War - Its Deadly Weapons
From Brett's Hastings & St. Leonards Penny Press1854
Human Blood is all of one Colour
Much as we may at first sight lament the invention of gunpowder, and all the numerous terrible projectiles which owe their origin to its adoption, we must recollect that they are in reality a means of the extinction of war in themselves. Greatly as Europe has been devastated by discord since the introduction of artillery, if we advert to the wars of the Romans, who for five centuries were engaged in incessant hostility, and to the desolation caused by the Scythians, Goths, Vandals, Tartars, and the destruction of about two millions of beings in the Crusades—it seems to be evident that wars were anciently, and before the general use of fire-arms and cannon, more frequent, protracted, destructive, and cruel than they now are. In no period previous to the invention of gunpowder, does it appear that Europe was at peace for nearly forty years, as it happily was, until the present war—caused by the aggression of the ruler of hordes bred in the same recesses as the Huns and Vandals of ancient days—broke out.
The time may be distant when the military art will die a natural death — when the “sword shall be beaten into the ploughshare;” and in the meanwhile we will go on with our review of the approved method adopted in the deadly art as now practised. In the illustration which we have given of the Mortar battery the operation of throwing shells from mortars is represented. Considerable practice and skill is requisite in the performance of this duty,that the shell may fall exactly on the spot intended, as, otherwise, their effects may be useless. The length and adjustment of the fusee, which it is scarcely necessary to remark is the means by, which the explosion of the shell is effected, is also of great importance - hence the necessity for accurately timing it, as, if the ignition take place a little before the required instant - in the air for instance — the result is perfectly harmless. At the battle of Waterloo great quantities of shells were thrown among the British, but as the fusees were not exactly timed the projectiles struck the ground before ignition, and the soil being wet, they sunk in the mud without exploding at all. Great excellence has, however, now been attained in the throwing of shells, and of course as almost any description of missile can be propelled from mortars, the mortar battery must be considered as a very formidable arrangement of ordnance.
A shell called a ”Carcass” is sometimes propelled from mortars, which we will briefly allude to. The powers of the “carcass” are not explosive but incendiary - there are several holes in it, and it is charged not only with gunpowder but with a mixture of gunpowder, pitch, and tallow. As soon as the carcass is discharged the horrible contents ignite, and streaming from each aperture, overwhelms with its fiery streams the building against which it may be directed.
Our readers may perhaps have some idea of the difficulties which must attend the moving of mortars and cannon up precipices, and over rugged ground if we remark respecting the weight of mortars that a 13 inch land-service brass mortar weighs 25 cwt., and an iron mortar, of the same calibre, 38 cwt.; that a 42-pounder brass gun weighs 61 cwt.; a light brass 24-pounder, 24 cwt.; and a 32-pounder iron gun, 55 cwt.
The exertion and perseverance which enabled our troops in the Crimea to overcome difficulties of this kind, must be considered as not the least important part of their victories,
Another description of battery which is very effective especially in a hilly country, is the Barbette Battery of which we give an illustration above. The cannon are ranged on hillocks of earth, artificial or natural, and are in close proximity to each other. The pieces admit of being turned in any required direction with the utmost despatch, and the storm of iron can be so concentrated, and sustained with such celerity, by means of these batteries that they present fearful obstacles to the progress of battalions, or to any combinations of the foe against whom their fire may be directed.
Many terms occur in describing military operations, especially sieges, which are ill-understood by the majority of general readers, and it will not be inopportune at this point to give some explanation of such. To some of our readers the terms fascines, gabions, san-cissons, &c., may be familiar; but they are not so with the great mass of the public, who take so deep an interest in all matters having reference in any way to the war in the East.
The batteries constructed for the siege of any place (as in the case of Sebastopol,) are made of fascines, sancissons, and not unfrequently, in the absence of hard rocky ground, with earth, They are also made with gabions or sand bags.
Fascines are composed of branches of trees, or brushwood, made up in the form of fagots, about six feet long, and eight or ten inches in diameter, tied together in two or three places. Sancissons, which are used for keeping up the earthwork of a battery, are also made of the same materials; but they are from eighteen to twenty feet in length, and are tied up in bundles of some fourteen or sixteen inches in diameter.
Gabions are cylindrical baskets, without a bottom, from three to four feet high, and the same in diameter, to be filled with earth, Sand bags, which are from ten to fifteen inches in diameter, and about two feet in length, are,also to contain earth. Not less than about 1,600 of these are required for the parapet, in the construction of a battery of only two pieces.
In batteries which are used in sieges to destroy the defences of a place, the guns are usually placed behind a mass of earth about seven feet high and twenty feet in thickness, Ricochet firing is when the guns, howitzers, or mortars are loaded with small charges, and elevated at an angle of from three to thirteen degrees, so as to throw the shot or shell with several grazes or bounds, either on land or water.
Hundreds of technicalities exist besides those given here, relating to engineering artillery, but these are the most common, and we shall proceed with the reader to the scene of the illustration given below, representing the spiking of the guns by the Turkish artillerymen, a scene lamentably too true. The recent abandonment of their guns by the Turks at Sebastopol, in consequence of a vigorous attack, by the Russians, exposed our troops to great loss, as well as the imminent risk of losing their position.
Many persons, when they read of cannon being ”spiked” to prevent them (when a place is compelled to be evacuated in too great haste to carry off the guns) from being of any service to an enemy, imagine that it is the mouth of the piece which is operated upon; but this is not so. The method most commonly adopted to render a piece of ordnance unfit for service is to drive a nail firmly into the vent, or touch-hole, and then to knock off the head, so that by no means could it be pulled out. This, even in a battery of one hundred guns, is but the work of a few seconds, the artillery being always provided with the necessary means to effect this purpose.
It is not in depreciation of the general bravery of the Turks that this allusion is made to the abandonment of their guns; because emergencies occur which render that operation compulsory at times, and, besides, the due need of praise must be given to the Turkish soldiers for the manner in which they have, for the most part, behaved when engaged with the enemy. It may be remarked, however, that with British troops spiking the guns is looked upon in no very favourable light, and in truth such an incident seldom occurs. It is difficult for a civilian, or indeed for any who have not participated in one or two campaigns, to imagine the affection which the veteran cannonier feels towards his death-dealing gun, He is sworn to guard it, and perhaps he has guarded it in many a hard-fought field. Taken by the enemy and again retaken, the sanguinary moment from its own inherent solemnity, but it is stil! more fertile of saddening reflection to the soldier. The hurried shake of the hand exchanged between old acquaintances or perhaps near relatives, the few words of good cheer, withal partaking of sadness, spoken by one soldier to another, or the shout of recognition between various regiments who have before shared the perils of the battle-field, are all interesting reminiscences which it is not easy afterwards to forget. Thoughts of home, too, of an aged mother, cherished sisters, or other relatives, come over the mind of the soldier, together with the knowledge that the next few hours may stretch him a mangled corse(sic) upon the field. The hissing and crashing of the shot, the noise and smoke of the firing, and the terrible duties of the soldier on the field of battle, dispel these reflections during actual contest, and the honour and glory supposed to devolve on the survivors of a victory take off a great deal of the horror and sadness which might reasonably follow so terrible a reality as the occurrence of a great battle: but it may be repeated that none but those who have actually experienced the sensations preceding and during a general action can adequately judge of their intensity.
Perhaps, however, there are greater miseries still than those of the battlefield which follow in the train of war, over which there may be more silence, but to which we may allowed to refer. A country which is at war with any other nation is it may be said grievously afflicted, but how much more sad is the fate of the place in which the contest actually takes place — the seat of war, as it is called. Probably far removed from either of the nations at variance — the inhabitants commonly so uninterested in the quarrel as to know nothing of its causes — yet they are exposed to the greatest violence and injustice.
Perhaps their homes are converted into batteries, or perhaps they are levelled to the ground. The property of the occupants is sacrificed, or they levelled to the ground. The property of the occupants is sacrificed, or they are even deprived of their lives, and a region smiling in quietude and plenteousness is desolated by fire and sword.
In a besieged town still greater horrors accompany the scourge. Different regulations, it may be observed, are adopted by the authorities in cases of this kind. Sometimes such of the inhabitants as are unable to bear arms are ordered to quit the town; and these, taking with them such things as they can, proceed to leave their homes, and mostly their means of livelihood also, to go they know not whither — while the sad reflection accompanies them that they shall no more behold the son, or husband, or brother left behind. Where a certain number of inhabitants only are compelled to leave the place, or where even the whole of the townspeople remain, the miseries are augmented. If famine comes, there are more to feed; and if, as is usual, bombardment occurs, there is a greater feast for death, and the grief and mourning of survivors is greater too. The scenes which occur when at length the place is taken are too fearful to dwell upon. Sometimes the place is sacked, or property and inhabitants given over to the rude excesses of the soldiers; and where orders are even given to the contrary of this, the strictest discipline cannot prevent acts of the greatest cruelty and licentiousness — as some of the sieges under Wellington in the Peninsular will fully prove.
We have seen how shells, carcasses, and other instruments of death are propelled from the battery - let us follow them in their flight, as it were, and witness some of their effects. The streets of Sebastopol as described by some prisoners taken by the British and of which we have given a representation above, furnish an apt illustration of the general results of a siege. The dead and dying strewed in every direction, despair, hunger, and sickness on every countenance, and the ceaseless storm of shell and shot relentlessly striking down even the helper of the wounded and the sick — such is the picture presented!
Participation in war is at the present time forced upon us by a despot, whose obstinacy is only equalled by the arrogance of his pretensions. It can scarcely be hoped that the world will ever be freed of such men as the Czar — the tyrant of one age usually has his representative in the next; but from what we have seen of the military art it may be reasonably hoped that when science, especially chemistry, shall have reduced war to a matter of definite calculation and, of course, certain destruction to all engaged in it, the institution will die a natural death, The innate selfishness of mankind will immediately recognise the folly of engaging in a system of indiscriminate slaughter, which must result in the extirmination(sic) of their species, leaving the earth once more to the dominion of the swamp and the forest.
Meantime may our own land be spared from experiencing the fearful realities which ever follow in the train of war.
