What was canister

Though the terms are often used interchangeably, as they were even during the war by soldiers, they were made quite differently. And by the Civil War, grapeshot was seldom used by field artillery batteries in either army, but some large garrison and ship-mounted cannons still made use of that round.

The standard canister shot for the pounder Napoleon consisted of 27 1. The tin can disintegrated upon firing, dousing attacking infantry with the shot. At times, cannoneers even fired double canister. The Minnesota Historical Society. Cuirass with Cannon-Ball Hole. French Cartridge Box. This object is in the collection of National Army Museum. Creative Commons attribution information. Grapeshot from the battlefield of Waterloo. License Type: All Rights Reserved. The regiment clung to the face of the fort for almost an hour, but eventually had to retire.

Approximately more Union troops eventually were thrown into the battle to no avail. Wagner remained in Confederate hands for another four months, then was evacuated when its purpose had been achieved. Confederate pound Canister Round Schematic drawing pound Canister Round The skull on display shows the destructive effect of the pound canister used in the Fort's defense.

When the gun was fired, the individual balls in the canister round jostled and bumped into each other and so exited the barrel at relatively low velocity.

In this case, it can be seen that a single ball has created a nearly round entry wound and then incompletely penetrated the opposite side of the skull leaving fragments of iron next to the bone. Radiating fractures from the entrance and exit can be seen crossing the temporal, parietal and frontal bones. The ball entered from rear left, traveled back to front and upwards exiting on the right side.

At times, particularly at very close range, artillery crews would fire extremely lethal "double canister," where two rounds were loaded into the gun tube and fired simultaneously using a single charge.

Canister played a key role in dispersing the troops assigned to support Pickett's Charge during the Battle of Gettysburg in July see Field Artillery in the American Civil War for more information.

Canister shot was also used to good effect by U. At times, trained artillerists would fire the canister shot towards the ground in front of advancing enemy troops, causing the conical pattern to flatten out as the balls ricocheted and skipped off the terrain.

This in effect widened the killing zone. An example of this tactic was at the first day of Gettysburg , where Lt. James Stewart's Battery B, 2nd U. Artillery on Seminary Ridge skipped canister shot at Alfred M. Scales 's approaching Confederate infantry , breaking up their attack and forcing them to take cover in a depression.

The canister round is also known as a case hence the alternative name of case shot sometimes used for canister shot and is still used today in modern artillery, particularly in the main armament of tanks with smoothbore cannons.