"Alias Paine"

[Wesley Harris]

(01-23-2013 10:04 AM)Gene C Wrote:  They did had something called grape and canister. Basically a tin can filled with small bits of metal. When the cannon fired it blew the can apart and shot out all the metal. It was desinged for short range attacks and was pretty devastating if you were in the way. (I think the grape is for the size and if they put small round items - metal or rock) The purpose was to kill attacking soldiers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canister_shot

Grape shot and canister shot are similar. Think oversized shotgun shell. Canister shot used smaller iron balls with insufficient force to puncture a ship or destroy a structure--no explosive material in them. At Gettysburg, Union artillery fired canister at the ground in front of approaching Confederates. As the tin canister came apart, numerous iron balls ricocheted off the ground into the enemy troops.