As another Lame Cherry exclusive in matter anti matter.
I was doing some Civil War reading and became fascinated with a projectile called a Turpentine Ball which was fired from a cannon. I found a more detailed explanation of the munition on a government site. The problem is they were calling it a chemical weapon and instead the use which I read of was something more to starting the inside of things on fire.
It is made from the European larch and is a sort of varnish in being thicker.
Just something more fascinating as people make the mistake in thinking that cannons just shot round balls, when they were busy making them for all types of situations.
agtG
Munitions
Smooth-bore, muzzle loading cannon fired a variety of projectiles, from simple to quite specialized.
Round Shot: A solid projectile made, in
early times, from dressed stone but, by the 17th century, from cast
iron. The most accurate projectile that could be fired by a smooth-bore
cannon, used to batter the wooden hulls of opposing ships, forts, or
fixed emplacements, and as a long-range anti-personnel weapon. The
effect of a careening cannonball bouncing across a field filled with
columns of marching men would have been akin to a deadly game of nine
pins.
Chain Shot/Bar Shot: A projectile used
to slash through the rigging and sails of an enemy ship so that it could
no longer maneuvre. Chain shot was two round shot linked by a length of
chain. Bar shot was typically two halves of a cannon ball with a solid
bar welded between. Called "angels" (possibly because of the fluttering
noise they made as they rotated through the air) these were frightening
weapons but relatively inaccurate and only used at close range.
Spider Shot: was a variation on chain
shot, but it had many chains attached to the multiple balls instead of a
single chain between two. It was not used very much, despite its
effectiveness against small ships and morale.
Grapeshot: An anti-personnel weapon,
similar to canister shot, but with iron shot being stacked around a
wooden core and wrapped in a canvas bag, and generally of a larger
calibre. So called because of the resemblance of the clustered shot in
the bag to a cluster of grapes on the vine. In 19th century variations
of this, the shot was held together by a coiled bar, essentially a
spring attached to two end plates and was spread by a fused charge in
the same way as a shell or the shot was sandwiched in layers between
iron plates held by a central bolt. Effective range out to 900 yards.
Canister: A short range anti-personnel
projectile made up of small iron round shot or lead musket balls in a
tinned metal can, which broke up when fired, scattering the shot
throughout the enemy personnel within range, like a large shotgun. It
had an effective range from about 250 to 400 yards.
Star Shot or Faggot Shot: A cylindrical
wooden shot, either a solid log scored into triangular bars or wooden
rods tightly bound by iron bands. When fired they would split and
splinter apart creating an effective and inexpensive short range
anti-personnel munition.
Case Shot: An iron anti-personnel
projectile containing an interior cavity packed with lead or iron round
balls around a small bursting charge of just enough force to break open
the thin-walled iron projectile. A hollow wooden fuse inserted into a
hole in the outer edge of the projectile was designed to be ignited by
flame from the propellant charge. Ideally the case shot fuse would
detonate the central bursting charge when the projectile was six to ten
feet above the heads of the enemy showering them with the iron balls and
fragments of the case. Invented in1784 by Lt. Henry Shrapnel, of
British Royal Artillery modern shells of this type still bear his name.
Shell: A 19th century explosive
anti-material and counter-battery projectile, of iron with a cavity
packed with a high explosive bursting charge of powder used to destroy
enemy wagons, breastworks, or opposing artillery. Two types of fuses
were used--impact fuses that detonated the bursting charge by
percussion, and time fuses cut to length measured in seconds and ignited
by flame from the propellant charge.
Carcass: An incendiary/antipersonnel
projectile designed to burn fiercely and produce poisonous fumes. It was
constructed of an iron frame bound with sack cloth and filled with
various ingredients such as pitch, antimony, sulphur, saltpeter, tallow
and venetian turpentine. It was ignited by the cannon's propellant
charge, bursting on impact with the target and releasing noxious fumes
while setting fire to its surroundings. It was effectively an early
chemical weapon as well as an incendiary projectile.
Hot Shot or Heated Shot: A process
where a solid iron cannonball is heated red hot in a specially-designed
furnace and then is loaded in a muzzle-loading cannon, cushioned by a
substantial thickness of wet wadding such as sod, and is then fired
while still red hot, at flammable targets with the intention of setting
them on fire. This was a much advocated tactic (and many times a very
successful one) for shore based forts defending against attacks by
wooden warships. Examples of these small brick furnaces may still be
seen at permanently constructed pre-1860 forts in Europe and the United
States. The adoption by most navies of iron hulled ships generally made
these obsolete. The shot was carried on a specially-designed iron barrow
or 2-man litter and, in the era of blackpowder cannon charges contained
in cloth bags, occasioned much fanfare and notice as it was conveyed to
the cannon muzzle as the red-hot projectile would easily ignite any
carelessly handled loose powder. Any reckless or somewhat dangerous
individual who seemed to draw trouble to themselves and those around
them was referred to as a "Hot Shot", giving rise to the term in common
use to this day.
