Cannon fodder

“ Thus far we have mentioned only guns and explosions, things built of steel to fire missiles of steel and things on wheels, and little about the machine of human beings now to come abreast of the tape for the charge, the men who had been "blooded," the "cannon fodder." Every shell was meant for killing men; every German battery and machine gun was a monster frothing red at the lips in anticipation of slaughter.
A fury of trench raids broke out from the Somme to Ypres further to confuse the enemy as to the real front of attack. ”

“ The British, though invested by a force of more than ten times their own numbers, resolved on a vigorous defence; but unfortunately they had no artillery, very little ammunition, and the wall round the village was in a ruinous condition. The enemy forced the gates, battered down part of the wall with their cannon, and assaulted the place by storm, but were repulsed with severe loss. A second assault was given, and the British troops, having spent all their ammunition, defended themselves a short time with stones and other missiles; but were eventually forced to surrender prisoners of war. ”

“ The battery kept straight on in the road and through the woods, the enemy's skirmishers having fallen back to our right. We halted where the road began to descend, waiting until a place suitable for action could be found. Up to this time there was only infantry skirmishing, not a cannon having been fired on either side, when, as we stood quietly by our guns, a Federal shell burst in our midst with a tremendous crash. ”

“ During the day the 307th Infantry continued its mission of protecting the left flank of the 77th Division in its northward advance and sent patrols and a strong reconnaissance force, consisting of two reinforced rifle companies, one dismounted cannon platoon, and four tanks, west to the banks of an unnamed river near Jalubon. The reconnaissance force killed twenty-one of the enemy, also capturing and destroying great quantities of Japanese matériel and supplies. ”

“ The defenders behind their low épaulement do not pant; their marksmen only at first are allowed to fire; these make things unpleasant for the massed gunners out yonder, who share their attentions with the spraying-out infantry-men. The quick-firing cannon of the defence are getting in their work methodically. Neither its gunners nor its infantry need be nervous as to expending ammunition freely since plenteous supplies are promptly available, a convenience which does not infallibly come to either guns or rifles of the attack. ”

“ The cannonading has grown quick and terrific along [Pg 317] the lines, below the city (north side) , with occasional discharges nearer, and farther to the left (north) , as if the enemy were attempting to flank our army.
The sounds are very distinctly heard, the weather being damp and the wind from the southeast. We can distinguish the bursting of the shell quickly after the discharge of the cannon.
The firing ceased at dark. It rains hard and steadily, now. What a life! what suffering, in mud and water, without tents (in the trenches) , burdened with wet blankets, and perhaps without food! ”

“ For purposes of offence they were fitted with beaks or rams to pierce the sides of the enemy, and were provided with catapults or other engines for hurling missiles, and with tubes for projecting Greek fire to create smoke and set their opponent on fire. The main tactics of the time, however, consisted in grappling with the enemy and transforming the combat into a hand-to-hand mêlée.
When cannon were first mounted on board ship, about the year 1335, they were fired over the bulwarks, and the gunners were thus fully exposed to the enemy’s fire. ”

“ The soldiers were all ordered to take their posts at the palisadoes, which they were ordered to defend to the last extremity, as it was expected the British would land under the fire of their cannon and attempt to storm the fort. The cannonade was severe, as well it might be, six sixty-four gun ships, a thirty-six gun frigate, a twenty-four gun ship, a gally and a sloop of six guns, together with six batteries of six guns each and a bomb-battery of three mortars, all playing at once upon our poor little fort, if fort it might be called. ”

“ We did manage to hit some, though with what effect we could not tell."
"Then the German gun is still a mystery," observed Tom.
"It is. But we shall discover it soon. We will never rest until we do!"
So more and new and different theories continued to be put forth regarding the big cannon, if such it was. Ordnance experts wrote articles, alike in London, Paris, and New York, explaining that it was possible for a cannon to be within the German lines and still send a shell into the French capital. But few believed that it was feasible. ”

“ When these arms reached such a degree of excellence that horses and gunners could be shot down at a distance of one thousand yards, the old-fashioned smooth-bore artillery was deprived of its prestige. To retrieve this disadvantage and restore the superiority of artillery over musketry in length of range, methods of rifling cannon for field service became an important study. For assailing distant lines of troops, for opening a battle, for dispersing bodies of cavalry, for shelling intrenchments, for firing over troops from hills in their rear, rifled guns are of invaluable service. ”

“ The Marshal even decided that the infantry should turn out of their knapsacks everything except food and cartridges, an order which those who had in their possession gold plate and other valuable plunder of small bulk took care to disobey. The cannon were destroyed by being placed mouth to mouth and discharged simultaneously in pairs. As much of the reserve ammunition for infantry as could be packed in convenient bundles was laden on the backs of the artillery horses. The rest, with all the powder wagons, was collected in [p. 348] a mass, ready to be fired when the army should have absconded. ”

“ On the 19th of July, as the first rays of morning light glanced upon the hostile armies, the French were discovered in order of battle, and a sudden burst of artillery from the batteries of the allies sent forward a shower of balls, which, rending the ranks of the enemy, formed a prelude to the sanguinary conflict which followed. For some time the fighting was limited to the infantry [19] and artillery, and the Fourth Horse were spectators of the fray; yet a cannon shot or two occasionally plunging into the ranks, laid several troopers and their horses dead on the plain. ”

“ They talked in loud tones and allegedly called out in English, “Hello—where are your machine guns?” Most of the enemy forces assembled on the north side of the airstrip. They burned three or four more liaison planes, a jeep, several tents, and another gasoline dump, throwing ammunition on the latter.
The only American troops in the area, a small detachment of the 11th Airborne Division, consisted of elements of the 127th Airborne Engineer Battalion, the signal company, Headquarters Battery of the division artillery, special troops as well as Air Corps service troops. ”

“ The remainder of the poor beasts, more than 2,000 in number, were shot or stabbed and flung into the sea. Only enough were left to draw nine guns, which the general intended to use if he was forced to give battle before the embarkation was finished. The rest of the cannon, over fifty in number, were safely got on board the fleet. The personnel of the cavalry and artillery went on shipboard very little reduced by their casualties in the retreat. ”

“ There was firing fast and furious on every hand; the musketry flashing like red streaks through the gray gloom, towards the head of the beautiful valley of Inkermann, even before our regiment was formed and moved forward to the support of the pickets, who were retreating towards a small two-gun battery which had been erected, but afterwards abandoned during the progress of the siege. The great Russian cannon now opened like thunder from those hills which had been reached unseen by us, and then began one of the closest, because confused, most ferocious, and bloody conflicts of modern times. ”

“ Cannon is of infinite use for a rear-guard, when you are obliged to pass a defile, or a river; and should be placed at the entry of such defile, on an eminence, if there be one, or on any other place, from whence they can discover the ground through which the enemy must march to attack the rear-guard.
A detachment of pioneers, with tools, must always march at the head of the artillery, and of each column of equipage or baggage.
If the enemy be encamped on the right flanks of the march, the artillery, &c. should march to the left of the troops, and vice versa. ”

“ Two rockets from the forts in the lines were the signals to begin; and the cannonade commenced at half-past five o’clock, with a volley of about sixty shells from all their mortar batteries in the parallel, succeeded by a general discharge of their cannon, amounting in the whole to about one hundred and seventy pieces of ordnance, all of large calibre. Their firing was powerful, and entirely directed against the works of the besieged, but547 was not, after the first round, altogether so tremendous and destructive as might have been expected from such a train of artillery. ”

“ The "great ordnance," or cannon, were muzzle-loading. The secondary armament, mounted in tops, cageworks, bulkheads, etc., were breech-loading; but these smaller pieces fell out of favor as time went on owing to reliance on long-range fire and rareness of boarding actions. Down to the middle of the 19th century there was no great improvement in ordnance, save in the way of better powder and boring. Even in Elizabeth's day the heaviest cannon had a range of three miles. ”

“ While the allied army was forming for battle, the Inniskilling dragoons and other cavalry covered the operation, and were exposed to the enemy's cannon. The French household troops, headed by the princes of the blood, became impatient of inactivity, and quitting their advantageous position, galloped forward to commence the action. The British cavalry advanced to meet their antagonists, and were repulsed; but a volley [41] from the British infantry destroyed several French squadrons, and the English troopers returning to the charge, drove back their opponents. ”

“ Instantaneous with this was the crack of a hundred cannon, as if they were all pulled off by one lanyard, and a furious cannonading answered, while the infantry advancing with a yell that none but soldiers can give, rushed up the breastworks, and a galling fire ensued between the rebs at the bottom and at the top. Our men tried hard to dislodge them and take possession of the fort, but it was too much. They lay on the ground until night, elevating their guns above their heads to shoot, while some obtained concealed positions, firing while those below were loading for them. ”

“ For some hours the attack and defence were so equally well supported, as scarcely to admit any appearance [45] of superiority in the cannonade on either side. The wonderful construction of the battering ships seemed to bid defiance to the heaviest ordnance; shells rebounded from their tops, and a thirty-two pound shot scarcely seemed to make any impression on them. The effect of the red-hot shot was doubted; sometimes smoke came from the ships, but the fire-engines within soon occasioned it to cease, and the result was uncertain ”

“ On this occasion the English cavalry were kept in reserve near the heights of Foulz until towards the close of the action, when they were brought forward, and the weight and fury of the charge of these heavy horsemen were irresistible; the enemy's squadrons and battalions were broken; and the British troopers,—strong men on powerful horses,—smote their antagonists to the ground with a dreadful slaughter. The victorious squadrons pursued their adversaries throughout the night, capturing officers and soldiers, colours, standards, and cannon ”

“ Cannon appear to have been first used in sieges as mortars, to destroy hoardings by throwing round stones and barrels of burning composition. Early in the 15th century we find cannon throwing metal balls, not only against hoarding and battlements, but also to breach the bases of the walls. It was only possible to work the guns very slowly, and archers or crossbowmen were needed in support of them, to drive the defenders from the crenellations or loopholes of the battlements. At that period the artillery was used in place of the medieval siege engines and in much the same manner. ”

“ As soon as the troops heard the enemy, they called for protective fire, which prevented any of the Japanese from entering the lines. The enemy, however, continually fired into the area throughout the night. Earlier in the day an American tank had bogged down in a swamp to the left of the road, and the crew was forced to abandon it under fire, leaving the guns intact. During the night the Japanese captured the tank and sprayed the areas of the 1st Battalion, 17th Infantry, and the regimental command post with the tank’s 37-mm. and machine guns, and with four of their own machine guns. ”

“ The British regiments met the storm of war with unshaken firmness, and breaking in on the front of the advancing columns, and assailing their wings with a heavy fire, forced them back with a terrible carnage: the Royal Fusiliers rushed gallantly forward to the muzzles of the French artillery, and, after an obstinate resistance, captured seven guns, which the enemy endeavoured to re-capture, but in vain. ”

“ Towards morning the troops were formed in one line facing the enemy; the THIRTY-FIRST happened to be on the right of the whole. At the break of day, the British artillery opened on the enemy, who returned their fire, and after a short cannonading the infantry advanced to the attack: the THIRTY-FIRST moved steadily towards a battery of seven guns on the enemy’s extreme left, which kept up a continued fire of grape; it was, however, carried by the bayonet without a single check, and almost without a shot being fired by the assailants, though the loss of the THIRTY-FIRST was severe. ”