The bombardier, and pocket gunner

by Ralph Willett Adye

Note. The following estimate of the quantity of earth which may be removed by a certain number of workmen in a given time, may serve to give some idea of the time required to raise any kind of works. 500 common wheel barrows will contain 2 cubic toises of earth, and may be wheeled by one man, in summer, to the distance of 20 yards up a ramp, and 30 on a horizontal plain, in one day. In doing which he will pass over, going and returning, about 4 leagues in the first case, and 6 in the last. Most men, however, will not wheel more than 1¾ toise per day. Four men will remove the same quantity to four times the distance.

In a soil easy to be dug, one man can fill the 500 barrows in a day; but if the ground be hard, the number of fillers must be augmented, so as to keep pace with the wheel barrow man.

BEDS for Mortars.

Nature.		Weight.			Tonnage.			Len.		Bre.		Ht.
		cᵂᵗ.	qʳˢ.	lb.	tⁿˢ.	cᵂᵗ.	qʳ	ft.	in.	ft.	in.	ft.	in.
	Sea	38	3	13	3	3	2
13	Land Wood	21	2	7	1	6	0	7	0	2	6	2	3
	”   Iron	50	0	0	2	10	0	6	3	3	1	1	6
	Sea	32	2	14	2	2	2
10	Land Wood	10	0	20	0	4	2	6	6	1	8	1	10
	”   Iron	23	0	0	1	3	0	4	8	2	4	1	1½
	5½ Wood	1	0	22	0	2	0	2	9	1	4	0	10
	4⅖ Wood	0	3	11	0	1	2	2	4½	1	2	0	9
Stool Beds for Guns.
										Inch.		In.
42	Pounders	0	1	20	0	1	0	2	10	11 to 8¾		3¾
32	”	0	1	14	0	1	0	2	10	10	5½	3¼
24	”	0	1	14	0	1	0	2	9	10¼	6½	4
18	”	0	1	12	0	1	0	2	8	9½	6½	3¾
12	”	0	1	10	0	0	2⅔	2	8	10	6½	4
9	”	0	1	4	0	0	2	2	7	9½	5½	3½
6	”	0	1	0	0	0	1¾	2	6	9	4¾	3½
4	”	0	1	0	0	0	1	2	6	8¼	5¼	3

BOXES for Ammunition.—The dimensions of the common ammunition boxes vary according to the ammunition they are made to contain, in order that it may pack tight: this variation, however, is confined to a few inches, and does not exceed the following numbers.

Table of general Dimensions of Ammunition Boxes.

	Exterior.						Weight when empty.
	Length.		Breadth.		Depth.
	feet	inch.	feet	inch.	feet	inch.	lbs.
From	2	2	0	10	0	8½	20
To	2	9	1	6	1	6	30

Weight when filled, and Number contained in each.

Nature of Ammunition.				Weight of Boxes when filled with Ammunition.			No. of Rounds contained in each Box.
				cᵂᵗ.	qʳˢ.	lb.	No.
	Shot fixed with powder	12 Prs.	Round	1	1	10	8
			Case.	0	3	15	6
		6 Prs.	Round	1	2	7	12
			Case.	1	0	15	12
		3 Prs.	Round	0	2	25	16
			Case.	0	2	23	14
B	Shot fixed to wood bottoms without powder.	24 Prs.	Round	1	1	26	6
o			Case.	2	0	0	6
x		12 Prs.	Round	1	2	20	12
e			Case.	1	2	22	8
s		6 Prs.	Round	1	2	20	24
			Case.	1	1	12	18
f		3 Prs.	Round	1	1	0	30
o			Case.	1	1	0	30
r		How’r. Case.	8	1	1	2	3
			5½	1	2	12	10
			4⅖	1	2	22	20
	Shells.	How’r. Shells.	8  f	1	2	26	3
			5½ i	1	2	12	10
			4⅖ x	1	2	22	20
			e
			d

The common ammunition waggon will hold from 9 to 13 of these boxes in one tier.