How heavy were the projectiles in a cannon?

Answer 1

Well now. In a twelve-pounder they weightd twelve pounds. In a forty-two-pounder they weighed... You get the picture. I suppose you want to know what weight of shot you might see coming towards you if you got in a battle. Well, it depends on the circumstances. On land, in a setpiece battle of movement, the standard guns would be six-pounders, which are fairly easy to move at a fast trot behind a team of horses. fast-movong patrol;s might use two-pounders. The artillery park of a large army would include nine-pounders, and Napoleon marched with twelves, which he called his 'terrible and beautiful daughters'. As a twelve-pounder cannon weighs well over a ton, that's about the limit except for the seige train. For beseiging cities, one could bring up much heavier guns, transported either by water - most cities are on rivers - or behind vast teams of oxen. a typical seige gun would be a twen ty-four pounder. In fortifications, much heavier ordnance could be used, as the guns would not be expected to move. Some forts has thirty-six pounders, and forty0twos were not uncommon, especially at harbour entrances where a gun might have only a few minutes in which to smash a ship. At sea, the same applies. Even the lightest craft could carry nine-pounders. A line-of-battle ship would have eighteens on the upper deck, twenty-fours on the gundeck, and thirty-sixes on the lower deck.