Congreve rocket

“ In battle also, where there is not, of course, time to prepare the ground as above stated, but where it is tolerably level, he may, in addition to the apparatus he possesses, add to his fire by discharging, from the intervals of his frames or cars, Rockets merely laid on the ground in the direction required: and, if an enemy be advancing upon him, there is, in fact, no limit to the volley he may be prepared thus to give, when at a proper distance, but the quantity of ammunition he possesses, the extension of his own ground, and the importance of the object to be fired at. ”

“ These large Rockets have from their weight, combined with less diameter, even more penetration than the heaviest shells, and are therefore equally efficient for the destruction of bomb proofs, or the demolition of strong buildings; and their construction having now been realized, it is proved that the facilities of the Rocket system are not its only excellence, but that it actually will propel heavier masses than can be done by any other means ”

“ But independent of this comparison as to quantity, there are others in which the Rocket has advantages exclusively its own: there are situations where artillery cannot by any means be brought into action, while there is no situation, no nature of ground, which is passable to an infantry soldier with his musket in his hand, that is not equally to be passed by the Rocketteer with his arm and ammunition. ”

“ These men can always supply the ammunition quicker than it can be fired, and one or other must therefore advance towards the frame to meet No. 2 with the round prepared. No. 2 having thus received the Rocket, places it on the cradle, at the same instant that No. 1 puts a tube into the vent. No. 2 then points the frame, which has an universal traverse after the legs are fixed; he then gives the word “Ready,” “Fire,” to No. 1, who takes up his portfire and discharges the Rocket. No. 1 now sticks his portfire stick into the ground, and prepares another tube ”

“ What are the ranges of Congreve rockets? What angle of elevation produces the best range? How are Congreve rockets discharged in the field, and what number of men are usually employed for that service? Are the Congreve rockets considered to be a powerful offensive weapon; and, if so, in what particular? What is a carcass rocket? As an incendiary, is the carcass rocket equal to the usual carcass thrown from mortars? What is the carcass composition made of? What is the Congreve rocket light ball? In large rockets, are their sticks solid, or bored and filled with gunpowder? ”

“ Thus the longest ranges of the 32-pounder Carcass Rockets are obtained at about 55°, or rather more, if the Rockets have been long made. An officer, however, being prepared for this circumstance, will soon discover the maximum range of the Rockets he may have to discharge.
Some allowance in elevation also must be made for the direction of the wind: if it is powerful, and blows in a contrary direction to that in which the Rocket is projected, the frame requires more elevation; for the wind acting more on the stick than the body of the Rocket, depresses the elevation in its rising. ”

“ He has very satisfactorily demonstrated their advantages over the Congreve rocket. I will only add, that bombs and howitzes have also the advantage of being one-fifth cheaper, and projected with greater facility.
"The Congreve rocket cannot be of any particular advantage, because it only carries fire to the place where it falls; and if we wish to use them against any vessel whatever, it is impossible to assure ourselves of a direction on a given point, as many difficulties occur in projecting them. ”

“ To insure every Rocket that is fired having the desired effect, they are so heavily laden, as not to rise off the ground when fired along it; and under these circumstances are placed in a small shallow trench, run along to the foot of the glacis, from the nearest point of the third parallel, and in a direct line for the breach: by this means, the Rockets being laid in this trench will invariably pursue exactly the same course, and every one of them will be infallibly lodged in the breach. ”

“ Figs. 2, 3, and 4, represent the mode of fitting any ship to fire Rockets, from scuttles in her broadside; giving, thereby, to every vessel having a between-deck, a Rocket battery, in addition to the gun batteries on her spar deck, without the one interfering in the smallest degree with the other, or without the least risk to the ship; the sparks of the Rocket in going off being completely excluded, either by iron shutters closing the scuttle from within, as practised in the Galgo defence ship, fitted with 21 Rocket scuttles in her broadside, as shewn in Fig. 3 ”

“ The Congreve rocket, calculated as it is to convey carcass composition, balls, grenades, &c. if furnished with stars, crackers, &c. would produce an effect equal, if not superior to the balloon.
We remarked, that, in common sky rockets, the charges consist of a mixture of gunpowder, saltpetre, and charcoal, with occasionally other additions, as steel-filings. Rocket-stars, on the contrary, are usually formed of mealed powder, saltpetre, sulphur, and sometimes other substances according to the colour of the flame required. ”

“ It is evident, from this view of the weapon, that the Rocket System is not only capable of a degree of portability, and facility for light movements, which no weapon possesses, but that its ponderous parts, or the individual masses of its ammunition, also greatly exceed those of ordinary artillery. ”

“ The system here shewn is the use of the Rockets by infantry—one man in ten, or any greater proportion, carrying a frame, of very simple construction, from which the Rockets may be discharged either for ground ranges, or at high angles, and the rest carrying each three rounds of ammunition, which, for this service, is proposed to be either the 12-pounder Shell Rockets, or the 12-pounder Rocket case shot, each round equal to the 6-pounder case, and ranging 2,500 yards. ”

“ From the 24-pounder to the 9-pounder Rocket, inclusive, a description of case shot Rocket is formed of each nature, armed with a quantity of musket or carbine balls, put into the top of the cylinder of the Rocket, and from thence discharged by a quantity of powder contained in a chamber, by which the velocity of these balls, when in flight, is increased beyond that of the Rocket’s motion, an effect which cannot be given in the spherical case, where the bursting powder only liberates the balls. ”

“ It should be observed that, with due care, the Rocket ammunition is not only the most secure, but the most durable that can be: every Rocket is, in fact, a charge of powder hermetically sealed in a metal case, impervious either to the ordinary accidents by fire, or damage from humidity. I have used Rockets that had been three years on board of ship, without any apparent loss of power ”

“ It is evident, also, that the most extensive destruction to the enemy may be calculated on, as the discharge will commence about the time that the fire-ship has drifted in amongst the enemies’ ships: when issuing in the most tremendous vollies, the smallest ship being supposed not to have less than 1,000 Rockets, distributed in different directions, it is impossible but that every ship of the enemy must, with fire-ships enough, and no stint of Rockets, be covered sooner or later with clouds of this destructive fire ”

“ The great advantage of this system is, that, as it dispenses with apparatus: where there is time for forming a work of this sort, of considerable length, the quantity of fire, that may be thrown in a given time, is limited only by the length of the work: thus, as the Rockets may be laid in embrasures cut in the bank, at every two feet, a battery of this description, 200 feet in length, will fire 100 Rockets in a volley, and so on; or an incessant and heavy fire may, by such a battery, be kept up from one flank to the other, by replacing the Rockets as fast as they are fired in succession. ”

“ These cars not only convey the ammunition, but are contrived also to discharge each two Rockets in a volley from a double iron plate trough, which is of the same length as the boxes for the sticks, and travels between them; but which, being moveable, may, when the car is unlimbered, be shifted into its fighting position at any angle from the ground ranges, or point blank up to 45°, without being detached front the carriage. ”

“ Bigot (Artifice de Guerre, p. 118) speaking of the flying fuses, or sky-rockets, observes, that the mallet used for driving the composition, is proportionably large, according to the rockets, and that it is five inches in length, and four in breadth, when the diameter of the rocket is from 12 to 18 lines. The mallets for larger rockets are stronger and heavier, and, in some instances, where a great force is required, as in driving war-rockets, a machine similar to the pile-engine, is used. See Congreve Rockets. ”

“ In bombardment, as well as in the field, the quantity of instantaneous fire is equally important, and the greater number of Rockets that can be thrown, not only increase the number of fires, but, by distracting the enemy’s attention, prevent their extinction. To this end, therefore, an officer should always employ as many bombarding frames as possible; and here again he will find, that in bombardment, as well as in the field, the weapon affords him the means of extending his fire beyond the compass of his apparatus. ”

“ On the basis of this increase of power, Congreve has succeeded in making this rocket. They are formed of various dimensions, as well in length as in caliber, and are differently armed, according as they are intended for the field, or for bombardment and conflagration; carrying in the first instance either shells or case shot, and in the second, for the purpose of destroying shipping, buildings, stores, &c. a peculiar species of composition, which never fails of destroying every combustible material with which it comes in contact. ”

“ The Rocket trooper has no heavy weights to lift—no guns to spunge, or to limber up and unlimber. He is required merely to be light and active for mounting and dismounting, and for moving nimbly on foot with a single Rocket, when in action: so that, whereas an artillery man cannot average less than 13 stone, the Rocket trooper need not exceed 10 stone, a difference amounting within a few pounds to the whole weight of ammunition carried by the men, even in action. It is needless to add that this difference in the men must also give great facility in recruiting for a Rocket corps. ”

“ A For a hundred fires breaking out at once, must necessarily produce more destruction than when they happen in succession, and may therefore be extinguished as fast as they occur.
There is another most important use in this weapon, in the storming of fortified places, which should here be mentioned, viz. that as it is the only description of artillery ammunition that can ever be carried into a place by a storming party, and as, in fact, the heaviest Rockets may accompany an escalade, so the value of it in these operations is infinite, and no escalade should ever be attempted without. ”

“ By this process, from three to four Rockets a minute may, without difficulty, be fired from one frame, until the words “Cease firing,” “Prepare to advance,” or “retreat,” are given; when the frame is in a moment taken from the ground, and the whole party may either retire or advance immediately in press time, if required. To insure which, and at the same time to prevent any injury to the ammunition, Nos. 3, 4, &c. must not be allowed to take off their pouches, as they will be able to assist one another in preparing the ammunition, by only laying down their sticks ”

“ It is evident also, that as the weight of the Rockets diminishes by supplying the mounted men, the weight of the sticks also is diminished, and the centre of gravity may, if desired, be brought lower and lower, as the load diminishes, by taking the ammunition from the upper tiers gradually and equally on each side downwards. ”

“ For the accomplishment of any particular service, he may dispense entirely with wheel carriages or even horses; there is nothing which the men themselves cannot transport and bring into action; and if any bombardment were required by a coup de main, 1,000 men would not only5 convey 1,000 rounds of the heaviest Carcass Rockets, a number sufficient to destroy any place within the compass of their range, but would perform that service in a few hours, having neither batteries or platforms to erect, nor mortars to convey. ”

“ The men are armed with a sabre, which is in action suspended to the saddle, that they may not be incumbered in mounting and dismounting. Each man has besides a pistol in his cross belt, and a spear head in his holster, which may be occasionally fixed at the end of one of the Rocket sticks, so as to give the further aid of a very formidable lance. Instead of carrying slow match, which would be dangerous as well as inconvenient, the portfire is lighted in action by a flash of powder obtained from a pistol lock and pan, mounted on a small stock ”

“ From the experiments I have lately made, I have reason to believe, that Rockets much larger than those above mentioned may be formed for this description of service—Rockets from half a ton to a ton weight; which being driven in very strong and massive cast iron cases, may possess such strength and force, that, being fired by a process45 similar to that above described, even against the revetment of any fortress, unimpaired by a cannonade, it shall, by its mass and form, pierce the same ”