Editing Artillery (section)

==History==
{{see also|History of cannons|History of gunpowder}}
[[File:Ming Dynasty field artillery cannon.jpg|thumb|upright|A bronze "thousand ball thunder cannon" from the ''[[Huolongjing]]''.]]
Mechanical systems used for throwing ammunition in ancient warfare, also known as "[[engines of war]]", like the [[catapult]], [[onager (siege weapon)|onager]], [[trebuchet]], and [[ballista]], are also referred to by military historians as artillery.

===Medieval===
During medieval times, more types of artillery were developed, most notably the counterweight trebuchet. Traction trebuchets, using manpower to launch projectiles, have been used in ancient China since the 4th century as anti-personnel  weapons. The much more powerful counterweight trebuchet was invented in the eastern Mediterranean region in the 12th century, with the earliest definite attestation in 1187.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2006-09-05 |title=Arms and Men: The Trebuchet |url=https://www.historynet.com/weaponry-the-trebuchet/ |access-date=2022-02-28 |website=Historynet |language=en-US}}</ref>

===Invention of gunpowder===
{{see also|Gunpowder artillery in the Song dynasty}}
[[File:1350 AD early Chinese vase-shaped cannon.jpg|left|thumb|upright=0.8|A depiction of an early vase-shaped cannon (shown here as the "Long-range Awe-inspiring Cannon"(威遠砲)) complete with a crude sight and an ignition port dated from around 1350 AD. The illustration is from the 14th century Ming Dynasty book ''Huolongjing''.<ref name="needham314316"/>]]

Early Chinese artillery had vase-like shapes. This includes the "long range awe inspiring" cannon dated from 1350 and found in the 14th century [[Ming dynasty]] treatise ''[[Huolongjing]]''.<ref name="needham314316">{{Harvnb|Needham|1987|pages=314–16}}</ref> With the development of better metallurgy techniques, later cannons abandoned the vase shape of early Chinese artillery. This change can be seen in the bronze "thousand ball thunder cannon", an early example of [[field artillery]].<ref name="Science and Civilisation in China">{{cite book|first=Joseph|last=Needham|year=1987|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|title=Science & Civilisation in China, volume 7: The Gunpowder Epic|isbn=978-0-521-30358-3|pages=317–19}}</ref> These small, crude weapons diffused into the Middle East (the ''[[Inventions in medieval Islam#Military|madfaa]]'') and reached Europe in the 13th century, in a very limited manner.

In Asia, [[Mongol Empire|Mongols]] adopted the Chinese artillery and used it effectively in the [[Mongol invasions|great conquest]]. By the late 14th century, Chinese rebels used organized artillery and cavalry to push Mongols out.

As small smooth-bore barrels, these were initially cast in iron or bronze around a core, with the first drilled bore ordnance recorded in operation near Seville in 1247.{{Citation needed|date=May 2008}} They fired lead, iron, or stone balls, sometimes large arrows and on occasions simply handfuls of whatever scrap came to hand. During the [[Hundred Years' War]], these weapons became more common, initially as the [[Bombard (weapon)|bombard]] and later the [[cannon]]. Cannons were always [[muzzle-loader]]s. While there were many early attempts at [[Breechloader|breech-loading]] designs, a lack of engineering knowledge rendered these even more dangerous to use than muzzle-loaders.

===Expansion of use===
{{main|Gunpowder artillery in the Middle Ages}}
[[File:French gunner 15th century · HHWXI264.svg|thumb|left|upright|French gunner in the 15th century, a 1904 illustration]]
[[File:1526-First Battle of Panipat-Ibrahim Lodhi and Babur.jpg|thumb|upright=0.7|[[First Battle of Panipat]]<ref>{{cite web|last=unknown |url=http://warfare.uphero.com/Moghul/Baburnama/1526-First_Battle_of_Panipat-Ibrahim_Lodhi_and_Babur.htm |title=1526, First Battle of Panipat, Ibrahim Lodhi and Babur |date=1590s |work=Baburnama}}</ref>]]
[[File:Bullocks dragging siege-guns up hill during the attack on Ranthambhor Fort.jpg|thumb|upright=0.7|Bullocks dragging siege-guns up hill during Akbar's [[Siege of Ranthambore (1568)|Siege of Ranthambore]]<ref>{{cite web| url=http://warfare2.likamva.in/Moghul/Akbar/1568-Bullocks_dragging_siege-guns_up_hill_during_the_attack_on_Ranthambhor_Fort.htm|title=Bullocks dragging siege-guns up hill during Akbar's attack on Ranthambhor Fort|date=1590–95|work= The Akbarnama |access-date= May 19, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140519132308/http://warfare2.likamva.in/Moghul/Akbar/1568-Bullocks_dragging_siege-guns_up_hill_during_the_attack_on_Ranthambhor_Fort.htm |archive-date= May 19, 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref>]]

In 1415, the Portuguese invaded the Mediterranean port town of [[Ceuta]]. While it is difficult to confirm the use of firearms in the siege of the city, it is known the Portuguese defended it thereafter with firearms, namely ''bombardas'', ''colebratas'', and ''falconetes''. In 1419, Sultan Abu Sa'id led an army to reconquer the fallen city, and Marinids brought cannons and used them in the assault on Ceuta. Finally, hand-held firearms and riflemen appear in Morocco, in 1437, in an expedition against the people of [[Tangiers]].<ref>Cook, Weston F., Jr. 1993 ''Warfare and Firearms in Fifteenth century Morocco, 1400–1492.''</ref>{{Page needed|date=April 2011}} It is clear these weapons had developed into several different forms, from small guns to large artillery pieces.

The artillery revolution in Europe caught on during the [[Hundred Years' War]] and changed the way that battles were fought. In the preceding decades, the English had even used a gunpowder-like weapon in military campaigns against the Scottish.<ref>([[Sieges of Stirling Castle]])</ref> However, at this time, the cannons used in battle were very small and not particularly powerful. Cannons were only useful for the defense of a [[castle]], as demonstrated at [[Siege of Breteuil|Breteuil]] in 1356, when the besieged English used a cannon to destroy an attacking French assault tower.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Lee|first1=T.W.|title=Military Technologies of the World|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-nrZqzQs3jMC&q=Battle%20of%20Breteuil%20cannon&pg=PA242|access-date=17 November 2017|isbn=978-0-275-99536-2|date=2008-12-30|publisher=Abc-Clio }}</ref> By the end of the 14th century, cannons were only powerful enough to knock in roofs, and could not penetrate castle walls.

However, a major change occurred between 1420 and 1430, when artillery became much more powerful and could now batter strongholds and fortresses quite efficiently. The English, French, and Burgundians all advanced in military technology, and as a result the traditional advantage that went to the defense in a siege was lost. Cannons during this period were elongated, and the recipe for gunpowder was improved to make it three times as powerful as before.<ref>{{cite journal
  |title = The Military Revolutions of the Hundred Years' War
  |last = Rogers
  |first = Clifford J.
  |journal = [[The Journal of Military History]]
  |issn = 1543-7795
  |volume = 57
  |issue = 2
  |year = 1993
  |pages = 241–78
  |doi = 10.2307/2944058
  |jstor = 2944058
}}</ref> These changes led to the increased power in the artillery weapons of the time.

[[File:HGM Pumhart von Steyr.jpg|thumb|left|The Austrian [[Pumhart von Steyr]], the earliest extant [[large-calibre artillery|large-calibre gun]]<ref>{{harvnb|Schmidtchen|1977|p=162}}</ref>]]
[[Joan of Arc]] encountered gunpowder weaponry several times. When she led the French against the English at the Battle of Tourelles, in 1430, she faced heavy gunpowder fortifications, and yet her troops prevailed in that battle. In addition, she led assaults against the English-held towns of Jargeau, Meung, and Beaugency, all with the support of large artillery units. When she led the assault on Paris, Joan faced stiff artillery fire, especially from the suburb of St. Denis, which ultimately led to her defeat in this battle. In April 1430, she went to battle against the Burgundians, whose support was purchased by the English. At this time, the Burgundians had the strongest and largest gunpowder arsenal among the European powers, and yet the French, under Joan of Arc's leadership, were able to beat back the Burgundians and defend themselves.<ref>DeVries, K: The Use of Gunpowder Weaponry By and Against Joan or Arc During the Hundred Years' War. 1996</ref> As a result, most of the battles of the Hundred Years' War that Joan of Arc participated in were fought with gunpowder artillery.
[[File:Dardanelles Gun Turkish Bronze 15c.png|thumb|[[Dardanelles Gun]]. Very heavy 15th-C bronze muzzle-loading cannon of type used by [[Ottoman Empire|Ottomans]] in [[siege of Constantinople (1453)]], showing ornate decoration. Taken by The Land Feb 07 at [[Fort Nelson, Hampshire]].]]

The army of [[Mehmet the Conqueror]], which conquered [[Constantinople]] in 1453, included both artillery and foot soldiers armed with gunpowder weapons.<ref name=Nicolle2>{{cite book|last=Nicolle|first=David|author-link=David Nicolle|title=Constantinople 1453: The end of Byzantium|url=https://archive.org/details/constantinopleen00nico_981|url-access=limited|publisher=[[Osprey Publishing]]|year=2000|pages=[https://archive.org/details/constantinopleen00nico_981/page/n66 29]–30|isbn=978-1-84176-091-9|location=London}}</ref> The [[Ottoman Empire|Ottomans]] brought to the siege sixty-nine guns in fifteen separate [[Artillery battery|batteries]] and trained them at the walls of the city. The barrage of Ottoman cannon fire lasted forty days, and they are estimated to have fired 19,320 times.<ref name=Nicolle3>{{cite book|last=Nicolle|first=David|title=Armies of the Ottoman Turks 1300–1774|publisher=[[Osprey Publishing]]|year=1983|pages=29–30|isbn=978-0-85045-511-3}}</ref> Artillery also played a decisive role in the [[Battle of St. Jakob an der Birs]] of 1444.  Early cannon were not always reliable; King [[James II of Scotland]] was killed by the accidental explosion of one of his own cannon, imported from Flanders, at the siege of Roxburgh Castle in 1460. 

The able use of artillery supported to a large measure the expansion and defense of the [[Portuguese Empire]], as it was a necessary tool that allowed the Portuguese to face overwhelming odds both on land and sea from [[Morocco]] to Asia.<ref name="peers"/> In great sieges and in sea battles, the Portuguese demonstrated a level of proficiency in the use of artillery after the beginning of the 16th century unequalled by contemporary European neighbours, in part due to the experience gained in intense fighting in Morocco, which served as a proving ground for artillery and its practical application, and made Portugal a forerunner in gunnery for decades.<ref name="peers"/> During the reign of [[Manuel I of Portugal|King Manuel]] (1495–1521) at least 2017 cannon were sent to Morocco for garrison defense, with more than 3000 cannon estimated to have been required during that 26-year period.<ref name="peers">Douglas M. Peers: ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=fKpYEAAAQBAJ&dq=Warfare%20and%20Empires%3A%20Contact%20and%20Conflict%20Between%20European%20and%20Non-European%20Military%20and%20Maritime%20Forces%20and%20Cultures%20morocco&pg=PP64 Warfare and Empires: Contact and Conflict Between European and Non-European Military and Maritime Forces and Cultures]'', Routledge, 2022</ref> An especially noticeable division between siege guns and anti-personnel guns enhanced the use and effectiveness of Portuguese firearms above contemporary powers, making cannon the most essential element in the Portuguese arsenal.<ref name="peers"/>
[[File:Museu Militar - Lisboa - Portugal (49431498938).jpg|thumb|Portuguese artillery on display at the Military Museum of Lisbon, Portugal.]]

The three major classes of Portuguese artillery were anti-personnel guns with a high borelength (including: ''rebrodequim'', ''berço'', ''falconete'', ''falcão'', ''sacre'', ''áspide'', ''cão'', ''serpentina'' and ''passavolante''); bastion guns which could batter fortifications (''camelete'', ''leão'', ''pelicano'', ''basilisco'', ''águia'', ''camelo'', ''roqueira'', ''urso''); and howitzers that fired large stone cannonballs in an elevated arch, weighted up to 4000 pounds and could fire incendiary devices, such as a hollow iron ball filled with pitch and fuse, designed to be fired at close range and burst on contact.<ref name="peers1">Douglas M. Peers: ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=fKpYEAAAQBAJ&dq=Warfare%20and%20Empires%3A%20Contact%20and%20Conflict%20Between%20European%20and%20Non-European%20Military%20and%20Maritime%20Forces%20and%20Cultures%20morocco&pg=PP68 Warfare and Empires: Contact and Conflict Between European and Non-European Military and Maritime Forces and Cultures]'', Routledge, 2022</ref> The most popular in Portuguese arsenals was the ''berço'', a 5&nbsp;cm, one pounder bronze breech-loading cannon that weighted 150&nbsp;kg with an effective range of 600 meters.<ref name="peers1"/>

A tactical innovation the Portuguese introduced in fort defense was the use of combinations of projectiles against massed assaults.<ref name="peers2"/> Although canister shot had been developed in the early 15th century, the Portuguese were the first to employ it extensively, and Portuguese engineers invented a canister round which consisted of a thin lead case filled with iron pellets, that broke up at the muzzle and scattered its contents in a narrow pattern.<ref name="peers2"/> An innovation which Portugal adopted in advance of other European powers was fuse-delayed action shells, and were commonly used in 1505.<ref name="peers2"/> Although dangerous, their effectiveness meant a sixth of all rounds used by the Portuguese in Morocco were of the fused-shell variety.<ref name="peers2">Douglas M. Peers: ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=fKpYEAAAQBAJ&dq=Warfare%20and%20Empires%3A%20Contact%20and%20Conflict%20Between%20European%20and%20Non-European%20Military%20and%20Maritime%20Forces%20and%20Cultures%20morocco&pg=PP69 Warfare and Empires: Contact and Conflict Between European and Non-European Military and Maritime Forces and Cultures]'', Routledge, 2022</ref>

[[File:Chongtongs-Jinju Castle.jpg|right|thumb|Three of the large Korean artillery, [[Chongtong]] in the Jinju National Museum. These cannons were made in the mid 16th century. The closest is a "Cheonja chongtong"(천자총통, 天字銃筒), the second is a "Jija chongtong"(지자총통, 地字銃筒), and the third is a "Hyeonja chongtong"(현자총통, 玄字銃筒).]]
The new [[Ming Dynasty]] established the "Divine Engine Battalion" (神机营), which specialized in various types of artillery. Light cannons and cannons with multiple volleys were developed. In a campaign to suppress a local minority rebellion near today's Burmese border, "the Ming army used a 3-line method of arquebuses/muskets to destroy an elephant formation".<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ot6rDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA178 |title = Enotenplato, the Chronicle of Military Doctrine |date = August 23, 2019 |publisher = Lulu.com |isbn = 978-0-35980699-7}}</ref>

When the Portuguese and Spanish arrived at Southeast Asia, they found that the local kingdoms were already using cannons. Portuguese and Spanish invaders were unpleasantly surprised and even outgunned on occasion.<ref>{{cite book|title=Changes of regime and social dynamics in West Java : society, state, and the outer world of Banten, 1750–1830 |last1= Atsushi |first1= Ota|date=2006|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-90-04-15091-1|location= Leiden}}</ref> Duarte Barbosa ca. 1514 said that the inhabitants of Java were great masters in casting artillery and very good artillerymen. They made many one-pounder cannons (cetbang or [[Lantaka|rentaka]]), long muskets, ''spingarde'' (arquebus), ''schioppi'' (hand cannon), [[Greek fire]], guns (cannons), and other fire-works. In all aspects the Javanese were considered excellent in casting artillery, and in the knowledge of using it.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Jones|first=John Winter|url=https://archive.org/details/travelsofludovic00vartrich/page/254/mode/2up?q=|title=The travels of Ludovico di Varthema in Egypt, Syria, Arabia Deserta and Arabia Felix, in Persia, India, and Ethiopia, A.D. 1503 to 1508|publisher=Hakluyt Society|year=1863}}</ref>{{Rp|254}}<ref>{{Cite book|last=Stanley|first=Henry Edward John|url=https://archive.org/details/descriptionofcoa00barbrich/page/n7/mode/2up|title=A Description of the Coasts of East Africa and Malabar in the Beginning of the Sixteenth Century by Duarte Barbosa |publisher= The Hakluyt Society|year=1866}}</ref>{{Rp|198}}<ref>{{Cite book |last= Partington |first= J. R.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fNZBSqd2cToC&pg=PA224|title=A History of Greek Fire and Gunpowder|date=1999|publisher=JHU Press|isbn=978-0-8018-5954-0|language=en}}</ref>{{Rp |224}} In 1513, the [[Djong (ship)#European age of discovery|Javanese fleet]] led by Pati Unus sailed to attack [[Portuguese Malacca]] "with much artillery made in Java, for the Javanese are skilled in founding and casting, and in all works in [[iron]], over and above what they have in [[India]]".<ref name=":022">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XNsk7tLkMU4C |title=Anthony Reid and the Study of the Southeast Asian Past |publisher=Institute of Southeast Asian Studies |year=2012 |isbn=978-981-4311-96-0 |editor-last=Wade |editor-first=Geoff |location=Singapore |editor-last2=Tana |editor-first2=Li}}</ref>{{Rp |162}}<ref name=":222">{{Cite book |last=Crawfurd |first=John |url=https://archive.org/details/adescriptivedic00crawgoog/page/n8/mode/2up?q= |title=A Descriptive Dictionary of the Indian Islands and Adjacent Countries |publisher=Bradbury and Evans |year=1856}}</ref>{{Rp|23}} By the early 16th century, the [[Javanese people|Javanese]] had already started locally-producing large guns, which were dubbed "sacred cannon[s]" or "holy cannon[s]" and have survived up to the present day - though in limited numbers. These cannons varied between 180 and 260 pounders, weighing anywhere between 3–8 tons, measuring between 3–6 m.<ref>''Modern Asian Studies''. Vol. 22, No. 3, Special Issue: Asian Studies in Honour of Professor Charles Boxer (1988), pp. 607–28.</ref>

Between 1593 and 1597, about 200,000 Korean and Chinese troops which [[Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598)|fought against Japan in Korea]] actively used heavy artillery in both siege and field combat. Korean forces mounted artillery [[Panokseon|in ships]] as [[naval gun]]s, providing an advantage against Japanese navy which used ''Kunikuzushi'' (国崩し – Japanese [[breech-loading swivel gun]]) and ''Ōzutsu'' (大筒 – large size [[Tanegashima (Japanese matchlock)|Tanegashima]]) as their largest firearms.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://sillok.history.go.kr/url.jsp?id=kna_13806007_002 |title= 조선왕조실록 |website= History | place = [[Korea|KR]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://sillok.history.go.kr/url.jsp?id=kna_12610022_001|title=조선왕조실록 |website= History | place = KR}}</ref>

In the 16th century Ottoman Empire, [[Humbaracı]]s were founded.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Uyar |first1=Mesut |last2=Erickson |first2=Edward |date=2009 |title=A Military History of the Ottomans}}</ref>

===Smoothbores===
[[File:Gabions.png|left|thumb|Artillery with [[gabion]] fortification]]
<!--Article Tower of St. Olav refers to this heading. Do not change it-->
Bombards were of value mainly in [[siege]]s. A famous Turkish example used at the [[Fall of Constantinople|siege of Constantinople]] in 1453 weighed 19 tons{{Vague|which tons?|date=February 2009}}, took 200 men and sixty oxen to emplace, and could fire just seven times a day. The Fall of Constantinople was perhaps "the first event of supreme importance whose result was determined by the use of artillery" when the huge bronze cannons of [[Mehmed II]] breached the city's walls, ending the [[Byzantine Empire]], according to Sir [[Charles Oman]].<ref>Holmes, p. 70</ref>

Bombards developed in Europe were massive [[smoothbore]] weapons distinguished by their lack of a field carriage, immobility once emplaced, highly individual design, and noted unreliability (in 1460 [[James II of Scotland|James II]], King of Scots, was killed when one exploded at the siege of Roxburgh). Their large size precluded the barrels being cast and they were constructed out of metal staves or rods bound together with hoops like a barrel, giving their name to the [[gun barrel]].<ref name="WARKEEGAN">{{cite book |author-link=John Keegan|last =Keegan|first = John|title = A History of Warfare|date = 1993 |publisher = Hutchinson|isbn = 978-0-09174527-1|title-link =A History of Warfare}}</ref>{{Page needed |date= April 2011}}

The use of the word "cannon" marks the introduction in the 15th century of a dedicated field carriage with axle, trail and animal-drawn limber—this produced mobile field pieces that could move and support an army in action, rather than being found only in the siege and static defenses. The reduction in the size of the barrel was due to improvements in both iron technology and gunpowder manufacture, while the development of [[trunnion]]s—projections at the side of the cannon as an integral part of the cast—allowed the barrel to be fixed to a more movable base, and also made raising or lowering the barrel much easier.<ref name="WARKEEGAN"/>

[[File:Tsar Cannon, Tsar Pushka, Kremlin, Moscow, Russia.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Tsar Cannon]] (caliber 890 mm), cast in 1586 in Moscow. It is the largest bombard in the world.]]
The first land-based mobile weapon is usually credited to [[Jan Žižka]], who deployed his oxen-hauled cannon during the [[Hussite Wars]] of Bohemia (1418–1424). However, cannons were still large and cumbersome. With the rise of musketry in the 16th century, cannon were largely (though not entirely) displaced from the battlefield—the cannon were too slow and cumbersome to be used and too easily lost to a rapid enemy advance.

The combining of shot and powder into a single unit, a cartridge, occurred in the 1620s with a simple fabric bag, and was quickly adopted by all nations. It speeded loading and made it safer, but unexpelled bag fragments were an additional fouling in the gun barrel and a new tool—a [[Worm (artillery)|worm]]—was introduced to remove them. [[Gustavus Adolphus]] is identified as the general who made cannon an effective force on the battlefield—pushing the development of much lighter and smaller weapons and deploying them in far greater numbers than previously.  The outcome of battles was still determined by the clash of infantry.

Shells, explosive-filled fused projectiles, were in use by the 15th century.<ref>{{Cite web |title=NPS Interpretive Series: Artillery Through the Ages - Explosive Shells |date=1955 |url=https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/source/is3/is3d1.htm |access-date=2023-05-14 |website=National Park Service |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230514204212/https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/source/is3/is3d1.htm |archive-date= 2023-05-14 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Shell {{!}} ammunition |url=https://www.britannica.com/technology/shell-ammunition |access-date=2023-05-14 |website=Britannica |language=en}}</ref> The development of specialized pieces—shipboard artillery, howitzers and [[Mortar (weapon)|mortars]]—was also begun in this period. More esoteric designs, like the multi-barrel ''[[ribauldequin]]'' (known as "organ guns"), were also produced.{{dubious |date=October 2018}}

The 1650 book by [[Kazimierz Siemienowicz]] ''Artis Magnae Artilleriae pars prima''<ref>Ordway, Vice-Commander of Artillery of the Polish king, Wladyslaw IV, ''Great Art of Artillery, the First Part'', also known as ''The Complete Art of Artillery'', pp. 407–16.</ref> was one of the most important contemporary publications on the subject of artillery. For over two centuries this work was used in Europe as a basic artillery manual.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Lithuanian Art Fund|url=https://lithuanianart.com/artwork/44 |access-date=2021-01-28}}</ref>
 	
[[File:Belagerung Stralsunds durch Wallenstein 2.jpg|thumb|The [[Siege of Stralsund (1628)|Siege of Stralsund]] during the [[Thirty Years' War]], 1628]]
One of the most significant effects of artillery during this period was however somewhat more indirect—by easily reducing to rubble any medieval-type fortification or city wall (some which had stood since Roman times), it abolished millennia of siege-warfare strategies and styles of fortification building.<ref name= "WARKEEGAN"/> This led, among other things, to a frenzy of new [[bastion]]-style fortifications to be built all over Europe and in its colonies, but also had a strong integrating effect on emerging nation-states, as kings were able to use their newfound artillery superiority to force any local dukes or lords to submit to their will, setting the stage for the absolutist kingdoms to come.<ref name= "WARKEEGAN"/>

Modern [[rocket artillery]] can trace its heritage back to the [[Mysorean rockets]] of [[Kingdom of Mysore|Mysore]]. Their first recorded use was in 1780 during the battles of the [[Second Anglo-Mysore War|Second]], [[Third Mysore War|Third]] and [[Fourth Mysore War]]s. The wars fought between the [[British East India Company]] and the [[Kingdom of Mysore]] in [[Hindustan|India]] made use of the rockets as a weapon. In the [[Battle of Pollilur (1780)|Battle of Pollilur]], the [[Siege of Seringapatam (1792)]] and in [[Battle of Seringapatam]] in 1799, these rockets were used with considerable effect against the British.<ref name= r&ms>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1357360/rocket-and-missile-system/ |title= Rocket and missile system| first1=Frederick C. III | last1 = Durant | first2=Stephen Oliver | last2 = Fought | first3= John F. Jr. | last3 = Guilmartin |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=December 19, 2011}}</ref> After the wars, several Mysore rockets were sent to England, but experiments with heavier payloads were unsuccessful.  In 1804 William Congreve, considering the Mysorian rockets to have too short a range (less than 1,000 yards) developed rockets in numerous sizes with ranges up to 3,000 yards and eventually utilizing iron casing as the [[Congreve rocket]] which were used effectively during the [[Napoleonic Wars]] and the [[War of 1812]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Tipu's missile launch pad in shambles|url=http://www.hindu.com/2005/06/23/stories/2005062310360300.htm|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20071001030520/http://www.hindu.com/2005/06/23/stories/2005062310360300.htm |url-status= dead|archive-date=October 1, 2007|access-date=December 16, 2011|date=June 23, 2005 |newspaper= [[The Hindu]]|location=Karnataka, India}}</ref>

===Napoleonic===
[[File:Farkhi.jpg|thumb|A 19th-century cannon, set in the wall of [[Acre, Israel|Acre]] to commemorate the city's resistance to the [[Siege of Acre (1799)|1799 siege]] by [[Napoleon|Napoleon's]] troops.]]
With the Napoleonic Wars, artillery experienced changes in both physical design and operation. Rather than being overseen by "mechanics", artillery was viewed as its own service branch with the capability of dominating the battlefield. The success of the French artillery companies was at least in part due to the presence of specially trained artillery officers leading and coordinating during the chaos of battle.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Tactics and Grand Tactics of the Napoleonic Wars|last=Jeffery|first=George|publisher=Courier|year=1982}}</ref> [[Napoleon]], himself a former artillery officer, perfected the tactic of massed artillery batteries unleashed upon a critical point in his enemies' line as a prelude to a decisive infantry and cavalry assault.

Physically, cannons continued to become smaller and lighter. During the Seven Years War, King Frederick II of Prussia used these advances to deploy horse artillery that could move throughout the battlefield. Frederick also introduced the reversible iron ramrod, which was much more resistant to breakage than older wooden designs. The reversibility aspect also helped increase the rate of fire, since a soldier would no longer have to worry about what end of the ramrod they were using.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Battle of Kolin|url=https://www.britishbattles.com/frederick-the-great-wars/seven-years-war/battle-of-kolin/|access-date=2022-02-24|website=www.britishbattles.com}}</ref>

[[Jean-Baptiste Vaquette de Gribeauval|Jean-Baptiste de Gribeauval]], a French artillery engineer, introduced the standardization of cannon design in the mid-18th century. He developed a 6-inch (150&nbsp;mm) field howitzer whose gun barrel, carriage assembly and ammunition specifications were made uniform for all French cannons. The standardized interchangeable parts of these cannons down to the nuts, bolts and screws made their mass production and repair much easier. While the Gribeauval system made for more efficient production and assembly, the carriages used were heavy and the gunners were forced to march on foot (instead of riding on the [[Limbers and caissons|limber]] and gun as in the British system).<ref>{{Cite book|title=French Napoleonic Artillery|last=Head|first=Michael|publisher=Almark Publishing Co. Ltd|year=1970|location= Middlesex}}</ref> Each cannon was named for the weight of its projectiles, giving us variants such as 4, 8, and 12, indicating the weight in pounds. The projectiles themselves included solid balls or canister containing lead bullets or other material. These canister shots acted as massive shotguns, peppering the target with hundreds of projectiles at close range.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Weapons and Equipment of the Napoleonic Wars|last=Haythornwaite|first=Philip J.|publisher=Blanford Press|year=1979}}</ref> The solid balls, known as [[round shot]], was most effective when fired at shoulder-height across a flat, open area. The ball would tear through the ranks of the enemy or bounce along the ground breaking legs and ankles.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Artillery Equipments of the Napoleonic Wars|last= Wise|first=Terence|publisher=Osprey|year=1979|isbn=9780850453362}}</ref>

===Modern===
{{See also|Field artillery in the American Civil War}}

[[File:Battle_of_Langensalza.jpg|thumb|[[Prussia]]n artillery at the [[Battle of Langensalza (1866)]]]]
The development of modern artillery occurred in the mid to late 19th century as a result of the convergence of various improvements in the underlying technology. Advances in metallurgy allowed for the construction of [[breech-loading weapon|breech-loading]] [[rifling|rifled]] guns that could fire at a much greater [[muzzle velocity]].

After the British artillery was shown up in the [[Crimean War]] as having barely changed since the [[Napoleonic Wars]], the industrialist [[William Armstrong, 1st Baron Armstrong|William Armstrong]] was awarded a contract by the government to design a new piece of artillery. Production started in 1855 at the [[Elswick Ordnance Company]] and the [[Royal Arsenal]] at [[Woolwich]], and the outcome was the revolutionary [[Armstrong Gun]], which marked the birth of modern artillery.<ref>{{cite journal
  |title = From Breechloaders to Monster Guns: Sir William Armstrong and the Invention of Modern Artillery, 1854–1880
  |last = Bastable
  |first = Marshall J.
  |journal = [[Technology and Culture]]
  |issn = 1097-3729
  |volume = 33
  |issue = 2
  |year = 1992
  |pages = 213–47
  |doi = 10.2307/3105857
  |jstor = 3105857
|s2cid = 112105821
 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/William_Armstrong|title=William Armstrong|website = Grace's Guide to British Industrial History|date = 4 October 2018}}</ref> Three of its features particularly stand out.

[[File:Sagahan Armstrong gun used at the Battle of Ueno against the Shogitai 1868.jpg|thumb|Armstrong gun deployed by Japan during the [[Boshin war]] (1868–69)|left]]
First, the piece was rifled, which allowed for a much more accurate and powerful action. Although rifling had been tried on small arms since the 15th century, the necessary machinery to accurately rifle artillery was not available until the mid-19th century. [[Martin von Wahrendorff]], and [[Joseph Whitworth]] independently produced rifled cannon in the 1840s, but it was Armstrong's gun that was first to see widespread use during the Crimean War.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/gabrmetz/gabr001b.htm |title= The Emergence of Modern War|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190701173545/http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/gabrmetz/gabr001b.htm|archive-date = 1 July 2019}}</ref> The [[cast iron]] shell of the Armstrong gun was similar in shape to a [[Minié ball]] and had a thin lead coating which made it fractionally larger than the gun's [[Gauge (firearms)|bore]] and which engaged with the gun's rifling grooves to impart spin to the shell. This spin, together with the elimination of [[British ordnance terms#Windage|windage]] as a result of the tight fit, enabled the gun to achieve greater range and accuracy than existing smooth-bore muzzle-loaders with a smaller powder charge.

[[File:ArmstrongRifle.jpg|thumb|right|8-inch Armstrong gun during [[American Civil War]], [[Fort Fisher]], 1865]]
His gun was also a breech-loader. Although attempts at breech-loading mechanisms had been made since medieval times, the essential engineering problem was that the mechanism could not withstand the explosive charge. It was only with the advances in [[metallurgy]] and [[precision engineering]] capabilities during the [[Industrial Revolution]] that Armstrong was able to construct a viable solution. The gun combined all the properties that make up an effective artillery piece. The gun was mounted on a carriage in such a way as to return the gun to firing position after the [[recoil]].

What made the gun really revolutionary lay in the technique of the construction of the gun barrel that allowed it to withstand much more powerful explosive forces. The "[[built-up gun|built-up]]" method involved assembling the barrel with [[wrought-iron]] (later [[mild steel]] was used) tubes of successively smaller diameter.<ref>{{Cite web |url= http://riv.co.nz/rnza/hist/local/rbl6.htm |title=Armstrong Rifled Breech Loading (RBL) 6-Pounder |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20020220090540/http://riv.co.nz/rnza/hist/local/rbl6.htm |archive-date=February 20, 2002}}</ref> The tube would then be heated to allow it to expand and fit over the previous tube. When it cooled the gun would contract although not back to its original size, which allowed an even pressure along the walls of the gun which was directed inward against the outward forces that the gun's firing exerted on the barrel.<ref>Holley states that [[Daniel Treadwell]] first patented the concept of a central steel tube kept under compression by wrought-iron coils.. and that Armstrong's assertion that he (Armstrong) first used a wrought-iron A-tube and hence did not infringe the patent, was disingenuous, as the main point in Treadwell's patent was the tension exerted by the wrought-iron coils, which Armstrong used in exactly the same fashion. Holley, Treatise on Ordnance and Armour, 1865, pp. 863–70</ref>

Another innovative feature, more usually associated with 20th-century guns, was what Armstrong called its "grip", which was essentially a squeeze bore; the 6 inches of the bore at the muzzle end was of slightly smaller diameter, which centered the shell before it left the barrel and at the same time slightly [[swage]]d down its lead coating, reducing its diameter and slightly improving its ballistic qualities.

[[File:Canon de 75 front.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.9|The French [[Canon de 75 modèle 1897]], the first modern artillery piece]]
Armstrong's system was adopted in 1858, initially for "special service in the field" and initially he produced only smaller artillery pieces, 6-pounder (2.5 in/64&nbsp;mm) mountain or light field guns, 9-pounder (3 in/76&nbsp;mm) guns for [[horse artillery]], and [[RBL 12 pounder 8 cwt Armstrong gun|12-pounder (3 inches /76 mm) field guns]].

The first cannon to contain all 'modern' features is generally considered to be the [[Canon de 75 modèle 1897|French 75]] of 1897.<ref>Chris Bishop, [https://books.google.com/books?id=MuGsf0psjvcC&pg=PA137 "Canon de 75 modèle 1897"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221126000655/https://books.google.com/books?id=MuGsf0psjvcC&pg=PA137 |date=November 26, 2022 }}, The encyclopedia of weapons of World War II, p. 137</ref><ref name=roberts>Priscilla Mary Roberts, [https://books.google.com/books?id=TogXVHTlxG4C&pg=PA726 "French 75 gun"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221126000657/https://books.google.com/books?id=TogXVHTlxG4C&pg=PA726 |date=November 26, 2022 }}, World War One, p. 726</ref> The gun used cased ammunition, was breech-loading, had modern sights, and a self-contained firing mechanism. It was the first [[field gun]] to include a [[Hydraulic recoil mechanism|hydro-pneumatic recoil mechanism]], which kept the gun's trail and wheels perfectly still during the firing sequence. Since it did not need to be re-aimed after each shot, the crew could fire as soon as the barrel returned to its resting position. In typical use, the French 75 could deliver fifteen rounds per minute on its target, either [[Shrapnel shell|shrapnel]] or [[Picric acid|melinite]] [[high-explosive]], up to about 5 miles (8,500 m) away. Its firing rate could even reach close to 30 rounds per minute, albeit only for a very short time and with a highly experienced crew. These were rates that contemporary [[bolt action rifle|bolt action]] [[rifle]]s could not match.

====Indirect fire====
{{Main|Indirect fire}}
Indirect fire, the firing of a projectile without relying on direct line of sight between the gun and the target, possibly dates back to the 16th century.<ref>Hogg, O. F. G. (1970). ''Artillery: Its Origin, Heyday and Decline''. C. Hurst.</ref> Early battlefield use of indirect fire may have occurred at [[Battle of Kay|Paltzig]] in July 1759, when the Russian artillery fired over the tops of trees,<ref>Christopher Bellamy, ''Red God of War: Soviet Artillery and Rocket Forces'', London, 1986, p.16, quoted in {{cite book|title=The Dynamics of Military Revolution|last1=Knox|first1=MacGregor|last2=Murray|first2=Williamson|year=2001|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=New York|isbn=978-0-521-80079-2|page=135}}</ref> and at the [[Battle of Waterloo]], where a battery of the [[Royal Horse Artillery]] fired shrapnel indirectly against advancing French troops.<ref>Against All Odds!: Dramatic Last Stand Actions; Perret, Brian; Cassell 2000; {{ISBN|978-0-304-35456-6}}: discussed during the account of the Hougoumont action.</ref>

In 1882, Russian Lieutenant Colonel KG Guk published ''Indirect Fire for Field Artillery'', which provided a practical method of using [[aiming point]]s for indirect fire by describing, "all the essentials of aiming points, crest clearance, and corrections to fire by an observer".<ref>{{cite book|title=The Dynamics of Military Revolution|last1=Knox|first1=MacGregor|last2=Murray|first2=Williamson|year=2001|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=New York|isbn=978-0-521-80079-2|page=136}}</ref>

A few years later, the Richtfläche (lining-plane) sight was invented in Germany and provided a means of indirect laying in azimuth, complementing the clinometers for indirect laying in elevation which already existed. Despite conservative opposition within the [[German Army (German Empire)|German army]], indirect fire was adopted as doctrine by the 1890s. In the early 1900s, Goertz in Germany developed an optical sight for azimuth laying. It quickly replaced the lining-plane; in English, it became the 'Dial Sight' (UK) or 'Panoramic Telescope' (US).

The British halfheartedly experimented with indirect fire techniques since the 1890s, but with the onset of the [[Boer War]], they were the first to apply the theory in practice in 1899, although they had to improvise without a lining-plane sight.<ref name="Evolution">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5dmYQPNfGFsC&pg=PA30|title=The Evolution of Indirect Fire|author=Frank W. Sweet|pages=28–33|isbn=978-0-939479-20-7|publisher=Backintyme|year=2000}}</ref>

In the next 15 years leading up to [[World War I]], the techniques of indirect fire became available for all types of artillery.<!--To make indirect fire really effective required telegraph or telephone communication...--> Indirect fire was the defining characteristic of 20th-century artillery and led to undreamt of changes in the amount of artillery, its tactics, organisation, and techniques, most of which occurred during World War I.

An implication of indirect fire and improving guns was increasing range between gun and target, this increased the time of flight and the vertex of the trajectory. The result was decreasing accuracy (the increasing distance between the target and the mean point of impact of the shells aimed at it) caused by the increasing effects of non-standard conditions. Indirect firing data was based on standard conditions including a specific muzzle velocity, zero wind, air temperature and density, and propellant temperature. In practice, this standard combination of conditions almost never existed, they varied throughout the day and day to day, and the greater the time of flight, the greater the inaccuracy. An added complication was the need for survey to accurately fix the coordinates of the gun position and provide accurate orientation for the guns. Of course, targets had to be accurately located, but by 1916, air photo interpretation techniques enabled this, and ground survey techniques could sometimes be used.

[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-S36048, Frankreich, Arras, Artillerie.jpg|thumb|German [[15 cm sFH 13|15cm field howitzers]] during [[World War I]]]]
In 1914, the methods of correcting firing data for the actual conditions were often convoluted, and the availability of data about actual conditions was rudimentary or non-existent, the assumption was that fire would always be ranged (adjusted). British heavy artillery worked energetically to progressively solve all these problems from late 1914 onwards, and by early 1918, had effective processes in place for both field and heavy artillery. These processes enabled 'map-shooting', later called 'predicted fire'; it meant that effective fire could be delivered against an accurately located target without ranging. Nevertheless, the mean point of impact was still some tens of yards from the target-centre aiming point. It was not precision fire, but it was good enough for concentrations and barrages. These processes remain in use into the 21st century with refinements to calculations enabled by computers and improved data capture about non-standard conditions.

The British [[Major general (United Kingdom)|Major General]] [[Henry Hugh Tudor]] pioneered armour and artillery cooperation at the breakthrough [[Battle of Cambrai (1917)|Battle of Cambrai]]. The improvements in providing and using data for non-standard conditions (propellant temperature, muzzle velocity, wind, air temperature, and barometric pressure) were developed by the major combatants throughout the war and enabled effective predicted fire.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Dynamics of Military Revolution|last1=Knox|first1=MacGregor|last2=Murray|first2=Williamson|year=2001|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=New York|isbn=978-0-521-80079-2|page=141}}.</ref> The effectiveness of this was demonstrated by the British in 1917 (at Cambrai) and by Germany the following year ([[Operation Michael]]).

Major General J.B.A. Bailey, British Army (retired) wrote:
{{blockquote|From the middle of the eighteenth century to the middle of the nineteenth, artillery is judged to have accounted for perhaps 50% of battlefield casualties. In the sixty years preceding 1914, this figure was probably as low as 10 percent. The remaining 90 percent fell to small arms, whose range and accuracy had come to rival those of artillery. ... [By WWI] The [[British Royal Artillery]], at over one million men, grew to be larger than the Royal Navy. Bellamy (1986), pp. 1–7, cites the percentage of casualties caused by artillery in various theaters since 1914: in the First World War, 45 percent of Russian casualties and 58 percent of British casualties on the Western Front; in the Second World War, 75 percent of British casualties in North Africa and 51 percent of Soviet casualties (61 percent in 1945) and 70 percent of German casualties on the Eastern Front; and in the Korean War, 60 percent of US casualties, including those inflicted by mortars.<ref>{{citation|first=Jonathan B.A.|last=Bailey|year=2004|title=Field artillery and firepower|publisher=Naval Institute Press|isbn=978-1-59114-029-0}}{{page needed|date=May 2012}}</ref>|J.B.A. Bailey (2004). ''Field artillery and firepower''}}

An estimated 75,000 French soldiers were casualties of friendly artillery fire in the four years of World War I.<ref>General Percin, 1921 ''Le massacre de notre infanterie, 1914–1918''. Percin supports his claim with hundreds of items of battlefield correspondence from all parts of the Western Front.</ref>

===Precision-guidance===
[[File:XM982 Excalibur inert.jpg|thumb|left|[[M982 Excalibur]] guided artillery shell]]
[[modern era|Modern]] artillery is most obviously distinguished by its long range, firing an [[explosive]] [[shell (projectile)|shell]] or [[rocket (weapon)|rocket]] and a mobile carriage for firing and transport. However, its most important characteristic is the use of indirect fire, whereby the firing equipment is aimed without seeing the target through its sights. Indirect fire emerged at the beginning of the 20th century and was greatly enhanced by the development of [[predicted fire]] methods in World War I.<!--To make indirect fire really effective required telegraph or telephone communication...--> However, indirect fire was area fire; it was and is not suitable for destroying point targets; its primary purpose is area suppression. Nevertheless, by the late 1970s precision-guided munitions started to appear, notably the US 155&nbsp;mm Copperhead and its Soviet 152&nbsp;mm [[Krasnopol (weapon)|Krasnopol]] equivalent that had success in Indian service. These relied on laser designation to 'illuminate'  the target that the shell homed onto. However, in the early 21st century, the [[Global Positioning System|Global Positioning System (GPS)]] enabled relatively cheap and accurate guidance for shells and missiles, notably the US 155&nbsp;mm Excalibur and the 227&nbsp;mm GMLRS rocket. The introduction of these led to a new issue, the need for very accurate three dimensional target coordinates—the mensuration process.<ref name= tmo >Ms. Marie Berberea (TRADOC) [https://www.army.mil/article/191808/fort_sill_working_to_install_new_digital_imaging_program (3 August 2017) Fort Sill working to install new digital imaging program]</ref>

[[File:XM1156-PGK.svg|thumb|right|[[M1156 Precision Guidance Kit]] can be added to unguided projectiles]]
Weapons covered by the term 'modern artillery' include "[[cannon]]" artillery (such as [[howitzer]], [[mortar (weapon)|mortar]], and [[field gun]]) and [[rocket artillery]]. Certain smaller-caliber mortars are more properly designated small arms rather than artillery, albeit indirect-fire small arms. This term also came to include [[coastal artillery]] which traditionally defended coastal areas against seaborne attack and controlled the passage of ships. With the advent of powered flight at the start of the 20th century, artillery also included ground-based [[anti-aircraft battery|anti-aircraft batteries]].

The term "artillery" has traditionally not been used for projectiles with internal [[guidance system]]s, preferring the term "missilery", though some modern artillery units employ surface-to-surface [[missile]]s. Advances in terminal guidance systems for small munitions has allowed large-caliber guided projectiles to be developed, blurring this distinction.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Chikammadu|first=Ali Caleb|title=Enotenplato The Chronicle of Military Doctrine|publisher=[[Lulu.com]]|date=September 3, 2019|isbn=9780359806997|pages=196}}</ref> ''See [[Long Range Precision Fires (LRPF)]], [[Joint terminal attack controller]]''