Chapter 7 WEAPONS AND GUNPOWDER

Man's weapons of warfare, offensive and defensive, have been many and curious. David slew Goliath with a stone from a sling. The Scriptures tell us that Samson, the mighty man of the Bible, killed a thousand Philistines at one time with the jaw-bone of an ass. The study of the development of arms makes one of the most significant chapters in the history of civilization.

The use of stone weapons seems to have been universally characteristic of the earlier races of mankind, as it still is distinctive of the ruder races. The weapons made from stone were necessarily few and simple. The most common was an ax, made from various kinds of stone and with varying degrees of skill. Spear-points and arrow-heads were made of flint. These show a comparatively high type of workmanship. The highest efforts of the ancient stone-workers culminated in a leaf-shaped dagger or knife of flint, various in form but uniform in type. These flint daggers differed also in size, but seldom exceeded a foot in length. They were never ground or polished, but delicately chipped to a fine, straight edge, and were often beautiful.

Statues Showing Knights in Armor

In the Bronze Age several kinds of bronze daggers were made. The characteristic weapon of this period, however, was the leaf-shaped bronze sword. "No warlike weapon of any period is more graceful in form or more beautifully finished." This sword had a very thin edge on both sides running from hilt to point, and the handle was of bone, horn, or wood. The thinness of the edge seems to have been produced without the aid of hammer or file. The weapon was better fitted for stabbing and thrusting than for cutting with the edge. Bronze spear-points have been found, but throughout the Bronze Age arrow-heads were made of flint. There were also shields of bronze, held in the hand by a handle fastened to the center. The period of transition between the Bronze Age and the Iron Age is marked by an iron sword, which was similar in form to the leaf-shaped bronze sword.

Homer, the great Greek bard who is supposed to have lived about a thousand years before the birth of Christ, in speaking of the wars of the Greeks, describes their weapons somewhat fully. They used a double-edged, bronze-bladed sword, the hilt and scabbard of which were adorned with gold and silver. In the combats of the Homeric age, however, the spear, lance, or javelin played the principal part; swords were used only for fighting at close range. Bows and arrows also were used. The only iron weapon specifically mentioned is the arrow-head. This was inserted in a split shaft, precisely like the flint arrow-heads of the early North American Indians and other modern savages. The defensive armor of the heroic age of Greece was entirely of bronze. It consisted of a helmet for the head, cuirass for the chest, greaves for the legs, and a shield. The bronze cuirass was often ornamented with gold. The shield was round or oval in shape, very large, and covered with hide. The Greeks of the later or historic age fought chiefly with long, heavy spears. Later the shield was reduced in size and the sword increased in length. The light-armed troops were furnished with a light javelin having a strap or thong fastened to the middle to assist in hurling. A linen corselet came into use instead of the heavy metal cuirass. The mounted troops were supplied with a longer sword, a javelin, and a short dagger.

The military strength of early Egypt lay in her archers, who fought either on foot or from chariots. The Egyptian bow was a little shorter than a man's height. The string was of hide or cord; the arrows were of reed, winged with three feathers and pointed with bronze heads, and were from two to three feet in length. The Egyptian archers carried a curved, broad-bladed sword, and a dagger or a battle-axe for combat at close quarters. Their defensive armor consisted of a quilted head-piece and coat. They used no shield, as this would have interfered with the use of the bow. The infantry were classified according to the weapons with which they fought-as spearmen, swordsmen, clubmen, and slingers. The spears were five or six feet long and had triangular or leaf-shaped heads of bronze. The spearmen carried shields shaped like a door with a curved top, having a hole in the upper portion through which they could look. These shields were about half as high as a man and were covered with hairy hide, with the hair attached. The early swords of Egypt were of bronze, straight, double-edged, tapering from hilt to point, and measuring from two and a half to three feet in length.

The ancient Assyrians fought with swords somewhat like those of Egypt. They used also bows, lances, spears, and javelins. Their shields were round and convex; and their cuirass was a close-fitting garment made of many layers of flax, plaited together or interwoven, and cemented and hardened with glue. This linen corselet was found also among the Egyptians, the Greeks, and the Romans.

The characteristic weapon of the Romans, the greatest warriors of ancient times, was what the Romans themselves called the "pilum." This weapon was a pike having a stout iron head carried on a rod of iron. The iron rod was about twenty inches long and terminated in a socket for the insertion of the wooden shaft, which was a little more than three feet in length. The entire weapon was therefore about five feet long. The pilum could be hurled as a javelin with great effect. Piercing the shield of the enemy, the slender iron rod bent under the weight of the shaft, which trailed along the ground, making the shield useless for purposes of defense. When used at close quarters, the pilum had something of the efficiency of the modern bayonet; and when wielded firmly in both hands, it served to ward off sword-strokes, which fell harmlessly upon the long and strong iron neck of the weapon. No warrior of ancient times was more formidable than the Roman with his pilum. The Romans had also swords of bronze and bronze armor, resembling the armor and the swords of the Greeks. In the prosperous days of Rome, her legions, under one of the greatest military commanders of all time, Julius Caesar, brought nearly all the world of that day to the feet of their general.

The Franks, a Germanic people who lived early in the Christian era and who gave their name to France, used the battle-ax as their chief weapon. It had a broad blade and a short handle and was used as a missile. It is said that a blow of an ax, when hurled, would pierce an enemy's shield or kill him, and that the Franks rarely missed their aim. They wore no armor, not even helmets, though they carried swords, round shields, and darts with barbed iron heads, which were used for throwing or thrusting. When this dart became fixed in an adversary's shield, it was the habit of the Frank to bound forward, place a foot upon one end of the trailing dart, and, compelling the enemy to lower his shield, slay him with the battle-ax. The Franks used also a short, straight, broad-bladed sword, double-edged and obtuse at the point. The military organization of the later Franks changed from infantry to cavalry, and this change gave way in time to the era of chivalry. The superior soldiers of the time of Charlemagne had added to their equipment the celebrated coat of mail.

A Knight in Action

Our early Anglo-Saxon fathers fought with swords, spears, axes, and a heavy, single-edged knife. The sword was especially the weapon of the horseman, and was not carried by anyone under the rank of thane. The infantry bore the other weapons. The early Anglo-Saxons do not appear to have used the bow and arrow, though in later times the long bow was an important weapon in England. The Anglo-Saxons of olden times were not strong in cavalry. Saxon warriors carried round or oval shields made of wood and covered with leather. Suits of metal armor were worn for defense.

The gallant knights of the Middle Ages fought on horseback, as they went about protecting the weak, redressing the wrongs of the injured, and upholding right against might. They were clad in armor of metal, with swords buckled to their sides. Mail armor of interlinked metallic rings was used until the beginning of the fourteenth century. From this time to the beginning of the seventeenth century, armor was made of solid plates of metal. After 1600, armor was gradually replaced by a new agent of warfare, against which it was no protection. Likewise the shield, the dagger, and the bow gave way, though the long bow continued in use as an English weapon until the close of Queen Elizabeth's reign.

An Archer of the Fifteenth Century

The invention of gunpowder was one of the most far-reaching events of all history. This terrific substance has not only revolutionized warfare, but has changed the current of human history itself. It is not known who invented gunpowder, or when it was first used. It is a compound of saltpetre, charcoal, and sulphur; the proportions in which these three ingredients are mixed vary in different countries and in different kinds of powders. It seems likely that powder was invented in the Far East, perhaps in China. Saltpetre comes, for the most part, from China and India, on whose vast plains it is found mixed with the soil. An ordinary wood fire kindled on ground containing saltpetre would bring the saltpetre into contact with charcoal, and thereby practically produce powder. It is probable that the discovery of the explosive occurred in this accidental way. Fireworks were used in China from a very early date, but it is doubtful if the Chinese, or any other nation of Asia, used gunpowder as a propelling force. It was left for the Western nations to develop and give practical value to the discovery of the Chinese.

Our first knowledge of powder as an agency of war dates from about the year 700 A.D., when it was used by the Byzantine emperors in defending Constantinople against the Saracens. It was employed there, however, not as a propelling force, but in the form of rockets or a fiery liquid called Greek fire. Its first real use in Europe as a power for propulsion was in Spain, where the Moors and the Christians both used some kind of artillery as early as the twelfth century after Christ. Gunpowder was first introduced into England by Roger Bacon, a British scientist, who was born early in the thirteenth century. He probably did not discover its properties independently, but by reading ancient manuscripts. Owing to the crude and uncertain methods of making gunpowder, it did not attain much value until Berthold Schwarz, a German monk, at about 1320 A.D. introduced an improved method of manufacture. The improved powder thus made was first used in England by King Edward III in his war against the Scotch in 1327. It was perhaps used on the continent of Europe earlier than this, but the occasions are uncertain. The tubes from which the missiles were propelled were called "crakeys of war."

Spenser called cannon "those devilish iron engines." They were probably used for the first time in field warfare by the English in the battle at Crécy, a small town in France, where on August 26, 1346, the English defeated the French. The artillery seemed to have been used in this battle merely to frighten the horses of the enemy, and the cannon were laughed at as ingenious toys.

From the Battle of Crécy onward, the use of gunpowder spread rapidly throughout Europe, the Russians being the last to adopt it. Saltpetre, at first used in its natural state, began to be produced artificially, and then the manufacture of powder extended among the nations. During the French Revolution, according to Carlyle, the revolutionists were driven to such extremities for want of powder that they scraped old cellars seeking material for its manufacture. Many recent improvements have been made in the production of gunpowder, the most important resulting in the smokeless powder.

Before the introduction of cannon using gunpowder as a propelling force, various machines were used in warfare for hurling missiles. Large stones and heavy darts or arrows were thrown by means of tightly twisted ropes, like the action of a bow, or through the aid of a lever and sling. Various names were applied to these weapons, the chief of which were the ballista and the catapult. The ballista hurled stones by means of a twisted cord or a lever; the catapult by darts or arrows could throw a projectile half a mile. Both machines were used by the Romans with great effect, in both defensive and offensive warfare. In destroying the wall of a besieged town, the Romans used a battering-ram. It consisted of a beam of wood with a mass of bronze or iron on the end resembling a ram's head. In its earliest form, the battering-ram was beaten against the wall by the soldiers; later it was suspended in a frame and made to swing with ropes. Another kind moved on rollers, the swinging movement being given to it also by means of ropes. The beam of the ram was from sixty to one hundred and twenty feet long, the head sometimes weighed more than a ton, and as many as a hundred men were necessary to swing it. For the protection of the soldiers using it, a wooden roof covered it, and the whole was mounted on wheels. Scarcely any wall could resist the continued blows of the battering-ram. The Romans were the most effective in the use of this engine, though they borrowed it from the Greeks.

The first cannon were clumsy and comparatively inefficient. They were made of wooden bars held together with iron hoops, and they shot balls of stone. Cannon of bronze were next made, and in the latter part of the fifteenth century iron cannon came into use. The next improvement was the production of cannon of steel, and for some years past the best artillery has been made of this material. After stone balls ceased to be used, round balls of iron were utilized. These in time gave way to cylindrical projectiles of steel. Originally cannon were loaded at the muzzle, but in recent years breech-loading devices have been developed, so that now all of the best modern guns are loaded from the rear.

Within the last twenty-five years, rapid-fire guns have been developed. These have a mechanism by which the breech is opened and closed again by a single motion of a lever. The loading with projectile and powder is also done with one motion. The rapidity of firing varies from two hundred shots per minute in the smallest guns to one shot in two minutes in the largest. The largest British cannon are nearly eighteen inches in calibre (diameter of bore), weigh a hundred tons, are thirty-five feet long, shoot a shell weighing nearly a ton, consume at each charge 450 pounds of powder, and have the power of penetrating solid iron armor plate to the depth of almost two feet, at a distance of one thousand yards. At least a year and a quarter is required for making one of the great, heavy guns, and often a longer time. The cost of constructing one of the largest English cannon is about $117,000, and it costs about $175 to fire the gun once. Some of the most powerful cannon may be relied upon to hit an object ten feet high at a distance of about nine thousand yards. In battle, however, owing to conditions of atmosphere and the limitations of human vision, fire would rarely be opened at a greater distance than three thousand yards, or not quite two miles.

Guns discharged by machinery have been introduced within the last half-century. The fire from machine guns is practically continuous. Several kinds have been invented and improved by various persons. One of the best types of this kind of ordnance is the Gatling gun, invented in 1860 by Dr. R. J. Gatling, of Indianapolis. It consists of a number of parallel barrels, usually ten, grouped around and fastened to a central shaft. Each barrel has its own mechanism for firing. As the barrels revolve, loaded cartridges are fed into them by machinery and the empty cartridges are ejected. By means of an automatic mechanism, the bullets may be scattered over such an arc in front as may be desired, or concentrated upon a narrower range. The Gatling gun can fire at the rate of 1200 shots per minute; it literally hails bullets.

The greatest name connected with the manufacture of modern cannon is that of Herr Alfred Krupp, of Germany, who was born at Essen in 1812 in humble circumstances. He erected the first Bessemer steel works in Germany in the city of his birth, and was the pioneer in the introduction of steel for the manufacture of heavy guns. He believed in the utility of steel when the great governments of the earth had no faith in it. The works at Essen cover in all about one thousand acres, and in them twenty thousand persons find employment. To Krupp Germany owed much, and was not negligent in paying him honor. His factory supplied artillery to nearly all the nations of Europe. He died in July, 1887, and was succeeded in the management of the works by his son Alfred, who also died recently. The plant still continues in operation.

Musketeer and Pikeman of the Early Seventeenth Century

The first portable or hand gun consisted of a simple iron or brass tube fastened to a straight stock of wood. Horsemen used the first guns, and fired them by placing the end of the stock against the breast and letting the barrel rest on a fork fastened to the saddle. The gun was discharged by applying a lighted match to a touch-hole in the top of the barrel. One kind of powder was used for priming; another for firing. Before the invention of cartridges, the powder and bullets were loaded separately at the muzzle, with some kind of packing between. The colonial rifles in America were loaded in this way. In a fight at close quarters, after a gun had been once discharged, the soldier had to fight with his sword. About the middle of the seventeenth century, the bayonet was invented, taking its name from the town of Bayonne, in France, where the inventor lived.

The lighted match which soldiers originally carried for igniting their guns gave way to the flint and steel; and in 1807 a Scotch clergyman named Forsyth obtained a patent which led to the invention of the percussion cap. This improvement revolutionized the mechanism of firearms. Many improvements have been made recently in arms, so that cartridges containing cap, powder, and projectile are fed automatically into guns so delicately constructed that they have great carrying power, precision, and rapidity.

From the dawn of human existence man has sought by some method or other to overcome natural barriers of water. The idea of the ship is as old almost as the race itself. The most primitive form of vessel was the raft. In prehistoric ages men made vessels by hollowing out the trunks of trees, either with fire or with such crude tools as they possessed. The Latin poet Virgil mentions "hollowed alders" used for boats, and indeed canoes were made from hollowed tree trunks as long ago as the Stone Age. The next step forward in the art of shipbuilding was the bark canoe. In countries where bark is scarce, small vessels were made of skins, felt, or canvas covered with pitch. In process of time, boats were made by fastening timbers together, and in this method the basic principle of modern shipbuilding was reached.

It is the relation of ships to purposes of war that interests us here. When the curtain rose for the drama of civilization in Egypt five thousand years ago, men were fighting at sea. The oldest ships of which we have knowledge were Egyptian. The vessels of war were then propelled by oarsmen, who were protected from the missiles of the enemy by planks. On the Egyptian war-galleys there was often a projecting bow to which was attached a metal head for ramming the vessels of the enemy.

Our knowledge of Greek fighting ships-thanks to Greek literature-is fairly full. In the time of Homer, about ten centuries before Christ, Greek men-of-war carried crews of from fifty to one hundred and twenty men, nearly all of whom took part in the labor of rowing. A military boat called the "bireme" came into use in Greece about six or seven centuries before Christ. The word means a vessel with two rows or banks of oarsmen on each side, one row above the other. This disposition of rowers was evidently for the purpose of securing the largest possible number in the least possible space. It is probable that the Greeks did not originate the bireme, but borrowed the idea from the Ph?nicians or possibly from Egypt. When Athens was at the zenith of her glory, the principal war vessel was the "trireme," a ship with three rows of oarsmen to the side, each rising above another. Larger ships were subsequently constructed with four, five, and even sixteen banks of rowers to a side, tier above tier.

The Romans, although they were so powerful in land warfare, were not strong in naval achievement until after the First Punic War. In this war they learned the art of naval construction from their enemies, the Carthaginians. A Carthaginian "quinquereme," or boat with five banks of oars, drifted to the Roman coast. The Romans copied it, set up frames on dry land in which crews were taught to row, and in sixty days from the time the trees were felled they had built and manned a fleet. Later the Romans used grappling hooks with which they bound together their own and an opposing ship. They then boarded the enemy's vessel and carried on the fight at close quarters. These tactics gave the Romans command of the sea, and their war galley came to be the supreme object of terror in the naval history of Roman days.

Sails and wind superseded rowers as the motive force of ships. Then came steam. But after gunpowder and steam had worked a revolution in the modes of naval combat, vessels of war continued to be made of wood.

The first fight between iron ships in the history of the world was fought on the ninth of March, 1862, in Hampton Roads, near Norfolk, Virginia, during the Civil War in America. The battle was the combat between the Merrimac and the Monitor. This engagement marked the end of wooden navies. Thenceforth the nations of earth were to make their warships of iron and steel.

Among the largest battleships built for the United States navy are the Delaware and the North Dakota. Each of these battleships is five hundred and ten feet long, a little more than eighty-five feet wide, sinks to the depth of nearly twenty-seven feet in the water, and travels at the rate of twenty-one knots per hour. Each vessel weighs twenty thousand tons, and is armed with ten great guns a foot in diameter at the mouth. The North Dakota required 4688 tons of steel armor at a cost of more than four hundred dollars per ton. Each of its great twelve-inch guns cost nearly $110,000, weighs fifty-two tons, and hurls a projectile weighing 850 pounds a distance of twelve miles. Three hundred and eighty-five pounds of powder are consumed at a single discharge. At a distance of more than a mile and a half the projectiles of the North Dakota will penetrate steel armor to a depth of nearly twenty inches. When these projectiles leave the guns, they fly through the air at the rate of 2,800 feet in a second. When one hundred shots have been fired from one of these guns, it is worn so that it will be useless until repaired. The cost of a single discharge from one of these guns is about $350.

Sub-marine navigation has always been attended by the most woeful catastrophes, but in spite of numerous accidents the development of the submarine boat has progressed uninterruptedly. Each new model presents new preventive devices. Flasks of oxylithic powder are carried for purifying the air in the water-tight compartments in which the crews live while the boat is below the surface of the water. There is also a special apparatus for signalling other vessels or the shore, in case of danger. In 1904 three vessels, designated X, Y, and Z, were completed, which could achieve submersion in the short space of two minutes. The boats were armed with six torpedoes each. France owns the largest fleet of under-water warships in the world. England stands next, and the United States government is third.