Book excerpt: This eBook has been formatted to the highest digital standards and adjusted for readability on all devices. Looking at an old-time cannon, most people are sure of just one thing: the shot came out of the front end. For that reason, these pages are written; people are curious about the fascinating weapon that so prodigiously and powerfully lengthened the warrior's arm. And theirs is a justifiable curiosity, because the gunner and his "art" played a significant role in American history. Contents: The Era of Artillery The Ancient Engines of War Gunpowder Comes to Europe The Bombards Sixteenth Century Cannon The Seventeenth Century and Gustavus Adolphus The Eighteenth Century United States Guns of the Early 1800's Rifling The War Between the States The Change Into Modern Artillery Gunpowder Primers Modern Use of Black Powder The Characteristics of Cannon The Early Smoothbore Cannon Smoothbores of the Later Period Garrison and Ship Guns Siege Cannon Field Cannon Howitzers Mortars Petards Projectiles Solid Shot Explosive Shells Fuzes Scatter Projectiles Incendiaries and Chemical Projectiles Fixed Ammunition Rockets Tools The Practice of Gunnery