ARTILLERY

name originally apjlied to any device for throwing prolectiles in war, but after the invention xf gunpowder restricted to cannon of all cinds, and later extended to include the ganized body of men, horses, guns, and wagons—the ‘artillery’—of a fightng force. Cannon were first used by the Moors in Spain in the 13th cent., perhaps earlier, and in the 14th cent. came nto use all over western Europe. They were rude contrivances made in various ways, the larger guns (‘bombards’) being at first made of bars and rods of iron roughly welded together and reinforced by § ing iron rings on to them. The name ‘cannon’ was at first ziven to long guns of small bore, cast on a mandril or bored out from a solid aN ey a a ' ARTILLERY casting. At first fron was used, and then bra , bronze (gun metal), and other alloys. Later, heavy iron guns were made by casting and boring. Stone balls were long in use; the iron cannon ball came later. For the lighter guns a breech-loading system came early into use, usually in the form of a ‘chamber’ or detachable breech-piece, to receive the powder and ball, and then be fixed to the gun by wedges and bolts. For a long time cannon were chiefly used for siege purposes. On the battlefield they could not be easily moved, and their fire was very slow, so that they mostly only fired a few shots at the opening of an engagement. Gustavus Adolphus, in the 17th cent., introduced light guns to supplement the fire of his infantry and to move with them. This was the real beginning of field artillery. Naval artillery was first intelligently used by the Eng. fleet in the Armada battles, Howard’s ships avoiding close fighting and attacking the Spaniards with the fire of their heavy guns. Frederick the Great used the ma ed fire of guns on a small scale. Napoleon (an artillery officer) also largely developed it. Great ma es of guns, brought up to short range, prepared the way for the decisive attack in many of his victories. The permanent grouping of guns regularly organized batteries had already prepared the way for their efficient tactical use. In the second half of the 19th cent. artillery made marvellous progre , and began to dominate the battlefield. | Napoleon III. introduced the rifled gun, with its longer range and more accurate fire. Armstrong, Whit worth, and Krupp produced the breech-loader. Armstrong developed first the heavy gun reinforced by coils of iron shrunk on to it, and Whit worth and Krupp the steel gun. The elongated explosive shell replaced the cannon ball, and shrapnel (originally invented during the Napoleonic wars) was improved, so that it could send down a deadly shower of bullets over a large space of ground. In the war of 1870 the Ger. artillery, superior to that of the French, and efficiently handled, decided the fate of battle on many occasions. It was first used to knock out the Fr. guns, then to shake the infantry, and clear the way for the decisive attack. Then came the invention of the quick-firing gun, a combination of devices for quick loading and an arrangement for fixing the gun carriage and making the gun itself recoil in a slide, compre ing springs that automatically brought it back to firing position; so that, once laid on the target, it could be loaded and fired as er. as the gunners could work the breec gear and handle the ammunition. Such guns can for a brief period twenty shots a minute, so that shells are in the air at the same High explosive shells were also introduced and guns of a weight that had limited their use to fortre , siege, naval work, were brought into the Ranges in land warfare were extended to 10 miles. Indirect fire from concealed positions was largely adopted, the ners firing from behind cover at a they could not see, directing their by indications given by telephone wirele from observation posts in vance, high positions closer at or from observers in aeroplanes. heavy batteries are made up each four breech loading 60 prs.—long guns. Howitzers are shorter guns throwing a heavy shell at a high The batteries of field howitzers armed with 4.5 and 5-in. howitzers. During Great War, heavier howitzers up to 15-in. caliber were used in warfare on the Western front, and Germans had a few howitzers of 16/4 caliber. The Fr. field gun is the 75 q.-f., with the recoil controlled compre ed air device.