Wooden cannons have been manufactured and used in wars in many countries. The wooden parts were invariably strengthened with metal fittings or even rope.
Expedient technique
The use of wood for
cannon
A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder ...
-making could be dictated either by the lack of metal or the lack of skill to engineer metallic cannons. Wooden cannons were notoriously weak, and could usually fire only a few shots, sometimes even just one shot, before bursting.
The balls for use in such wooden-barreled cannons could be made of various materials such as wood, stone, ceramics, or steel.
The barrel could be sometimes coated with tin in the interior, having the exterior reinforced with 8–10 iron rings. The firing system was identical with the one used on flintlocks.
The cannons could fire a variety of projectiles, from cannonballs made of iron, wood, or rock, to incendiary materials and a type of grapeshots (a load of smaller rocks with sharp edges to increase damage upon attacking compact infantry formations). Also, they were used as a psychological weapon, firing without projectiles, simply for the sound, which was enough to create in enemy ranks a state of panic, believing that it is being attacked by artillery. In the mountains, the sound was reverberated by the mountain slopes, the sound being thus repeated and amplified.
Wooden cannons have been used at various times.
Aurangzeb in the
Deccan
The large Deccan Plateau in southern India is located between the Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats, and is loosely defined as the peninsular region between these ranges that is south of the Narmada river. To the north, it is bounded by the ...
used such cannons for defensive purposes, as he lacked regular cannons but had abundant wood available.
Wooden cannons were used by the Vietnamese against the French during the
Cochinchina campaign in 1862.
Some Japanese forces used wooden cannons during the
Boshin war in 1868.
Native peoples of
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...
used wooden cannons against the
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
and
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
during the 17th and 18th centuries. The
Native Americans in
North America used improvised wooden cannons against fortifications.
Squire Boone
In the Middle Ages, a squire was the shield- or armour-bearer of a knight.
Use of the term evolved over time. Initially, a squire served as a knight's apprentice. Later, a village leader or a lord of the manor might come to be known as a " ...
also constructed a wooden cannon used in the defense of Boonesborough, Kentucky in 1778
Siege of Boonesborough
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The siege of Boonesborough was a military engagement which took place in September 1778 during the American Revolutionary War. On September 7, Shawnee chief Blackfish, who was allied to the British, led an attack on the Kentucky settlement of ...
.
Wooden cannons were used in Europe on various occasions. Russian Tsar
Peter the Great is known to have built several as a childhood pastime.
Romanians (''
moți'') from the
Apuseni Mountains
The Apuseni Mountains ( ro, Munții Apuseni, hu, Erdélyi-középhegység) is a mountain range in Transylvania, Romania, which belongs to the Western Romanian Carpathians, also called ''Occidentali'' in Romanian. Their name translates from Ro ...
in Transylvania manufactured this type of cannon extensively for use against the Hungarian army in 1848–49. The wooden cannons had various calibers, up to 120–150 millimetres, and were made from fir, cherry, or beech trees. They were made using man-powered drills to obtain the desired caliber. In battle, the largest-caliber cannons were employed from fixed positions, whereas cannons of smaller calibers could be deployed in the field, carried on man-drawn or horse-drawn carriages, or transported on horseback via
pack saddle
A pack saddle is any device designed to be secured on the back of a horse, mule, or other working animal so it can carry heavy loads such as luggage, firewood, small cannons, or other things too heavy to be carried by humans.
Description
Idea ...
s.
During the
April Uprising
The April Uprising ( bg, Априлско въстание, Aprilsko vastanie) was an insurrection organised by the Bulgarians in the Ottoman Empire from April to May 1876. The regular Ottoman Army and irregular bashi-bazouk units brutally su ...
in 1876, the Bulgarians used 52
cherry-wood cannons. The barrels were lined inside with copper tubes. After a few shots, the guns would begin to crack, and were reinforced with ropes soaked in tar. During the
Ilinden Uprising Ilinden ( Bulgarian/Macedonian Cyrillic: Илинден) or Ilindan (Serbian Cyrillic: Илиндан), meaning "Saint Elijah
Elijah ( ; he, אֵלִיָּהוּ, ʾĒlīyyāhū, meaning "My God is Yahweh/YHWH"; Greek form: Elias, ''Elías'' ...
in 1903 the Bulgarian partisans in Macedonia likewise produced cherry-wood cannons.
During
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
the
Imperial German Army developed a series of
heavy wooden mortars.
Vietnamese wooden cannon captured at the Vinh Long citadel by the French on 23 March 1862.jpg, Vietnamese wooden cannon captured at the Vinh Long citadel by the French on 23 March 1862. Calibre: 97 mm. Length: 1.90 m. Musée de l'Armée
The Musée de l'Armée (; "Army Museum") is a national military museum of France located at Les Invalides in the 7th arrondissement of Paris. It is served by Paris Métro stations Invalides, Varenne and La Tour-Maubourg
The Musée de l'Armée ...
, Paris
Vietnamese wooden cannon muzzle 1862.jpg, Muzzle of Vietnamese wooden cannon, 1862, Vĩnh Long
Vĩnh Long () is a city and the capital of Vĩnh Long Province in Vietnam's Mekong Delta. Vĩnh Long covers and has a population of 147,039 (as of 2009). The name was spelled 永 隆 ("eternal prosperity") in the former Hán Nôm writing sys ...
Japanese coastal wooden cannon 1853 1854.jpg, Japanese coastal wooden cannon built by the ''daimyō
were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and nominal ...
s'' at the Bakufu
, officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, though during part of the Kamakura ...
's order for Commodore Perry's arrival. 1853–54
Sendai1868Cannons.JPG, Wooden cannons used by the Sendai fief during the Boshin War in Japan in 1868. Sendai City Museum
The is the main museum of Sendai, Japan, and is located in the former Third Bailey of Sendai Castle.
The museum displays various artifacts related to the Date clan and the history of Sendai. Date Masamune's famous suit of armor and artifacts re ...
Wooden Cannon GNM W622.jpg, European wooden cannon. Calibre: 90 mm. Wooden barrel with thin iron insert and iron rings supporting the barrel. Germanisches Nationalmuseum
The Germanisches National Museum is a museum in Nuremberg, Germany. Founded in 1852, it houses a large collection of items relating to German culture and art extending from prehistoric times through to the present day. The Germanisches National ...
Nuremberg
Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...
Wooden Cannon muzzle GNM W622.jpg, Muzzle of the cannon shown in the previous picture
Deception method
In some wars, fake cannons made from a wooden log, sometimes painted black, were used to deceive an enemy. Misleading the enemy as to the strength of an emplacement was an effective delaying tactic. Both sides of the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...
used such faked weapons, called
Quaker guns. The name derives from the
Religious Society of Friends
Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...
or "Quakers", who have traditionally held a religious opposition to war and violence in the
Peace Testimony
Peace testimony, or testimony against war, is a shorthand description of the action generally taken by members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) for peace and against participation in war. Like other Quaker testimonies, it is not a "b ...
.
See also
*
Bamboo cannon
*
Leather cannon
The leather cannon, or leather gun,Adair (1997), pg. 142–3 was an experimental weapon, first used in northern Europe in the 1620s. The aim was to construct a light and cheap weapon that would bridge the gap between the hand-held musket and the ...
Notes
{{Reflist
Artillery by type
Cannon