THE ENGLISH 6-PDR

REGARDING ITS USEFULNESS IN THE FIELD

AS A GUN FOR THE HORSE ARTILLERY

Part 4

Translated and edited 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.2608, 2708-2711.

RICOCHET SHOTS (‘ROLLSCHÜSSE’)

"The results and the effect of ricochet shots is looked at and judged according to other laws then the direct shots. Important aspects are:

1. The range of ricochet shots in general;

2. If the roundshot will keep the right direction, and

3. If, and how much terrain they will make unsafe.

1. RANGE OF RICOCHET SHOTS

The ‘Leitfaden’ p.288 fixes the range of the ricochet shot of a 6-pdr with 5 ¼ Zoll elevation at 2,300 paces. The ricochet shots of the English 6-pdr all hit the ball-catcher at respectively 2,000 and 2,200 paces, or flew over it or passed to the side of it, and well:

	At 2,000 paces	At 2,200 paces
Into the ball-catcher	29	31
Passing over the ball-catcher	7	1
Passing to the side of the ball-catcher	4	8
Total:	40	40

The English 6-pdr with 1 ½ pound powder charge is therefore not inferior to the Prussian one with 2 ¼ powder charge, with regard to the range of the ricochet shot. In addition, one has used with:

- the first ten shots zero elevation;

- the 11th to 40th shots 1 Zoll elevation, and with

- the 41st to 80th shots 1 ½ Zoll elevation,

so therefore respectively 5 ¼, 4 ¼, and 3 ¾ less as with the Prussian ones.

In order to judge the flight of the roundshot better, we will give below an extract of the test results at both ranges, specifically of both ranges a few shots, in order not to become too exhaustive. But first we should remark that the results of the first ten shots, done with zero elevation, are left out. Only the results of the thirty shots done with 1 Zoll elevation have been used. This was done because during the tests it was found out that of the shots done with zero elevation, many roundshot went inside a ditch which ran square across the line of fire, and as such would have given no results: with 1 Zoll elevation, the roundshot bounced across this ditch, and gave useful results.

	Length of the trajectories (paces)
	At 2,000 paces	At 2,200 paces
Longest first trajectory	828, 201, 166, 67, 70, 119, 255, 170, 124	962, 319, 59, 132, 198, 300, 230
	798, 425, 211, 26, 168, 192, 67, 113	938, 416, 250, 123, 97, 386
	782, 323, 333, 10, 14, 334, 204	932, 313, 305, 230, 156, 234
	770, 221, 368, 107, 392, 142	928, 216, 102, 118, 234, 72, 262, 138, 130
		928, 453, 148, 124, 224, 81, 132. Sideward
Shortest first trajectory	615, 330, 342, 206, 196, 91, 220	718, 303, 110, 191, 33, 132, 179, 84, 59, 171, 220
	616, 373, 234, 251, 341, 80, 135	724, 468, 67, 57, 182, 88, 53, 403, 148
	620, 180, 340, 327, 344, 121, 68	750, 187, 117, 254, 272, 186, 214, 220
	642, 427, 334, 177, 188, 232	758, 548, 229, 90, 86. Passing left side
Average first trajectory	730, 370, 313, 172, 59, 55, 301	843, 478, 192, 152, 154. Sideward
	731, 337, 376, 300, 150, 106	852, 93, 358, 202, 181, 163, 125. Sideward
	721, 436, 149, 154, 279, 155, 50, 50, 66	854, 343, 213, 135, 87, 68, 169, 69. Sideward
	739, 529, 260, 152, 92, 228	856, 275, 182, 134, 143, 90, 215, 115, 88, 102
		856, 108, 215, 236, 165, 92, 155. Sideward
Average out of 30 and 40 shots	688, 377, 279, 170, etc.	828, 333, 231, 155, etc.

From the above one can note that ricochet shots follow a completely different trajectory as that stated by the textbooks. According to the ‘Leitfaden’ p.287 a roundshot makes four to six, sometimes more grazes, of which one can say that on the average the distance between two subsequent grazes is about half the distance of the previous one. The English 6-pdr confirms the former statement, but refutes the latter one. Then the 30 shots at 2,000 paces gave a total of 218 grazes, and the 40 shots at 2,200 paces gave a total of 338 grazes. This gives for the former one an average of seven, for the latter one of eight grazes of every shot fired.

On the contrary, of all 556 grazes only five meet the condition that the distance to the next graze is about half of the previous one. The great irregularity of the trajectories has already been illustrated by the extract of the test results of the above 26 shots. Of all 70 shots, 65 had longer trajectories later, and only with five shots each trajectory was shorter as the previous ones, which confirms the opinion of the author about the flight of roundshot sufficiently.

The effect of ricochet shots depends of course on the amount of grazes; then the more grazes a roundshot makes, the smaller the trajectories are, and the lower these will be, so the roundshot will more likely hit. Regarding this, the English 6-pdr is superior to the Prussian one, because of the fact that a smaller powder charge is used.

2. SIDEWARD DEVIATION

Understandably, the sideward deviation will be greater for ricochet shots as for direct shots, because of the fact that because of the bigger amount of grazes more deviations will occur, which is duly confirmed by the ‘Leitfaden’ on p.295, §550. Of the 80 shots in the meanwhile, 68 were more or less on the mark, and only 12 passed on the sides. With the direct shots, the latter has been the case with only 5 shots. Of the initial grazes of the 40 shots at 2,000 paces, were:

- on the mark: 9

- to the right: 27

- to the left: 4

Of the initial grazes of the 40 shots at 2,200 paces were:

- on the mark: 1

- to the right: 11

- to the left: 28

The gun therefore shows a deviation to the right with a smaller elevation of zero to 1 Zoll, and a deviation to the left with a higher elevation of 1 ½ Zoll. The reason for this is difficult to explain. However, for justification of the gun we should remark here, that the first grazes were at a range of 2,000 paces a maximum of eight paces, at a range of 2,200 paces a maximum of nine paces off the mark only. Most roundshot made its first graze only a few feet off the mark. We attach here also a small table depicting the sideward deviation in regard to the troops fired at:

Ricochet 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	25	29	41	55
Not certain in any case	74	71	110	155
With the cavalry standing in range of the shot	17	20	28	37
Not certain in any case	50	48	74	104
Compared with direct shots, with ricochet shots are :
With the infantry more standing in range of the shot	5	5	-	16
More uncertain	28	-	8	25
With the cavalry more standing in range of the shot	4	4	-	11
More uncertain	19	-	6	17

The ricochet shots therefore will deviate about 1/5 to 4/5 more to the side then direct shots.

3. DEVIATION IN HEIGHT

In this case also, the covered space has been calculated using only the shots which actually hit the first wall. 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
Ricochet shots at 1,300 paces
1	12	7	219	2	35	56
2	14	69	71	3 ¼	212	340
3	16	30	174	3	100	160
4	17	218	39	4	97	156
5	19	324	18	3 ¼	55	88
6	22	77	134	5	154	246
7	23	44	81	3	146	234
8	24	38	32	2 ½	misses
9	25	90	150	7	128	206
10	26	133	60	4	150	240
11	27	280	58	8 ½	68	108
12	28	195	53	3 ½	151	242
13	31	32	228	6 ½	49	80
14	36	13	193	3	43	69
15	37	309	5	6 ¼	94	151
16	39	143	6	¾	80	128
Ricochet shots at 1,500 paces
1	1	100	35	4 ½	78	124
2	2	103	9	¾	120	192
3	4	50	35	3	116	186
4	5	13	166	5	26	42
5	6	19	135	3	64	102
6	8	2	133	¼	80	128
7	9	28	70	4 ½	62	100
8	10	174	8	1	80	128
9	11	14	192	3	58	92
10	12	96	75	7	170	171
11	13	119	29	1 ½	192	306
12	15	2	240	¾	80	128
13	16	53	90	2 ½	212	336
14	17	129	4	¾	160	256
15	18	98	56	4 ¾	118	188
16	19	170	0	¼	got stuck
17	20	140	54	6 ½	83	133
18	22	210	5	1 ¼	40	64
19	23	2	168	¼	80	128
20	26	85	80	4 ¼	188	300
21	30	67	44	1 ¾	251	401
22	32	63	54	2 ¼	240	384
23	33	35	85	6 ½	54	86
24	35	160	40	5 ½	73	117
25	40	136	98	¼	not to calculate

From this follows:

Covered space (paces)	At 1,300 paces		At 1,500 paces
	Infantry	Cavalry	Infantry	Cavalry
greatest	212	340	251	401
smallest	35	56	26	42
average	137	258	142	227

Compared with direct shots, ricochet shots have an extended covered space for the average covered space of:

	At 1,300 paces		At 1,500 paces
	Infantry	Cavalry	Infantry	Cavalry
average	66	146	36	60

If one here again, as we did with the direct shots, would leave out the disproportional greatest covered spaces (which means at 1,300 paces shots no. 2, 3, 6, 7, 9, 10, and 11, and at 1,500 paces shots no. 2, 3, 11, 13, 14, 15, 20, 21, and 22) this would give the following:

Covered space (paces)	At 1,300 paces		At 1,500 paces
	Infantry	Cavalry	Infantry	Cavalry
greatest	97	156	83	133
smallest	35	56	26	42
average	65	104	66	105

We see from these safest results, that the English 6-pdr has again the advantage. In addition we learn that, when compared with direct shots, ricochet hits have an extended covered space of:

	At 1,300 paces		At 1,500 paces
	Infantry	Cavalry	Infantry	Cavalry
average	13	21	15	23

Left to tell that these tables confirm the previous results from the tests with direct shots very surprisingly. In addition, another interesting experience can be pointed at: of the 218 grazes which the thirty initial ricochet shots made, 76 fell before, 142 behind the wall. These 142 would have made therefore with the infantry 307 paces, and with the cavalry 491 paces to an unsafe zone, or respectively 3/7 and 5/7 of the complete line of fire from the wall up to the ball catcher.

Of the 338 grazes, which the forty second ricochet shots made, 126 fell before, 212 behind the wall. These 212 would have made therefore with the infantry 33 paces, and with the cavalry 533 paces to an unsafe zone, or respectively ½ and 4/5 of the complete line of fire from the wall up to the ball catcher.

The ricochet shots therefore are at 2,200 paces a little bit less effective then on 2,000 paces.

This incredible effectiveness of a ricochet shot fired by the English 6-pdr, which even leaves the experiences of the Neuenhagener tests far behind is, we repeat, only due to the smaller powder charge, something which every expert would have to agree on.

Finally to judge also for ricochet shots the proportion between the trajectories and the covered space, we give a similar table as we did for the direct shots:

At 1,300 paces		At 1,500 paces
Trajectory	Covered space	Trajectory	Covered space
368	94	242	80
342	55	215	40
338	68	206	58
270	49	200	73
257	97	198	62
226	35	194	83
206	43	182	80
149	80	179	26
		170	80
		154	64
		135	78
		135	80
		123	54

Again we note, that the nearly equal trajectories of 342 and 338 paces, as well as those of 198 and 194 paces, give the unequal covered spaces of 55 and 68 paces, and 62 and 83 paces. Further, a covered space of 80 paces was found at the unequal trajectories of 149, 242, 182, 170, and 135 paces; the only half so long covered space of 40 paces at the completely differing trajectory of 215 paces. Even the truth known from theory that the longest trajectories have the smallest covered space, is not confirmed by the above.

THE AMOUNT OF ROUNDSHOT THAT HIT

Only very general, the ‘Leitfaden’ p.296 points out that at a distance of 1,000 to 1,500 paces, the 5th to 4th roundshot will hit a six feet high target. The English 6-pdr gives more clearer and exact results. Out of thirty shots fired at 1,300 paces, sixteen roundshot hit the wall (also over half of them), and from these:

- at infantry height: 12

- at cavalry height: 15

- higher then both: 1

At 1,500 paces on the contrary, of forty shots, twenty-five roundshot (also 5/8) have hit the wall, and well:

- at infantry height: 21

- at cavalry height: 25

- higher then both: -

The English 6-pdr therefore compares with the Prussian one, regarding ricochet shots, as 1/5 to 1/4 to 5/8 or in other words: the English 6-pdr is more then double superior to the Prussian one.

If the gun would have been a Prussian 6-pdr, with seventy shots, 28 to 34 men of six feet high troops would have been put out of action. The English gun on the contrary would have put with seventy shots 46 infantrymen or 80 cavalrymen out of action; a result which could indeed not be expected better, and without the illusion that the height of the troops is taken much higher then they are in reality. Therefore, at 1,300 paces the infantry will be hit with every second or third roundshot, the cavalry with every second roundshot; at 1,500 paces on the contrary, the infantry will be hit with every second roundshot, the cavalry with every 5/8 roundshot. That means that on average every other roundshot will hit, and that it makes not much difference if they are shot at on 1,300 or 1,500 paces.

Assuming that the first line consists of a Division standing at 1,300 paces, a second one about 300 paces behind the first one; out of thirty ricochet shots, of thirty shots a total of 72 roundshot will damage the Division, also 2 2/5 of the shots fired. When instead the first line stands at 1,500, the second one again 300 paces behind the first one, of forty shots 110 roundshot will graze into or between both lines, also 2 3/4 of the shots fired.

With direct shots, in the former case 1 1/2, in the latter case two times the shots fired will fall into or between both lines, and therefore the direct shots relate to ricochet shots as 1 1/2 to 2 2/5, and as 2 to 2 3/4, or when brought back as 1 to 1 3/5 and 1 to 1 3/8. In general this means that ricochet shots are more then half effective as direct shots.

Continued in part 5; canister fire

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© Geert van Uythoven