Litchfield enquirer. [volume] (Litchfield, Conn.) 1829-current, 1862-07-10
THE WIND OF CANNON BALLS.

That when the brains were out the man woul,
| die.
1 And there an end but now they rise again,
With twenty mortal murders on their crowns,
And push us from our stools"
So with the superstitions Of sailors and sold
iers. Thev have more lives chan cats.
The brains have been knocked ont Of thi
one many times. Int here e comes AGAIN. u
Col. Russell falls dead in the cannonade a
Roanoke: NO wound Is fonnd mon his bodv
eyoo saw the soldiers he wac k;lied Nv tha win,
1 of the balls. Non seox;so, saws the suroeon M
The wind of a cannon hall never hnrts anv
body for many reasons. the FIRST Of which Is
there is no such thing.
I The air displaced BY the ball closes instantl
behind it, but has no lateral effect.
This is proved in various ways, but is place,
beyond cavil or question by the common occur
rences in everv severe cannonade. For instance
the dispatch from Fort Donelson SAYS, "a sho
struck the st. Louis, passing through it. be
tween the pilots legs, without iniuring him. >
Why did not the wind of that bali at least bari
his shins ? -. ,3s.,,s - 'a'ssss
The fact is that military surgery abounds il
cases which prove that cannon balls pass in
grazing contact with all parts of mans BODY and
never do the slightest harm, except on the parts
actually struck. They have smashed clean
through hats and helmlets, raising the hair: they
have cut off ears close to the skull. arms close tc
the side, one thigh close to the other. and vel
the adjacent parts are left as sound as ever.
An instance ia given of a heavy shot striking
a rank of marching men in the flank. taking of
the right leg Of the first, Of the third, andof the
fifth man. Of course nass;no between the legs o
the Others, and vet the left legs of the wounded
men were unininred. and the other men knew
nothing about it. According to the wind thee
ry their legs should have been badly injured
But how account for the death of men in &C
ton whose skins are unbroken, save by the wind
theory?
Easily, as thus The vital internal organs
float. as IL were. in n WELDING Medium. Press
your hand into the nit of mans stomach slow.
", and YOU NAV displace the organ without any
pain or iniury but nIanta swift blow there with
YOUR fist, and Won double the man nm with main
|-perhaps xiii him OUTRIGHT !. Init there will NOT
be the slightest outward mark. Hence. in box.
ing. a blow below the belt is foul.
Press hard mon a mans left side. and the
elasticity of the ribs. aided nv the elastic cartil
ages at each end allows great denression To he
made-conseoucntl the heart and limos to he
pushed aside: and vet everything comes hack
to its place without main or ,niury but a swift
blow over the same mart with a club. or fall
n Suhtanpl
ture the ribs. drive the sbarn. broken noints
through the membranes. or even naralyze the
heart and kill the man ontrioht. without leav
inc a blemish on the skin.
Standing once on the how of a vessel M she
bore down nnon hostile botterv NV ewes couohi
the first fash Of a cannon and nnicker than one
could wink twice the hail came crnsh;no thronol
the hulwarks and smote down comraae heforl
INV ear cauoht the renort which he alas wa,
too far pone to hear, A twelve Mound hal
struck him full mon the NEVIS: but being part
lv snent in snlinter;no tbe wood it's force wa,
further broken bv his BODY and it fell to the
deck with him. No blood was drawn. but the
internal parts were so smashed that he was hard
" got down the cockpit alive.
Soldiers and sailors hive other sunerst;tions
about snent halls The old soldier loves to re-.
late them to the recruit. mon whom he looks
down as sopbomores do mon freshmen. or as
our reonlar officers 4, mon volunteers and with
little reason. few of them ever having seen such
hard fighting, for the Mexican war was but .
sort of q dress campaign against a moor. weak
enemy. in the whole Of which there was less
blood shed than in a Napoleonic skirmish. THE
old soldier 7 saw will tell Won of the oreenborn
who. seeing a spenf bali lust moving on the
ground, tried to stop it with his foot but had Il
cut clean off. instanter. The fact ia. cannon
ball. partly spent. ricochets and rolls with iust
the same force as thouph Il had been rolled b,
mans hand and No more The force denends
upon the weight and velocity, of course.
Mortal wounds. however. without bloodshed
or breach Of the skin are mot commonlv made
by spent balls. but those having great velocity
and according to nv theory. they should be more