The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1861-06-22
t}or nlottcrs.
CCri0sit;eS of War.

attributed to the twelfth century. and to
European ingenuity. Bat inter is the natural
and daily produce Of China and India. and
there the knowledge If gunpow der seems to
be cueval with that Of the most distant his
tore events. Among the Chinese it has been
applied AT all times to useful purposes, such
As blasting rocks and removing ohstuctitus,
and to those OF amusement, in making vast
variety of fireworks. They also used it as IL
means Of defense, by undermining the prnoa-
Bile passage nt an enemy, and blowing him Up.
They constructed machines Of bamboo. f;om
which they projected iire.hals into the ranks
OF an enemy. and also certain inlamnahe
Preparations. which adhered tenaciun>lv to
buildings against which they were di>char-
god, setting the hnlld;ngs on fire. But as
dtstiu propcllant. in firing balls from
metal guns, they do not seem to have used it
until about the period when gunpowdcr
became first known to Europeans. AS py-
rutuchnists they were very expert, but they
had not advanced beyond that art at the
period referred to. though it has been alleged
that as eally as Gl5, b. g., the Chinese had
made some progress III the constlu clion Of
artillery.
AS soon as gnnpowdcr was known in Eu-
rope, cannon were constructed vet they
proved OF so uncertain advantage TO their
inventor. that history has failed to record the
precise time Of their being first used 10y
Europeans. Until about 1889, the use of
artillery III Europe was confined 10 spa in.-
sl31S Richard III. failed to r,ducetSt Malo,
although he brought 400 cannon 10 the attack.
Artillery was thus introduced into all the
Europcsn armies. The Chinese and llndoos
kept pace Hith them. In 1892, when the
former were b,siegcd by the Mongo,S, they
had stone morta1s. which threw round stone
shot against their enemies. The ancient
Chinese jingallS, which were loaded at the
brcech, show that bierrhIoading is not IL
European idea. The lllnduos were also
familiar with 9nnpowder beyond all periods
Of Investigation and SOME years ago coloS-
sal h:e,ch'loadins cann1n was discovered in
the bottom ola river in Bengal, which carried
il ba Il lS: inches III diameter. This is lar
gel than the monster rined cannon inst fin
l>hed at PiitSbnrg, which carries only II
inch ball. The Bengal gun was l6 feet 1
inches long, or inches longer than that at
Pnt>buig. In .lS0 the wall, Of Champaign
who at the same time htld shells INTO the
city. In l49S the Portuguese found the
| Indians possessed of t,Ilery. In l4OI the
Indians of Cslcut opposed Albuquerque with
fleet Of 50 ships carrying $50 Carton
though the seven ancicnt bells Of P,kn,
each weighing G20 ,0GO pounds, attest the
skill of the Chinese in melting vast Guanti-
ties Of metal, yet there is no record of any Of
their earlier cannon having been made by
casting. Indeed, the evidence is clear that
all artillery, for probably three centuries, vas
made 10y building up the gun Of longitudinal
wron.ht-ron ba's, held together by success.
sion Of rings, which were Shrunk on while
hot. These contrlvances were necessarily
very imperfect, and consequently very inefi.
cicnt. Yet their usefulness in battle was so
| decided, that all the nations made haste to
! supply themselves with cannon.
! NAPOLEON declared at St. IIcl,na that
: ARTILLERY III the present day decides the
fate Of nations, and he who knows how To
| bring Il mass Of this arm to act rapidly upon
IA particular point. unknown to the enemy,
is sure to carry it," Acting on this for
muIa. his artillery became the most
| formidable Of any then known in Ercpe.-
lie lost Marengo under the five Of 100 Aus.
! TRAN cannon. but recovered it by the skiIlful
use OF only Is pieces Unexpectedly brought
up by Marmount. A, Friedland, Sc guns,
suddenly brought up, did more service than
1000 men under Ney had done In the
passage Of the Danube at Wagram he cover
ed the army with 500 guns. lie was con-
stanty increasing his artillery. He entered
Russia with 3I2 pieces, and at the battle OF
! Brrodmo 500 were brought into service. the
Russians having G40 in use. At Lutzcn.
when the French had all but lost the battle,
50 guns. UNEXPECTEDLY brought uu, bioke
through The Allied Russians and Russians
and charge by cavalry and the Imperial
Guard secured the victory. In the gigantic
battle OF !.eIpslc. the Allies had 1870 guns
and Napoleon 720. These he discharged
80 O0O times. At Waterloo, however. tn,
usual superiority of Nnpo!eon's artillery
failed him. In that action he had ZIG guns
while the British had but 1876 1t is an OK.
traordinary fact that during the whole PENN
sular War the quantity ef artillery possessed
by the British WAS much less than that of the
French, yet the former were almost uniform
| " victorious. 1t was when Napoleon brought
his batteries to play against the Allies that
his successes were secured.
There are many curious facts in relation tc
gunpowder, which seldom reach the public
eye. The charcoal used in making it j.
obtained flom the poplar and willow, thos,
branches only being used which ale of abou
three years growth. The utmost care il
taken in charling them in iron cylinders. =
Pow der does not infamc instantaneously.-
lit did, no gun could be made strong enough
to resist its force Its inflammation is grad
uai and progressive, and IN gun the proec
lle Icgins 10 move, probably, before all tit
charge is igni,cd. The development Of il
force is affected by the proportion of spac
which it occupies, to the space around i, i!
the gun. 1t is found that as this vacan
space increases, the projectile force Of tn
powder greatly decreases, while its absolul
force or shock seems to increase. Thus
when bal, is not iam,ned home, it is no
moved by the first portion of the gas evolved
bat 1t remains stationary until nearly TIN
whole force Of the charge is developed, whel
acting by Ms inertia against the immens
shock ct this force, The violent reaction O
the fluid takes effect before tile Lal moves
and bursts the gun. In the same way,
tnusket whose muzzle has been stopped viii
mud, or even snow, has been known to burs
just behind the obstruction. AS q gun
usually loaded, the ball moving with the ga
first generated, its inertia is gradually over
come, it furnishes space by degrees as til
development Of the gas requires it : no sl,oc
: is felt, and nearly the whole force Of tn
, powder is tranfe:red to the bal inside ofth
:, gun. As a general rule, and before coming t
the limit Of duty, the smaller The grain tn
more rapid the combustion, and the create
the bursting force Of the powder. This
. the reason that in small arms the small grain