Charge front of cannons

Gettys63

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Mar 6, 2014
Sometime I saw a movie, read a book, and lot of paintings of Confederate soldiers charge toward front of cannons before they were devastating slain by canisters during Pickett's Charge. I wondering sometime why would they charge right front of cannons, why don't they simple get out of canister's killing zone way.
 
Soldiers in a charge were committed to remain in their line of battle, and besides, enemy artillery were posted all along the front and could readily be turned to fire in any direction, so they could not be avoided. However, it's the artillery that would usually pull back if enemy infantry approached too close, because it was too easy for infantrymen to shoot the battery horses and artillerymen down. For an artilleryman to remain and try to get off such a last shot was difficult to accomplish and was virtual suicide - few men are so brave.

A line of infantry stood a better chance by charging directly upon a battery, rather than trying to move around it and thereby exposing itself to a much more destructive enfilade fire. Not only that, but once a battery pulled out, a large gap would be left for enemy infantry to pour through, unless friendly infantry supports had been posted directly behind it.
 
Sometime I saw a movie, read a book, and lot of paintings of Confederate soldiers charge toward front of cannons before they were devastating slain by canisters during Pickett's Charge. I wondering sometime why would they charge right front of cannons, why don't they simple get out of canister's killing zone way.


Besides there not being an alternative, as Tom points out, cannon were sometimes taken in infantry charges. Cannon had to be reloaded between every shot, so it was not necessarily a guarantee that you'd get a face full of canister. People who were killed by canister while charging artillery just had the bad luck of the gun crew being quicker than the attackers.
 
Agree with what Tom has said. Maybe with the exception of the last few hundred feet of the charge prior to reaching the guns, the attacking infantry had to stay in formation as they advanced to properly maneuver and fight as a unit. And yes, a gun crew could typically get off about 2 or 3 rounds a minute if they were loading and firing at maximum speed, using all the safety precautions (sponging out of the barrel, etc.); however, I have read of a few instances where a desperate gun crew was firing without stopping to sponge out the barrel and throwing out canister at a much faster rate.
 
Another Gettysburg movie-ism. The scenes during Pickett's Charge where they literally walk up the mouth of the cannon to get "blasted" from it is ludicrous. They would have been frantically racing toward it and trying to shoot down the cannoneers rather than "race walking".

There are many descriptions in memoirs and such about the effects of canister against attackers. The one that comes to my mind is the kid at Franklin who for some reason tried to jam a cannon by sticking a fence pole into it and the cannon being fired. Apparently all that was left of him was a pink mist according to the writer.
 
Soldiers in a charge were committed to remain in their line of battle, and besides, enemy artillery were posted all along the front and could readily be turned to fire in any direction, so they could not be avoided. However, it's the artillery that would usually pull back if enemy infantry approached too close, because it was too easy for infantrymen to shoot the battery horses and artillerymen down. For an artilleryman to remain and try to get off such a last shot was difficult to accomplish and was virtual suicide - few men are so brave.

A line of infantry stood a better chance by charging directly upon a battery, rather than trying to move around it and thereby exposing itself to a much more destructive enfilade fire. Not only that, but once a battery pulled out, a large gap would be left for enemy infantry to pour through, unless friendly infantry supports had been posted directly behind it.

Excellent reply!
 
Soldiers in a charge were committed to remain in their line of battle, and besides, enemy artillery were posted all along the front and could readily be turned to fire in any direction, so they could not be avoided. However, it's the artillery that would usually pull back if enemy infantry approached too close, because it was too easy for infantrymen to shoot the battery horses and artillerymen down. For an artilleryman to remain and try to get off such a last shot was difficult to accomplish and was virtual suicide - few men are so brave.

A line of infantry stood a better chance by charging directly upon a battery, rather than trying to move around it and thereby exposing itself to a much more destructive enfilade fire. Not only that, but once a battery pulled out, a large gap would be left for enemy infantry to pour through, unless friendly infantry supports had been posted directly behind it.

Thank you very much for explained this clearly! It's very understandable situation for infantry.
 
Sometime I saw a movie, read a book, and lot of paintings of Confederate soldiers charge toward front of cannons before they were devastating slain by canisters during Pickett's Charge. I wondering sometime why would they charge right front of cannons, why don't they simple get out of canister's killing zone way.

I know during Forrest's West Tennessee Raid during the winter of 1862 at one of the battles a detachment of men from (Russell's) 4th Alabama Cavalry Regiment charged a Federal battery and captured it. Keep in mind once you shoot you better be dang fast at the reloading process before the enemy is on top of you.

Depending upon how close you already are, if you're on foot or horseback, and if they've already fired or not is really what it comes down to.

As far as the infantry marching headlong into cannons we can blame the Napoleonic tactics of the time. It's amazing to me personally that they captured any batteries like that.
 
For the most part (there are exceptions, of course, especially if getting flanked, like some Confederate Artillery at Missionary Ridge) the Batteries, when being charged, might try to get off a few rounds, then limber up and change positions. They would do this knowing they would most likely get captured if they did not leave.....No matter how good canister is, it will not kill every enemy combatant coming towards you......it will, however, cause them to think twice about coming at all! :smile:.....But, I digress: to preserve the guns and cannoneers lives, when practicable, a battery would withdraw or change positions when being charged.....it all depended upon timing, having enough men/horses alive to remove the guns, etc. I'd be interested in knowing the statistic of batteries that were captured simply because they didn't have the means to escape vs batteries captured because they were overwhelmed without taking the chance at making a withdrawl vs batteries captured because they were caught un-aware.
 
The Limber chests for the 12 pdr Napoleon, for example, carried 12 shot, 12 case, 4 shell, 4 canister (The 1864 Field Artillery Tactics by French, Barry, & Hunt). The effective range of canister was only 400 yards (370 m), but within that range dozens of enemy infantrymen could be mowed down. Even more devastating was "double canister", generally used only in dire circumstances at extremely close range, where two containers of balls were fired simultaneously.....Now, after firing one canister round, how much farther would/could attacking infantry advance before a second round of canister were loaded?.....After the second volley, would advancing infantry continue the charge or would they break?.....If they continued, how far would they go AND at what point would the Battery Commander decide to limber up and withdraw?? Did the artillery have a supporting infantry unit?...What would their supporting unit do, if they were not otherwise occupied??
In my opinion, there are too many variables to say what was standard protocol, except to take each charge on a case by case basis, depending on terrain, cannoneers and horses to continue firing or to withdraw, moral of charging troops, moral of cannoneers.....and the list of variables goes on....
I will say, however, don't believe everything seen in the movies!! :smile:
 
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