9/28/'19 CivilWarWeekend

DAY 4 CIVIL WAR

One of the main things people come to see, and hear, is the cannon fire. Unless you're in the Army assigned to a battery, you cannot imagine the sound and force of these cannon. When the cannon reports the shockwave hits your chest like a baseball bat. The unfortunate without the foresight to bring earplugs soon learn to cover their ears with their hands. And these are shot at far less than the optimum load.

Interestingly, these do not shoot solid cannon balls such as you might expect in a 3-masted war ship of the 17-1800s...which are designed to shoot holes in the opposing ship and sink it. They shoot a ball filled with grape shot. It is fused and set afire by the fire of the cannon. There's a chart inside the wagon where the ammunition is kept that tells the cannoneer how short to trim the fuse if he estimates the distance from cannon to target. When shot, the fuse burns in the air and explodes OVER THE TOP of the target showering it with grape shot...so named because the shot is the size of grapes.....DUH! 

Even if the shell misses by a few yards the shower of grape shot goes downward in all directions and has a devastating effect on the individuals within its cone of influence. I live 7 miles from the battlefield and the cannon sound like they are going off right down the street.