The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1861-06-07
War Weapons and Terms.

: .lS war and war materials are now engross
: ing public attention to the exclusion of botl
politics and business, some information rela
tive to the new terms occurring so frequentl,
: il. connection with these subjects will be in
teresting to those who see them used without
fully understanding them. All the ordnance
for the United States service is made at pri
vatc foundries, and afterward inspected and
proved by officers Of the ordnance detailed
for that purpose. The foundries where most
Of our cannon are made, are the following
The West Point Foundry. near Cold Spring
y. y; Fort Pitt, near Pittsburgh; Tredcgar
near Richmond, Va; Algers, near Boston
and the .Ames Foundry, near Chicopee, Mass
The last two furnish the bronze cannon. and
the Others the iron. BY the term artillery
is meant all firearms of large calibre, together
with the machines and implements used with
them. In the United States service the ar
tillery corps are intrusted with the use of the
arms and munitions, and the ordnance corps
with their construction and preservation
The term ordnance is applied 10 the guns
themselves, and in our service the ordnance
is divided into guns, howitzers and mortar>.
\ mortar is short cannon, bell shaped
and is used principally for throwing shells
filled with explosive materials for crushing
and destroying buildings in sieges. They
were used in Europe four centuries ago, but
their destructive powers have acquired such
terrific energy from modern improvements
that the bombardnren: of city, or she.ing
II, is perhaps the most horrible fate 70 which
It can be subjected. The bursting OF sins,
she'll spreads havoc and death among all near
whom il may explode 1t WAS these terrible
missives which wrought the complete de>truc-
ton Of The quarters N Fort Sumter. Col
.\udcrSun's extreme care of his men on that
occasion a.on, saved them from death. hy
keeping loohouts to give warning Of III. ap
proach O.: shot or shell and require his brave
ncn 10 take shelter within the bomb-proot
portions Of the fort. Shells were rained dow!
upon JSevastopol in such awful showers ,ha,
he Russian commander wrot. 10 the Empr-
ror that il was the " fire Of hell itself" The
shell IS supplied with fuse, which takes ire
when tie mortar IS exploded, and reaches tre
powder within the shell very often al the mo
ment of it> striking, Long practice has en..-
b.ca gunu,rs 70 know exactly the length o..
fuse ueccS Ssary 10 the distance which the shell
IS 10 traverse. Many mortars in our service
will throw q shell l3 inche, in diameter
Shells were formerly called bombs, and hence
the word bombardment
\ howitzcr is a gun with chamber in il.
and Is used generally to throw shells and
other hollow projectil-S, which act as well by
their explosion as by their force of percussion
setting fire to towns, ships and other quarters
of an enemy. The field -howtze- is of course
a mucn lighter gun than the siege or garrison
ho~ltzer, and is used in lish, batteries. The
mountain-howitzer is a very Light l2-poundcr.
and is used for service in countries so rouoh
as not 10 admit the passage Of wheeled vehi-
clcs. The howitzer and its carriage. when
taken to pieces, are carried on the backs of
mules which. when the road. are favorable
may be used to draw the common two.wheeled
carriage, with the mounted piece. The how
itzer is lighter and shorter, in proportion to
It's projectile, than the ordinary cannon: the
charges used are smaller, and the accuracy of
fire much less. But this is compensated for
by the greater execution of the shell when it
bursts. The system Of shell-guns was first
brought INTO practical use by the French
General, Paixhan, in 1922, soon after which it
was adopted by the United States. What is
known among US as a columbiad is in reality
modification of the PaiAhan gun. There are
two sizes, carrying balls eight and ten inches
in diameter, either hollow or solid. This
gun, therefore, combines the essential auali-
ties Of the ordinary cannon, the howitzer and
the mortar, 1t discharges shot or shell with
much greater precision than mortar, and is
terribly destructive In casting columbiads
it has been found almost impossible to make
them strong enough to stand the proper num-
Der Of discharges. 1t is a remarkable fact
that the length Of time that piece has been
cast has much influence on its power of tn
durance. On trial Of three S-inch colum-
bladS, cast in the same mould and at the same
time, one Of them, few DAYS after casting.
burst. at the I'D round. OF the other two
after ying six years. one burst after 500
rounds, the other sustained 2jS2 fires with
out yielding 1t is considered that all iron
guns, after 1900 rounds, are no longer safe.
The Armstrong gun is rihed cannon of
English invention, and is loaded at the breech.
All accounts agree in representing it as
throwing balls farther, and more accurately
than any other gun. 1t throws an explosive
bail filled with percussion powder, which ex-
pIodes when the ball strikes, tearing to pieces
everything near it. The British have intro
duced it extensively into the army. In their
recent campaign in China it proved to be
terrific engine of death. At GOO yards tar
get no larger than mans hat, has been
struck at almost every discharge, and at 5000
yards an object nine feet square, which can
barely be seen at that distance, can be struck
by every other shot. The largest Armstrong