Figure 1. A large example of a bombard. 5 meters long, a calibre of 0.64 meters, 16,400 kilograms[Contamine plate 20]
The earliest cannons, having no more power than the trebuchet, could not bring down the walls by themselves. Their chief effect, in the beginning, was psychological: the burst of fire and loud noise were effective in getting the enemy's attention, making it impossible for them to forget that their lives were in danger. Many sources attest that at Crécy in 1346, the English brought and used cannons explicitly to scare the Genoese.[Contamine 198-9] "The firearms that came into use soon after 1300 possessed the immense advantage of combining both noise and fire. This fact which may help answer the oft-debated question as to why they were able to assert themselves against older weapons that were often superior to them in reliability, rate of fire, and even power."[Van Creveld 76]
The use of gunpowder did not spread quickly, it leaked in slowly since the cannons initially did not have as much power as the trebuchet.[Van Creveld 76] Cannons started out by being used just like trebuchet: "Insufficiently powerful to bring down curtain walls, their main use was to clear the defenders from sections the wall so as to permit mining, boring, or the approach of seige towers. As time went on, the size and power both of cannon and of siege trains gradually increased, however, and made it possible to develop new tactics."[Van Creveld 100] Even as the power of the cannon increased, the trebuchet was not forgotten.
[In 1406] 100 carpenters were busy at St. Omer making three large engines and four couillarts. At approximately the same time, Christine de Pisan stipulated the defence of a place 'two catapults and two couillarts, each provided with enough accessories, ropes and a great number of stones', and for attack 'two great engines and two other medium-sized ones with all necessary things ready to fire. Item, four completely new couillars furnished and provided with all things, each having two cables and three fondes for changing when required.' Since the same author also required a very large number of cannons, one may presume that the experts she had consulted considered that the new artillery had not eliminated the old but simply supplemented it, doubtless because its effects were thought to be different. [Contamine 195]
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Figure 1. A large example of a bombard. 5 meters long, a calibre of 0.64 meters, 16,400 kilograms[Contamine plate 20] |
Ever since the first cannon succeeded in breaking down a wall (in 1377 at the Siege of Odkruik)[Van Creveld 100] guns have made their impression on warfare. One of the uses of artillery was, like the trebuchet and catapult, to scare defenders away so that troops could get close and, in the case of walls, mine or try to scale it. [Contamine 201] This only cleared the defenders for the amount of time it took them to find shelter and run back. "Once the first salvo had been fired, it was only necessary for the enemy to advance, seize the pieces and, according to a procedure attested from the beginning of the fifteenth century, to spike them."[Contamine 200] The other two major weaknesses of cannons were their lack of mobility and short range. [Contamine 200] Sieges continued to be carried out at short range, such that "both sides were often able to exchange taunts, promises, and threats, using arrows (until 1600) to shoot messages, or simply shouting at one another."[Van Creveld 105] Sieges were becoming so common that around the turn of the seventeeth century it was turning into a ritual, a dance of power between entire companies. [Van Creveld 104]
Arriving on the location, the first task to be performed by the commander of an attacking army was to surround the town and cut off its approaches. This having been achieved, and attempts to obtain the garrison's surrender having failed, the next step was to reconnoiter the terrain to discover the spot most suitable for the emplacement of siege artillery. The first line of parallel trenches would be opened and the guns, often protected by portable earth-filled wickerwork structures, stationed in place. A steady bombardment would drive the defenders off the section of the walls directly opposite, and so enable the attackers to advance towards the fortress by digging zigzag trenches. At a certain distance, a second parallel trench would be opened. The guns were then dragged forward, and the process repeated. Unless it was interrupted by the defenders, who sometimes dug their own trenches in order to reach the enemy and dislodge him, two or three forward bounds of this kind usually brought the guns within range and permitted the actual process of breaching the walls to begin. Once a breach was made, the place would be entered by assault. Allowing for varying local conditions, a skilled commander such as Vauban could calculate the duration of a siege almost to the day, and so of course could the defenders. Consequently the process of surrendering fortresses with honor developed into a fine art, surrounded by elaborate ceremonies and books of rules. [Van Creveld 104-5]