How did revolutionary war cannons work?

The answer is that field artillery used both solid shot and explosive shot, but the former was much more popular. Explosive shell was less favored as an anti-personnel munition than roundshot, for a couple reasons. read more

Cannon of the Revolutionary war period were all Muzzleloader s. That is, the powder was pushed down the muzzle of the weapon, followed by the cannon ball or shell. The gun was fired by igniting the powder through a hole in the breech. The propellant was known as black powder. read more

Cannon, mortars and howitzers made up the three types of artillery used at Yorktown by the Americans, French and British. Cannon included both field guns, which were lightweight, mobile pieces and heavy siege guns which had limited mobility. read more

Tucker, Spencer C. "Cannon Founders of the American Revolution." National Defense, 60 (July-August 1975). Weller, Jac. "Guns of Destiny: Field Artillery in the Trenton-Princeton Campaign, 25 Dec 1776 to 3 Jan 1777." Mil Affairs 20 (Spring 1956) Weller, Jac. "The Artillery of the American Revolution." Military Collector and Historian, 8 (Fall-Winter 1956). read more