Figure 22—TRAJECTORIES. Maximum range of eighteenth century guns was about 1 mile.

Guns could: Batter heavy construction with solid shot at long or short range; destroy fort parapets and, by ricochet fire, dismount cannon; shoot grape, canister, or bombs against massed personnel.
Mortars could: Reach targets behind obstructions; use high angle fire to shoot bombs, destroying construction and personnel.
Howitzers could: Move more easily in the field than mortars; reach targets behind obstructions by high angle fire; shoot larger projectiles than could field guns of similar weight.

It was most important for the artillerist to understand the different classes of guns. As Collado quaintly phrased it, "he who ignores the present lecture on this arte will, I assert, never do a good thing." Cannon burst in the batteries every day because gunners were ignorant of how the gun was made and what it was meant to do. Nor was such ignorance confined to gunners alone. The will and whim of the prince who ordered the ordnance or "the simple opinion of the unexpert founder himself," were the guiding principles in gun founding. "I am forced," wrote Collado, "to persuade the princes and advise the founders that the making of artillery should always take into account the purpose each piece must serve." This persuasion he undertook in considerable detail.

Figure 23—SIXTEENTH CENTURY SPANISH ARTILLERY. Taken from a 1592 manuscript, these drawings illustrate the three main classes of artillery used by Spain during the early colonial period in the New World, a—Culverin (Class 1). b—Cannon (Class 2). c—Pedrero (Class 3). d—Mortar (Class 3).

The first class of guns were the long-range pieces, comparatively "rich" in metal. In the following table from Collado, the calibers and ranges for most Spanish guns of this class are given, although as the second column shows, at this period calibers were standardized only in a general way. For translation where possible, and to list those which became the most popular calibers, we have added a final column. Most of the guns were probably of culverin length: 30- to 32-caliber.

Sixteenth century Spanish cannon of the first class

Name of gunWeight of ball (pounds)Length of gun (in calibers)Range in yardsPopular caliber
Point-blankMaximum
Esmeril 1/2 208 750 1/2-pounder esmeril.
Falconete 1 to 2 1-pounder falconet.
Falcón 3 to 4 417 2,500 3-pounder falcon.
Pasavolante 1 to 15 40 to 44 500 4,166 6-pounder pasavolante.
Media sacre 5 to 7 417 3,750 6-pounder demisaker.
Sacre 7 to 10 9-pounder saker.
Moyana 8 to 10 shorter than saker 9-pounder moyenne.
Media culebrina 10 to 18 833 5,000 12-pounder demiculverin.
Tercio de culebrina 14 to 22 18-pounder third-culverin.
Culebrina 20, 24, 25, 30, 40, 50 30 to 32 1,742 6,666 24-pounder culverin.
Culebrina real 24 to 40 30 to 32 32-pounder culverin royal.
Doble culebrina 40 and up 30 to 32 48-pounder culverin.