THE ENGLISH 6-PDR
REGARDING ITS USEFULNESS IN THE FIELD
AS A GUN FOR THE HORSE ARTILLERY
Part 2
Translated by Geert van Uythoven
Source:
- Decker, C. von:
"Der Englische Sechspfünder, in Bezug auf seine Brauchbarkeit im Felde, als
Geschütz fur reitende Artillerie", in ’Militair-Wochenblatt’ 8. Jahrgang
(Berlin 1823) pp.2598-2600
2. SIDEWARD DEVIATION
“According to the ‘Leitfaden’ p.292, at medium distances the sideward deviation will be 10 to 25 paces before the firing line, or 20 to 50 paces (or 46 to 120 feet) as a whole. We will give the sideward deviation (in feet) here as it follows from the test results (R = right, L = left):
|
Sideward
deviation |
At 1,300 paces |
At 1,500 paces |
At 1,600 paces |
At 1,800 paces |
|
greatest
deviation on the wall itself |
R 34,75 |
R 25,5 |
- |
- |
|
L 44,5 |
L 50,5 |
- |
- |
|
|
total 79,25 |
total 76 |
- |
- |
|
|
smallest
deviation on the wall itself |
R 3,5 |
R 2,5 |
- |
- |
|
L 4 |
L 5 |
- |
- |
|
|
total 7,5 |
total 7,5 |
- |
- |
|
|
greatest
deviation overall |
R 62 |
R 105 |
R 137,75 |
R 79 |
|
L 29,5 |
L 70 |
L 66 |
L 180 |
|
|
total 91,5 |
total 175 |
total 203,75 |
total 259 |
|
|
smallest
deviation overall |
R 1,5 |
R 1 |
R 8 |
R 4 |
|
L 7 |
L 5 |
L 2,5 |
L 1 |
|
|
total 8,5 |
total 6 |
total 10,5 |
total 5 |
|
|
average out of
40 shots |
R 22,5 |
R 19,75 |
R 48 |
R 32 |
|
L 15,75 |
L 27,25 |
L 34,25 |
L 45 |
|
|
total 38,25 |
total 47 |
total 82,25 |
total 77 |
From the above we learn that the English 6-pdr has no more sideward deviation then the Prussian one, then the deviation is perfectly within the deviation of 46 to 120 feet that has been given.
However, more interesting experiences derive from these test results, which we will treat here:
1) At 1,300 paces 28 roundshot made their first graze to the right, 11 to the left, and one right on the mark. At 1,500 paces 22 roundshot made their first graze to the right, 17 to the left, and one right on the mark. Therefore we can state that the gun had a sideward deviation to the right.
The reason for this is difficult to find, then because of the great precision with which the English manufacture their guns it is not likely that a mechanical fault of the gun tube, or the carriage, or the positioning of the gun tube on to the carriage, was the case. Therefore one must suppose that the cause of the deviation has to be found in the initial phase of the recoil, more precise that one wheel, the left one in this case, has found more resistance during recoil as the right one. Which maybe is caused by the friction of the box (‘buchsen’) on the axle. It is very well known to the author that according to the theory the recoil has no effect on the flight of a roundshot. It is however also known to him that this will not be the first theory about artillery which will be refuted by practice. When one also takes into account the extraordinary low weight of the English 6-pdr, this opinion only gains in probability.
2) Not every roundshot which has a sideward deviation at the first graze will retain that deviation proportionally, but it will deviate even more, or corrects himself during the subsequent grazes. Of the 40 roundshot fired at 1,300 paces, 35 followed the former, 5 followed the latter course. Of the shots fired at 1,500 paces, 5 continued with about the same deviation, 28 deviated further away, and only 7 corrected themselves.
Even more: in some case roundshot initially deviated to the right, then to the left after having grazed, and after the following graze again to the right. This was the case with 5 roundshot at 1,300 paces, and 3 roundshot at 1,500 paces. Knowing this one can understand why sometimes part of an enemy force is annoyed despite the fact that it is not the subject fired at.
3) If one counts 2 foot for an infantry file and 3 foot for a cavalry file, when taking in regard the above sideward deviation, one finds that:
|
Direct shots |
At 1,300 paces |
At 1,500 paces |
At 1,600 paces |
At 1,800 paces |
|
Medium files |
Medium files |
|||
|
With the
infantry standing in range of the shot |
20 |
24 |
42 |
39 |
|
Not certain in
any case |
46 |
88 |
102 |
130 |
|
With the
cavalry standing in range of the shot |
13 |
16 |
28 |
26 |
|
Not certain in
any case |
31 |
55 |
68 |
87 |
One should note that at 1,800 paces less files will be within range of the shot then at 1,600 paces. It should be mentioned that at these ranges, the second and third grazes of respectively 1,300 and 1,500 paces are coming into play, and that their, respectively their first grazes have been taken from the test results: incidentally again the refutation of a theory.
4) From the above can be derived that troops will make a bad choice when trying to get out of range of guns by moving sideward. Even more, because of the fact that the artillery will not fail to follow them during their movement; what only is made easier because they don’t have to change their elevation.
3. DEVIATION IN HEIGTH
The ‘Leitfaden’ assumes with 6 feet high troops (p. 293) and an elevation angle of 3 degrees a covered space of 35 to 47 paces. We have already stated before that we disagree with this general troop height, and therefore we believe to have to calculate the covered space for each arm separately. We have already remarked, that we will calculate twelve fold the height of infantry at 5 feet, that of cavalry at 8 feet.
The covered space has been calculated using only the shots which actually hit the wall. The factors used were:
- The distances of the grazes first in front, and just behind the wall, and
- The height at which the wall was hit.
One should now study the following table, which gives the covered spaces of every hit separately:
|
Serial No. |
No. of shot |
Closest graze |
Hit the wall at a height
of (feet) |
Covered space (paces) |
||
|
before |
behind |
|||||
|
the wall (paces) |
Infantry |
Cavalry |
||||
|
Direct shots at 1,300
paces |
||||||
|
1 |
1 |
67 |
216 |
8 ¾ |
76 |
122 |
|
2 |
2 |
30 |
213 |
4 ¼ |
70 |
113 |
|
3 |
5 |
51 |
225 |
8 |
64 |
102 |
|
4 |
7 |
- |
34 |
8 ½ |
40 |
64 |
|
5 |
10 |
47 |
192 |
6 |
78 |
125 |
|
6 |
13 |
25 |
346 |
7 ¾ |
32 |
51 |
|
7 |
16 |
25 |
210 |
5 ½ |
45 |
72 |
|
8 |
18 |
- |
8 |
2 |
40 |
64 |
|
9 |
19 |
- |
30 |
7 ¼ |
41 |
66 |
|
10 |
20 |
18 |
415 |
7 ½ |
24 |
38 |
|
11 |
21 |
- |
39 |
7 ½ |
51 |
83 |
|
12 |
22 |
20 |
176 |
1 ¼ |
160 |
255 |
|
13 |
24 |
2 |
352 |
¼ |
78 |
126 |
|
14 |
25 |
14 |
347 |
4 |
35 |
56 |
|
15 |
30 |
16 |
343 |
6 |
26 |
42 |
|
16 |
33 |
- |
45 |
8 ¾ |
50 |
80 |
|
17 |
34 |
56 |
246 |
8 ½ |
66 |
105 |
|
18 |
35 |
108 |
81 |
4 ½ |
180 |
288 |
|
19 |
37 |
10 |
134 |
1 ¾ |
57 |
91 |
|
20 |
40 |
48 |
114 |
2 ¼ |
213 |
341 |
|
Direct shots at 1,500
paces |
||||||
|
1 |
1 |
58 |
157 |
1 ¾ |
332 |
530 |
|
2 |
2 |
- |
28 |
6 ¾ |
42 |
66 |
|
3 |
5 |
- |
6 |
2 ½ |
24 |
38 |
|
4 |
6 |
- |
17 |
3 ¼ |
54 |
84 |
|
5 |
7 |
254 |
157 |
7 |
224 |
358 |
|
6 |
14 |
36 |
172 |
5 ½ |
66 |
104 |
|
7 |
21 |
71 |
55 |
3 |
183 |
293 |
|
8 |
25 |
150 |
468 |
8 |
186 |
300 |
|
9 |
28 |
74 |
170 |
8 |
92 |
148 |
|
10 |
29 |
5 |
185 |
1 |
50 |
80 |
|
11 |
31 |
- |
17 |
4 |
42 |
68 |
|
12 |
33 |
- |
18 |
3 ½ |
52 |
82 |
|
13 |
37 |
3 |
279 |
¾ |
40 |
64 |
From this follows:
|
Covered space
(paces) |
At 1,300 paces |
At 1,500 paces |
||
|
Infantry |
Cavalry |
Infantry |
Cavalry |
|
|
greatest |
213 |
341 |
332 |
530 |
|
smallest |
24 |
38 |
24 |
38 |
|
average |
71 |
112 |
106 |
167 |
If one would leave out some of the disproportional greatest covered spaces (also at 1,300 paces shots no. 12, 18, and 20, and at 1,500 paces shots no. 1, 5, 7, and 8) this would give the following:
|
Covered space
(paces) |
At 1,300 paces |
At 1,500 paces |
||
|
Infantry |
Cavalry |
Infantry |
Cavalry |
|
|
greatest |
78 |
125 |
92 |
148 |
|
smallest |
24 |
38 |
24 |
38 |
|
average |
52 |
83 |
51 |
82 |
We see from this that according to these results, the English 6-pdr has a far more greater covered space then has been assumed in the ‘Leitfaden’."
© Geert van Uythoven