Above the guns, hooked to the beams, so as to be out of the way when not in use, were the implements for loading and cleaning. A gun was loaded in the following manner:—The powder was inserted by means of a ladle—a sort of copper shovel—with a long wooden handle. The head of this shovel resembled a “cylindrical spoon.” Into its cavity the cartridge fitted, so that the loader had but to thrust the ladle down and turn it over to deposit the cartridge in its place at the extremity of the bore. A wad of rope yarn was then driven home upon the charge by an implement known as the rammer. The shot was then rammed home, with a wad on top of it.[11] The tightness or looseness of this, the containing wad, did not affect the velocity of the cannon ball. As a rule, therefore, the upper wad was driven in with force just sufficient to keep the shot in the gun while aim was taken. Tight wads were seldom used, as they took too long to drive down the muzzle.
When the piece was loaded the captain of the gun took out his priming-iron, an implement like a knitting-needle, with a few spirals (as in a corkscrew) at the end. This he thrust down the touch-hole into the cartridge, so that the iron not only cleared the vent, but also cut through the cartridge. He then opened his priming-box and took out a priming-tube, which was either of tin or of quill, and, in either case, of less than one-fifth of an inch in diameter. This he placed in the touch-hole, so that the sharp end of it entered into the cartridge. Priming-tubes were filled with the very best mealed powder, “mixed up stiff with spirits of wine.” Their upper ends were frayed, so that the fire might reach them the more readily. If there were no priming-tubes the captain of the gun primed his piece from a powder-horn, by merely pouring good mealed powder down the touch-hole, and then laying a little train of the same along a channel cut in the gun for the purpose. This little groove led from the vent towards the breech of the piece. The powder placed in this groove was always slightly bruised with the end of the powder-horn. When the gun was primed and aimed, the captain of the piece watched his opportunity to fire, taking care to fire as his side of the ship rose slowly[12] from a roll, so that his shot, if it missed the ship he aimed at, might yet cut her rigging. The piece was fired, as a rule, by means of a match, or length, of twisted cotton wicks soaked in lye, which burned very slowly, and remained alight when once lit for several hours. Matches in actual use were twisted about a forked staff some three feet long, which was known as the linstock.[13] Immediately before a battle matches ready for use were placed between the guns in tubs, known as match tubs, which were half filled with sand or water. The matches were fixed in notches in the rim of each tub, so that their burning ends overhung the water or sand. Their loose ends lay upon the deck. When a man gave fire to a piece he held the burning match below the level of the vent, and blew on the lighted end to make it burn clearly. At the favourable instant he applied the red end to the train of powder leading to the touch-hole, and then smartly drew back the linstock to avoid the “huff” or spit of fire from the vent at the moment of explosion. The spirt of flame was sufficiently violent to blow the linstock out of a man’s hand if he applied it carelessly. It also burnt pockmarks on the beams directly above the gun, so that in many old wooden men-of-war the beams were deeply pitted all along the deck. After 1780 the guns of some ships were fitted with flint-locks, by means of which a spark struck from a flint was thrown on to the pan or tube containing the priming powder. The triggers of these locks were released by a smart pull upon a lanyard. These flint-locks were safer than the old arrangement of match and powder train. They were also more certain and more easily managed. Their use enabled the gunners to fire more rapidly, but the sailors disliked them, and the captains looked upon them as dangerous innovations, opposed to the old traditions of the service. They were not generally adopted until after the battle of the Nile. A ship employing them in that engagement made such excellent and such rapid practice that the seamen were convinced of their merit. A flint-lock was, however, always liable to lose its flint, either by fracture or by being stricken from its place. Many guns were fitted with double or even treble flints so that the breaking or slipping of a single stone should not stop the fire. Until long after Nelson’s death it was the rule for ships going into action to carry lighted matches in match tubs between the guns, for use if the flint-locks missed fire.
The gun when fired recoiled with great violence to the limit of the breeching. When a gun had become hot from continuous firing the violence of its recoil became so great that the carriage would be lifted from the deck, and the whole contrivance would leap to the beams above at each shot. The breechings used to snap like twine under the tremendous strain of such recoils, particularly on the lower-deck, where the ropes were frequently wetted and subject to rot. In general actions the guns were fitted with double-breechings to prevent such ruptures.
The recoil of the gun was very dangerous to the gun’s crews, for no man, however experienced, could predict, from the direction in which the gun pointed and the motion of the ship, in what way the gun would run back. Numbers of men were killed or wounded by the recoil of guns, and no device checked the evil altogether, though several inventions modified it. The breeching always kept it within certain bounds, while it was checked naturally by the slope of the deck, from in midships, towards the ship’s sides.
When a gun had been fired successfully[14] it recoiled into the position for reloading. Before a fresh cartridge was thrust down the muzzle, an instrument called a worm, a sort of large edged corkscrew, was sometimes inserted to scrape out any burning scraps which might remain in the gun. With some kinds of cartridges this was necessary after each discharge. When the worm had been passed, a sponge was thrust down, and twisted round once or twice as soon as its head had reached the end of the bore. By the time the gun had been sponged, and the sponge tapped out, a fresh cartridge was ready for insertion. The head of a sponge was usually of rough sheepskin wool affixed to a stout piece of rope, stiffened with spun yarn, at the other end of which was a wooden butt, studded with copper, for use as a rammer. A rope handle was found far safer than one of wood, for it allowed the sailor to bend it, so that he could pass it down the gun without leaning out of the port, as a mark for the enemy’s sharpshooters. In sponging and ramming the sailor showed himself as little as possible. If he had to expose himself at the port as he sponged, he always held the sponge away from the ship’s side, with his body between it and the timbers, so that if a shot struck the handle it might not force the implement through his body.
The guns were trained aft and forward by means of handspikes or wooden levers, which were sometimes fitted with iron claws. With these the carriage of a gun could be shifted, little by little, in the required direction. The handspikes were also used to raise the breech of the gun, when the gun captain adjusted the piece to the required height by means of the coins. In raising the breech, the sailor used as his fulcrum one of the steps cut in the cheek or side of the gun-carriage. The work of shifting one of these heavy guns by such a clumsy contrivance was very hard. In action the men stripped to their waists, yet a very few minutes of the work sufficed to make them hot. The exercise was so violent that in hot engagements the men sometimes fell exhausted beside their guns, and slept there in all the uproar of the fight.
The guns generally in use were cast in two lengths, “long” and “short,” both varieties having about the same range, but with this difference. The long gun was more accurate, and could be laid point blank—that is, level or horizontal—to fire at an object at a distance, say, of 300 yards. To hit the same object at that distance a short gun had to be slightly elevated, and the more the gun was elevated the less accurate it became. The short gun was the more popular in the years of which we write, for it was more destructive at close quarters, and commanders preferred to come to close quarters before engaging. In the American War of 1812 this preference for the short gun lost us several frigates. The American frigates which captured them were armed with long guns. With these they were able to remain aloof, plying our ships with shot at long range; while the short guns aboard our ships replied inaccurately, their shot falling short or missing, owing to the great elevation necessary to make them carry the distance. The following table may help the reader to understand the sizes and qualifications of the guns in use:—
| Calibre | Length of Piece | Length of Bore | Weight of Gun | Charge of Powder | Point-Blank Range | Extreme Range at 10° Elevation |
| 32-pr. long | 9 ft. 6 ins. | 8 ft. 11 ins. | 55 cwt. 2 qrs. | 10-11 lbs. | 350 yards | 2900 yards |
| 32-pr. short | 8 ft. | 7 ft. 6 ins. | 49 " 3 " | " | " | " |
| 24-pr. long | 9 ft. 6 ins. | 8 ft. 11 ins. | 50 " | 8-4 lbs. | 297-265 yards | 2870-2513 yards |
| " | 9 ft. | 8 ft. 5½ ins. | 47 " 2 " | " | " | " |
| " | 8 ft. | 7 ft. 5½ ins. | 43 " 2 " | " | " | " |
| 24-pr. short | 7 ft. 6 ins. | 6 ft. 11 ins. | 40 " | 6-4 lbs. | 221-288 yards | 2562-2668 yards |
| " | 6 ft. 6 ins. | 6 ft. 11 ins. | 33 " | " | " | " |
| " | 6 ft. | 5 ft. 11 ins. | 31 " | " | " | " |
| 18-pr. long | 9 ft. | 8 ft. 6 ins. | 42 " | 8-4 lbs. | 297-265 yards | 2870-2513 yards |
| " | 8 ft. | 7 ft. 6 ins. | 37 " | " | " | " |
| 18-pr. short | 6 ft. | 5 ft. 6 ins. | 27 " | 6-4 lbs. | 221-288 yards | 2562-2668 yards |
| 12-pr. long | 9 ft. | 8 ft. 6¼ ins. | 34 " | 3½ lbs. | 300 yards | 1800 yards at most at 6° elevation |
| " | 8 ft. 6 ins. | 8 ft. | 33 " | " | " | " |
| 12-pr. short | 7 ft. 6 ins. | 7 ft. | 29 " | " | " | " |
| 9-pr. long | 9 ft. | 8 ft. 6 ins. | 31 " | " | " | " |
| " | 8 ft. 6 ins. | 8 ft. 6 ins. | 28 " | 3 lbs. | " | " |
| 9-pr. short | 7 ft. 6 ins. | 7 ft. | 26 " | " | " | " |
| " | 7 ft. | 6 ft. 6 ins. | 25 " | " | " | " |
The guns at sea were invariably kept loaded, but the charges were frequently drawn, as the powder deteriorated if left too long in the gun. In action, when not in use, the crows, handspikes, rammers, etc., were laid on the deck near the ship’s side. After an engagement the sponges and rammers were hooked to the ship’s beams, above the gun. The other implements were stowed under the gun. In action, the priming-horn was hung to the beams between shots. After action it was returned to the gunner and stored away in one of the magazines. Each gun was fought by a gun’s crew of from eight to four men according to the size of the piece.
The guns were generally painted a sort of grey-blue steel colour, with a scarlet band round the muzzle.[15] Some captains merely blackened their guns. Others blackened them, and kept the brass sights and steel cap-squares polished. These were, however, in the minority until 1811. One or two captains painted their guns a pure white. After 1811 the custom of “spit and polish” began, to the great misery of the sailors. Until that time the bright work of the guns was generally painted over.