Ricochet

( ricochet, Fr. ) in gunnery, is when guns, howitzers, or mortars, are loaded with small charges, and elevated from five to twelve degrees, so that when fired over the parapet, the shot or shell rolls along the opposite rampart. It is called ricochet-firing, and the batteries are likewise called ricochet-batteries. This method of firing out of mortars, was first tried in 1723, at the military school of Str as burgh, and with succe . At the battle of Rosbach in 1757, the king of Pru ia had several 6-inch mortars made with trunnions, and mounted on travelling carriages, which fired obliquely on the enemy’s lines, and amongst their horse, loaded with eight ounces of powder, and at an elevation of one degree fifteen minutes, which did great execution; for the shells rolling along the lines, with burning fuzes, made the stoutest of the enemy not wait for their bursting. See Battery.