Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1879-06-06
The Beginning Of Guns.

In 1916 croSs-bows were in pretty
general use among the English, but "
new era III war was to be inauguratod,
for what the army of Edward Ill, TAT
Cressy) came five small pieces of cam
non, species of weapon supposed to
be unknown in France, though cannon
are spoken Of in sea engagement in
the thirteenth century between the
King of Tunis and Moorish King OF
Seville. BY whom the five pieces of
cannon were made is uncertain; but lie
Blond i'll his Treatise on Artillery"
says that the earliest guns were Of
very clumsy and announcement make.
being usually formed of several pieces
of iron fitted together lengthwise, and
then hooped with iron rings, and as
they were used for the throwing Of
stones of prodigious weight they were
of enormous bore" The "Dictionaire
Militaire' tl15S) asserts that cannon
"wero known in France" according to
some authors. in 1888. under Philip, but
known of only. "Nevertheless," says
Noltaire," till the reign Of Charles VIII,
artillery continued in its infancy. They
did not make use of artillery i'll sieges
till the reign of Charles v, King of
France; and the spear was their prln-
cipnl weapon till the reign OF Henry
W." No more mention is made of
cannon i'll the English wars until l405,
when we are told that, AT the siege of
Berwick shot from one great gun SO
shattered tower that the gates were at
once thrown open by the alarmed gar
rison. In the year 1460, James III. of
Scotland lost his lite by the bursting of
one of these rude implements Of war.
AT the siege of RoXburgh, standing i'll
the vicinity of Il gun which was about
to be discharged, the rude mass COM
posed Of ribs OF iron, bound together by
hoops Of the same metal, burst asunder,
and fragment striking the king on the
thigh, broke it, and killed him on the
spot. Hand guns were not then in
vented, but rs the battle of Chipping
Barnet (147D mention is made Of 800
Flemings armed with hand guns, but
of the construction history does not tell.
At the battle of Flodden, (15l3,l James
OF Scotland had with him thirty pieces
of artillery, which had been cast from
him at Edinburgh, by the master gun
ner of the castle, Robert Borthwick
Seven of these guns were ofgreat beau
ty, and were known as the "Seyen Sis
ters of Borthwick." The cannon ofthe
English were of inferior make to those
used by the Scots, being composed of
! hoops and bars.
The first cast-iron guns Of English
manufacture were made at Buxted, in
Sussex, in 1913, by Ralph Hogge, mas
ter founder.-About this time there also
came into use guns called arquebusses,
which were fired from a rest planted in
to the earth. The French were now
making rapid strides in the manufac-
ture of brass guns, for in 1915 when
Francis |. was preparing TO invade Eng
land, we find him according to Pere
Daniel) possessing in his fleet one ship
carrying 100 brass guns. At the battle
Of Pinkie (l543) pistols were in use
among the Germans, and others en-
ployed in the English army. The can
non were now provided with iron balls
instead Of the ponderous stone ones in
use previous to this date. Here also
we find mention of the wheel-lock pis-
tol.-Carbines, petronels and dragons
are frequently mentioned among the
firearms of the age. The first was so
named from having been used in the
vessels called carabs; the second from
being fired with its square butt planted
on the chest; the third, from its muzzle
being frequently decorated with dra-
goon's head-hence the troopers who
used it came subsequently TO be named
dragons. The wheel-lock hackbut was
used in Elizabeth's reign, with the rest
for the heavy matchbox, but the pow
der was now made up in cases, each
containing complete charge 70 facili-
tate the loading of the piece, and the
strap to which they were attached was
named collar or bandoier.