Expert: Paul Sutton - 11/14/2006

Question
my name is isaiah i am doing my senior project on the history of artillery, please could you help me i have covered the civil war artillery but nothing else. Please help.

Answer
Greetings

The history of artillery is almost a thousand years old.  Artillery came out of early Chinese experiments with black power.  Black powder also called gun powder is a mixture of 75% Potassium Nitrate, 15% Charcoal, and 10% Sulfur.  Starting in the late 19th century guns and artillery turned to smokeless powder that was based on Nitroglycerine.  It is believed that the first artillery was Chinese rockets then later on came projectiles fired from wood, copper, ceramic, and later iron tubes.  Early guns were mainly stationed on ships and at forts.  As the technology got better gun carriages were developed so artillery could move with armies.  

There is a great website below that is a short history on artillery that will be most useful.

Enjoy and thank you.

http://riv.co.nz/rnza/hist/gun/index.htm

http://www.unitednuclear.com/bp.htm