QuoteReplyTopic: History of Fire Arms Posted: 10-Nov-2006 at 18:08
Does anyone know at exactly what time the Fire Arms started being used in Armys? I know the first ones were slow and most Soldiers preferred to use swords becasue ofthe length it took to reload Guns. But does anyone know at what time period Soldiers would have even started to Use some Guns in Battle?
Early this morning I signed my death warrant.
Michael Collins, to friend John O'Kane after signing Anglo-Irish Treaty in 1921
Following are some basic notes on the development of handguns.
The first hand cannons were used to a small extent in the Fourteenth
Century. These were clumsy and were true cannons, in that they had no
lockwork and required ignition by glowing embers.
"In 1364 the town of Perugia in Italy ordered 500 hand cannons, each to
be no longer than the span of a person's hand." (Edward Ezell, Handguns of the World)
Most of these required a long pole, called a tiller or haft, to help aim and control it.
By the early Fifteenth Century, gunmakers had invented the matchlock, which greatly simplified ignition.
The first cannon appeared shortly after gunpowder was rediscovered by
13th century alchemist Roger Bacon. It was reputedly invented by a
German monk called Berthold Schwartz after he witnessed an explosion that
launched the pestle out of his mortar
The first musket was a cannon small and light enough to be fired by one man. It was mounted on the end of a long pole or fitted with a hook so it could be rested against a wall
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