Artillery! Last update 16th May 2001

The basics of cannon used on land targets other than forts - men, wharves, buildings.

 

Cannon fire on land was a dangerous arsenal in any army. The tactics of the day with closely packed infantry units taking advantage of mass musket fire also produced prime artillery targets. The problem here is that pirate action on land was much more spread out with smaller numbers. Cannon fire at range on dispersed troops was nowhere near as effective though it was still terrifying. Without reading extensively, I don't recall pirates lugging their smaller cannon ashore for assaults on towns and forts. I wouldn't find it hard to accept small 3 or 4 lbers being transported on mules for surprise assaults in well organised operations. As pirate assaults were usually very fluid and unannounced, I would not imagine cannon being a regular feature of land assaults, even on forts. However, anyone intent on plundering any of the major Caribbean towns, especially the Spanish ones, needed to confront protecting forts armed with cannon.

My assumptions on these forts is that the cannon shot in stores is composed of chain shot, round shot, or cannister.