Cannons the 1800's to the 1900's

Bronze 12 pounder napoleonic cannon
Yosam 12pound Napoleon cannon.. waymarking Web. January 26 2011

Early in the 1800's cast iron began replacing bronze as the most common gunmetal. This was influenced by America's growing iron industries (however in 1836 bronze became the common mobile cannon material).



 

Case shot
shrapnel shell. inert-ord Web. January 26 2011



Napoleon owed much of his success in the Napoleonic wars as, well as other battles he took place in during his life time, to these improvements of the cannon.  Napoleon, whom started off as an artillery officer, knew the power of the cannon on the battle field. When he came to power he used artillery to its fullest, he would use 4-12 pounder bronze cannons With case shot rounds, which were much like grape shot rounds but with more, but smaller spheres to weaken the opposition from a distance then attack with his artillery men.  He used this strategy to conquer most of Europe. Napoleon received a blow of irony during the battle of Sedan as Prussian troops used these cannons to completely cover the French army from a distance. January 16^th After Napoleon’s defeat France eventually returned to a peaceful state however Napoleon with the help of Cannons managed to influence revolutions from France all the way to Romania.



12 pounder cannon
Model 1857 12 Pound Bronze Napoleon Civil War Cannon. Cannon superstore.Web. January 26 2011



In 1853 “Napoleon” smooth bore cannons were developed in France and adopted by America in 1857. They played important roles in America’s Civil War (1861-1865) as they were mobile and still had excellent killing power the use of these cannons helped the Union win the war which helped form the country we have today.

Resources:

Rob Ossain,. "The Pirate King".. History Channel,. Internet. January 15-26, 2011.

Richard Moore .Napoleonguide. Version number. Richard Moore. Web. January 25 2011.

"Case shot." Wikipedia.com. Wikipedia, n.d. Web. 16 Jan 2011.

"The Napoleon 12-Pounder Field Gun Model 1857." hmdb.org. hmdb, December 2 2009 Web. 24 Feb. 2009.

"Battle of Sedan (1870)." Wikipedia.com. Wikipedia, n.d. Web. 16 Jan 2011.