Cannon operation
As the "giant gun" trend disappeared in Europe, in favour of lighter, more manoeuvrable pieces in larger numbers, cannon operating crews became smaller, heralding the early use of true field artillery.
In 1248, Roger Bacon's "Opus Maior" described a gunpowder recipe and recognised its military use: We can, with saltpeter and other substances, compose artificially a fire that can be launched over long distances... By only using a very small quantity of this material much light can be created accompanied by a horrible fracas.
[5] Wheeled gun carriages became more commonplace by the end of the 15th century, and cannon were more often cast in bronze, rather than banding iron sections together.
[6] There were still the logistical problems both of transporting and of operating the cannon, and as many three dozen horses and oxen may have been required to move some of the great guns of the period.
[6] Larger cannon were used in greater numbers during the Fall of Constantinople: Sultan Mehmet II used 68 Hungarian-made cannons, the largest of which was 26 ft (7.9 m) long and weighed 20 t (20 long tons; 22 short tons); this fired a 1,200 lb (540 kg) cannonball, and required an operating crew of 200 men,[8] as well as 70 oxen and 10,000 men just to transport them.
The Tudor carrack the Mary Rose was equipped with 78 guns (91 after an upgrade in the 1530s), and was one of the first ships to have the theoretic ability to fire a full cannon broadside.
[11] In Niccolò Machiavelli's The Art of War, the Italian Renaissance writer observed that "small pieces of cannon… do more damage than heavy artillery.
[14] A description of the Gunner's techniques is given during the English Civil War period (mid-17th century) by John Roberts, covering the modes of calculation and the ordnance pieces themselves, in his work The Compleat Cannoniere, printed London 1652 by W. Wilson and sold by George Hurlock (Thames Street).
In the 17th century, large wheels were typical of field guns, as opposed to the lighter carriages used for fortress and naval cannon.
[15] The lower tier of English ships of the line at this time were usually equipped with demi-cannon — a naval gun which fired a 32-pound solid shot.
[16] During the Napoleonic Wars, a British gun team consisted of 5 numbered gunners - fewer crew than needed in the previous century.
The No.2 was the "spongeman" who cleaned the bore with the sponge dampened with water between shots; the intention being to quench any remaining embers before a fresh charge was introduced.
