton. One of the largest guns made in
modern times was one made for the Brit
ish Government in 1856, by the Messrs
Horsefall of Liverpool. Its material is
wrought iron welded, 10 feet long, 3 feet
10 inches in diameter at the large end,
feet 10 inches at the small end and weigh
ed 26 tons. 1t required 40 men in it,
construction, who were employed sever
weeks day and night, and when complet
ed, after boring, its weight was II tons
1Scwt. Its capacity is for a ball weigh
ing 3O2 lbs, to be propelled bya charge
of90 lbs. of powder, and its range is fv,
miles. In America are several very heav,
pieces of ordnance. A monster gun wa
recently cast in Pittsburg, Pa, weighin,
over 20 tons, and in the Brooklyn Nav,
Yards aheavy ship gun capable of carry
ing an iron or stone ball weighing owe
two hundred pounds. 1t is of wrough
iron and is companion to the celebrate,
'Peacemaker' which in its experiment
under Commodore Stockton on the Unite,
States steamer Princeton, resulted SO ser
iously in scattering death and destruction
around.* This gun was made of hammer
ed wrought iron, strengthened by iro
bands, and it is supposed that in its con
struction some parts of the iron were al
lowed to cool too rapidly, which cause