The cannons could fire a variety of projectiles, from cannonballs made of iron, wood, or rock, to incendiary materials and a type of grapeshots (a load of smaller rocks with sharp edges to increase damage upon attacking compact infantry formations).
Also, they were used as a psychological weapon, firing without projectiles, simply for the sound, which was enough to create in enemy ranks a state of panic, believing that it is being attacked by artillery.
[4] Romanians (moți) from the Apuseni Mountains in Transylvania manufactured this type of cannon extensively for use against the Hungarian army in 1848–49.
During World War I the Imperial German Army developed a series of heavy wooden mortars.
In some wars, fake cannons made from a wooden log, sometimes painted black, were used to deceive an enemy.
Both sides of the American Civil War used such faked weapons, called Quaker guns.