Quote Originally Posted by fusilier View Post
Good post. A minor correction, use of the percussion cap did not make loading any faster (in fact some claim it may have made it slower). But it was so much more reliable, and made the gun much easier to load in the rain.

A major difference between a civil war cannon and a napoleonic era one would be the ignition system. During napoleonic times they would have used a serpentine (a matchcord on the end of a stick), or port-fire (think of a truck flare). Usually port-fire was reserved for instances where speed was desired. By the American Civil War, friction primers were in use. These were inserted into the vent and attached to a lanyard, which was yanked by the gunner to fire the piece.

You are correct about matchlocks (I've fired one) -- a lot of the drill is keeping the hand holding the burning matchcord away from the hand holding the powder!
that does remind me. I;m resonably certian that at least some cannon in the napoleonic wars were flintlocks. the only pictures i;ve seen are in a naval context, such as here. you can see them agian in the flim Master and commander, where, notably, a main character gets his hand trapped under a flint during the final fight