Glenie (History of Gunnery, 1776) appears to have been the first, who gave the theory of projectiles in vacuo by plain geometry, or by means of the square and rhombus, with a method of reducing projections on inclined planes, whether elevated or depressed below the horizontal plane, to those which are made on the horizon. The experiments, and observations, of Mr. Robins, on the subject of gunpowder, &c. may be seen in the article on gunpowder.
Besides the formation of cannon, by uniting iron bars together, and strengthening them by hoops, (one or two of which were made in Philadelphia in 1776, by a Mr. Wheeler, of a superior kind,) others were made of thin sheets of iron, rolled up together and hooped; and on emergencies, they were made of leather, with plates of iron or copper. Stone balls were used, and a small quantity of powder. In the 13th century, cannon were used in a sea fight, between the king of Tunis and the Moorish king of Seville. The Venetians used cannon at the siege of Claudia Jessa, now called Chioggia, in 1366, which were brought thither by two Germans, with some powder and leaden balls; as likewise in their wars with the Genoese in 1379. At the battle of Cressy, in 1346, Edward III made use of cannon. They were also employed in the seige of Calais, in 1347. Pieces of ordnance were made use of by the Turks, at the siege of Constantinople, then in possession of the Christians, in 1394, or in that of 1452, that threw a weight of 1006 lbs. Louis XII had one cast at Tours, of the same size. One of those cannon was taken at the seige of Dieu, in 1546, by Don John de Castra, and is in the castle of St. Juliao de Barra, 10 miles from Lisbon. Its length is 20 feet 7 inches, diameter at the centre, 6 feet 3 inches, and it discharges a ball of 1000 lbs. It has neither dolphins, rings, nor buttons, is of a curious kind of metal, and has a large Indostan inscription upon it, by which it appears it was cast in 1400. The mortars at the Dardanelles are represented to throw shells, or ball of an immense size and weight.
Some do not consider cannon an European invention; because it is asserted, that authentic documents exist of their use in China, many centuries before they were thought of in Europe. If they say, the testimony of the Chinese themselves is not sufficient on this point, the fact of their great wall being furnished with embrasures, fitted in such a manner for cannon, leaves no doubt of their having been in use at the time of its erection. To this, an additional argument may be added, from their very ancient game of chess, in which pieces have been used from remote antiquity, designating engines of war, whose power was derived from gunpowder. Mr. Irvin, (Trans. Royal Irish Academy,) in his paper on the Chinese Game of Chess, proves, that gunpowder was in common use in China, 371 years after Confucius, or 161 years before Christ; and Du Halde has long since given documents to show, that the Chinese wall was in existence 200 years before the commencement of the Christian era; and consequently, for the reason before stated, the use of cannon must have been of at least equal antiquity. The Asiatic Researches contain some remarks to the same point. There is a strong probability then, that the invention of guns was of a much more remote date. It is not impossible, however, that the same thing may have been invented by different persons, in various parts of the world.
We mentioned, that it is much more probable, that the use of gunpowder in war was derived ultimately from the Chinese, notwithstanding the generally received opinion, that the Greek fire was the progenitor of its discovery; or that Bacon, or Schwartz, an obscure monk, has claims to the invention. The mode in which the use of gunpowder in war might have passed from China to Europe, is the most probable and simple imaginable. Zingis Khan is known to have conquered the five northern provinces of China, about the year 1234. He must have known the common use of gunpowder at that period, as it had been known in China 1400 years before. In the Chinese annals of the Moguls, by Yuen, as translated by Pére Gaubil, it is particularly stated, that the use of cannon and mortars was familiar in the wars and sieges of Zingis against the Chinese, both by them and him, in attack and defence. It is most probable, that he used gunpowder in his wars against Mahomet, Sultan of Carisme, whose dominions extended from the Persian Gulf, to the borders of India and of Turkistan. It is known, that he had a body of Chinese engineers in his army, who, of course, must have been acquainted with the use of gunpowder.
The conquests of Zingis would thus have spread the knowledge of gunpowder, &c. over the western part of Asia; and the Europeans, in their crusades, may have had frequent opportunities of becoming acquainted with it. It was just after this time, that it became known, and was used in the European wars.
Sir Francis Bacon (Moral and Political Essays,) observes, that "ordnance was known in the city of Oxydraces, in India, and was that which the Macedonians called 'thunder, lightning, and magic;' and it is well known, that the use of ordnance had been common in China above two thousand years."
Beckman, (History of Inventions, iii, p. 434,) in his essay on the origin of guns and gun-locks, has given, at some length, the history of guns. All we can add here, is, that the first portable fire-arms were discharged by means of a match, which, in the course of time, was fastened to a cock, and afterwards a fire stone and steel plate were used. This fire stone was not a flint, but a compact pyrites, or marcasite, (sulphuret of iron), which was distinguished by that name. On each new improvement, the piece received a new name; as, büchse, haken büchse, arquebuse, &c. After explaining the origin of these names, he adds, that the large pieces were conveyed on carriages, called karrenbüchse, but soon after also canna, cannon. Pistols are mentioned by Beilay, in 1544, in the time of Francis I; and under Henry II, the German horsemen were called pistoliers. The name is derived from Pistoia, in Tuscany; because they were there first made. Muskets received their name from the Latin muschetus, which signifies a male sparrow-hawk. They were first used at the seige of Rhege, in the year 1521. They were known in France in the time of Francis I. Brantome, however, asserts, that they were first introduced by the Duke of Alva, in 1567, and used in the Netherlands. He also says, that they were made general in France by M. de Strozzi, under Charles XI. The lock was invented in Germany, in the city of Nuremberg, in 1517; it is uncertain whether it is the present lock. In the arsenal at Hanover, there are many ancient pieces. The oldest had on the barrel, the figure of a hen with a musket in its mouth; because it is said they were made at Henneberg.
There are three species of cannon, the gun, the howitzer, and the mortar. The gun is the longest piece of artillery, employed at the present day: the culverins, dragons, &c. as they were formerly called, had calibers twice, and even three times as long as those now used. Guns were originally called bombards, and were eight calibers in length. The term pieriers, from pierre, a stone, were given to some guns, because they were employed in throwing rough stones. The carronades, derived from the river Carron, in Scotland, where they were originally made, is a short gun, with a bore about eight diameters of the shot in length. The howitzer is a species of mortar, but longer, and used to throw a hollow projectile, called a howitz, which acts at first as a ricochet ball. The mortar is the shortest species of cannon, and is used to throw bombs or shells. A stone mortar is used in sieges, to throw stones upon an enemy. Besides these descriptions of guns, there is another division, to which General Lallemand (Treatise on Artillery, vol. 1, p. 20,) has given the name of demi-guns, under which he ranks the harquebus on a swivel, the rampart gun, and the repeating gun, or musket, of the Americans.
He observes, that the harquebus nearly resembles the amusette of Marshal Saxe, has a barrel like that of a musket, and carries a ball weighing half a pound or more; that the rampart gun, or wall piece, is a large musket, that was anciently much used in the defence of fortresses, having a barrel of 51/2 or 6 feet long, and a ball from 10 to 14 to the pound; and that the repeating musket is a gun, consisting of 7 barrels, all of which discharges 32 rounds in succession, making 224 in all. With respect to this gun, the effect of which we have witnessed, not only in the discharge of thirty-two rounds from a single gun, but the combined effect of seven or more barrels, the General observes, that the diameter of the bore is three-fourths of an inch, and the weight seventy pounds. It is placed, like the rampart guns, upon a wooden frame, and has a handle at the breech to point by. As to its use, he adds:—it may be advantageously employed in the defence of places at the moment of assault; it may be useful in the field, to defend parts of a line of battle, or entrenchments, with few troops, and yet astonish the enemy by a warm fire, when he ventures to approach. Its discharge does not last a minute. It may be of great service in the tops of ships of war.