EARLIEST RECORDS. The word 'cannon,' for merly used by military men, and to-day some times used by laymen to designate the weapon of artillery..has been almost entirely superseded by the word 'gun.' For example, we speak of a 3.2-inch, 10-inch, or 12-inch gun, and not of a 3.2-inch, or 12-inch cannon. The inven tion of cannon or guns immediately followed that of gunpowder, about which very little is accu rately or definitely known. By some authorities it is believed that the Chinese and inhabitants of India had a knowledge of gunpowder and its use for artillery purposes long before the European nations. It. has also been stated, that in the Thirteenth Century, the Moors used gunpowder and cannon in Spain. This antedates the alleged discovery or invention of gunpowder by the Ger man, Schwartz, or by the Englishman, Roger Bacon, toward the end of the Thirteenth Century. Some authorities claim that the first use of ean non in battle was at Crecy (13461, and that they were introduced and practically used by the Eng lish about that time. There is, however. consid erable doubt as to the authenticity of the above claim, and it is not until some time later that we have definite information as to the nature and effect of cannon in battle. All ordnance of this period consisted of huge, cumbersome weapons, with little or no mobility. They were moved either by draft animals hitched in file, or by human power, or by both, necessi tating an extravagant expenditure of energy and time. Their construction was of the crudest na ture, both guns and carriages, all mechanical work being done by hand. Though so inferior in every respect, these guns correspond in a way to the heavier type of modern siege guns, and were used for similar purposes, there being at this time no guns of mobility corresponding to the modern field battery. The earliest cannon were
of the simplest construction, being merely tubes closed at one end, the powder being exploded by means of a hot iron applied to a train of powder passing through the tou•h-hole to the charge within. These gulls were known as 'vases' and 'bombards: and were bell-shaped rather than cylindrical. They were supported by rough wooden horses carrying platforms, the latter sometimes being carried by two wheels in front and a trail attached to the axle. At first the material used was iron bars held together with hoops; sometimes hammered iron or copper, la boriously fashioned by hand; later, guns were east from bronze and other composition metals. One of the most famous of these old guns was a huge weapon employed by the Turks in the middle of the Fifteenth Century, and known as the `Gun of Mohammed TT.' It fired a stone ball weighing over 600 pounds, and its immobil ity was such that it required 200 men and 60 oxen to move it from place to place. Curiously enough, these heavy pieces were fired without a carriage. being rolled along on their side, and given the proper direction and elevation by blocks and wedges inserted under the muzzle. A type of projectile similar in form to those dis charged by these early cannon can be seen at Trophy Point. West Point. N. Y. It was not until near the end of the Fifteenth Century that guns began to be used on the field of battle as 'field artillery.' There was no uniform type. and their value as weapons was insignificant, except in so far as the noise of the explosion frightened the enemy.