Saltpeter: The Mother of Gunpowder by Cressy David

Author:Cressy, David [Cressy, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2012-12-13T00:00:00+00:00

Saltpeter for civil war

Gunpowder was at a premium in England as civil war approached. Competition for control of local magazines fuelled minor skirmishes that preceded the actual fighting. Street battles broke out at Manchester in July 1642 as rival groups sought to secure stores of munitions.12 A military forecast on the eve of the civil war estimated that a field army of 10,000 men would need seven and a half tons of gunpowder for its foot, and ten tons more for its artillery. Actual campaigns showed these estimates to be inadequate. Civil-war armies ranged up to 30,000 strong, and by 1643 there were said to be 100,000 men in arms. At Marston Moor, in July 1644, there were more than 46,000 men in combat and a hundred pieces of artillery on the battlefield. Commanders on both sides complained of chronic shortages of munitions as their artillery consumed vast amounts of gunpowder. Parliamentary forces besieging Chester late in 1645 expended seven tons of powder in seven weeks.13 Firepower proved decisive in scores of engagements, and quartermasters struggled to keep their powder barrels filled.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.