1.
Christopher R. W. Nevinson
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Christopher Richard Wynne Nevinson ARA was an English figure and landscape painter, etcher and lithographer, who was one of the most famous war artists of World War I. He is often referred to by his initials C. R. W. Nevinson, Nevinson studied at the Slade School of Art under Henry Tonks and alongside Stanley Spencer and Mark Gertler. When he left the Slade, Nevinson befriended Marinetti, the leader of the Italian Futurists, and the writer and artist Wyndham Lewis. However, Nevinson fell out with Lewis and the other artists when he attached their names to the Futurist movement. Lewis immediately founded the Vorticists, an avant garde group of artists, at the outbreak of World War I, Nevinson joined the Friends Ambulance Unit and was deeply disturbed by his work tending wounded French soldiers. For a very brief period he served as an ambulance driver before ill health forced his return to Britain. Subsequently, Nevinson volunteered for service with the Royal Army Medical Corps. He used these experiences as the matter for a series of powerful paintings which used the machine aesthetic of Futurism. Shortly after the end of the war, Nevinson travelled to the United States of America, however, his boasting and exaggerated claims of his war experiences, together with his depressive and temperamental personality, made him many enemies in both the USA and Britain. His post-war career, however, was not so distinguished, Nevinsons 1937 memoir Paint and Prejudice, although lively and colourful, is in parts inaccurate, inconsistent, and misleading. Richard Nevinson was born in Hampstead, one of the two children, and the son, of the war correspondent and journalist Henry Nevinson. Educated at Uppingham School, which he hated, Nevinson went on to study at the St Johns Wood School of Art, inspired by seeing the work of Augustus John, he decided to attend the Slade School of Art, part of University College, London. There his contemporaries included Mark Gertler, Stanley Spencer, Paul Nash, Maxwell Gordon Lightfoot, Adrian Allinson and Dora Carrington. Gertler was, for a time, his closest friend and influence, Gertler and Nevinson subsequently fell out when they both fell in love with Carrington. Whilst at the Slade, Nevinson was advised by the Professor of Drawing, Henry Tonks and this led to a lifelong bitterness between the two, and frequent accusations by Nevinson, who had something of a persecution complex, that Tonks was behind several imagined conspiracies against him. After leaving the Slade, Nevinson studied at the Academie Julian in Paris throughout 1912 and 1913, in Paris, he met Vladimir Lenin and Pablo Picasso, shared a studio with Amedeo Modigliani, became acquainted with Cubism and also met the Italian Futurists Marinetti and Gino Severini. Back in London he became friends with the writer and artist Wyndham Lewis. When Wyndham Lewis founded the short-lived Rebel Art Centre, which included Edward Wadsworth and Ezra Pound, in March 1914 he was among the founder members of the London Group
2.
Les Invalides
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Louis XIV initiated the project by an order dated 24 November 1670, as a home and hospital for aged and unwell soldiers, the name is a shortened form of hôpital des invalides. The architect of Les Invalides was Libéral Bruant, the selected site was in the then suburban plain of Grenelle. By the time the project was completed in 1676, the river front measured 196 metres and the complex had fifteen courtyards. It was then felt that the veterans required a chapel, Jules Hardouin-Mansart assisted the aged Bruant, and the chapel was finished in 1679 to Bruants designs after the elder architects death. This chapel was known as Église Saint-Louis des Invalides, and daily attendance of the veterans in the services was required. Shortly after the chapel was completed, Louis XIV commissioned Mansart to construct a separate private royal chapel referred to as the Église du Dôme from its most striking feature. The domed chapel was finished in 1708, because of its location and significance, the Invalides served as the scene for several key events in French history. On 14 July 1789 it was stormed by Parisian rioters who seized the cannons, Napoleon was entombed under the dome of the Invalides with great ceremony in 1840. In December 1894 the degradation of Captain Alfred Dreyfus was held before the main building, the building retained its primary function of a retirement home and hospital for military veterans until the early twentieth century. In 1872 the musée dartillerie was located within the building to be joined by the musée historique des armées in 1896, the two institutions were merged to form the present musée de larmée in 1905. At the same time the veterans in residence were dispersed to smaller centres outside Paris, the building accordingly became too large for its original purpose. The modern complex does however include the facilities detailed below for about a hundred elderly or incapacitated former soldiers. On the north front of Les Invalides Hardouin-Mansarts chapel dome is large enough to dominate the long façade, at its far end, the Pont Alexandre III links this grand urbanistic axis with the Petit Palais and the Grand Palais. The Pont des Invalides is next, downstream the Seine river, the Hôpital des Invalides spurred William III of England to emulation, in the military Greenwich Hospital of 1694. The buildings still comprise the Institution Nationale des Invalides, an institution for disabled war veterans. The institution comprises, a retirement home a medical and surgical centre a centre for medical consultations. In 1676 Jules Hardouin-Mansart was commissioned with the construction of a place of worship on the site and he designed a building which combined a royal chapel with a veterans chapel. In this way, the King and his soldiers could attend mass simultaneously, while entering the place of worship though different entrances, when the Army Museum at Les Invalides was founded in 1905, the veterans chapel was placed under its administrative control
3.
Volley gun
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A volley gun is a gun with several barrels for firing a number of shots, either simultaneously or in sequence. They differ from machine guns in that they lack automatic loading. In practice the large ones were not particularly more useful than a cannon firing canister shot or grapeshot. Since they were mounted on a carriage, they could be as hard to aim and move around as a cannon. They also tended to be relatively expensive since they were more complex than a cannon, due to all the barrels and ignition fuses, the Ribauldequin was a medieval version of the volley gun. It had its barrels set up in parallel and this early version was first employed during the Hundred Years War by the army of Edward III of England, in 1339. Later on, the late Swiss army employed it, multi-barreled artillery pieces continued in use during the 16th and 17th century. A double-barreled cannon called Elizabeth-Henry, named after Charles Is youngest children, was used by the Cavaliers during the English Civil War, the barrels were wrapped in leather to prevent rusting. On the continent, 16th century Aragon developed a 15-barrel volley gun, German and these were sometimes combination sword and axe pistols such as Henry VIIIs Walking Staff, a 3-barreled gun and battle mace. Henry VIII also owned a multi-barreled German wheel lock rifle capable of firing a superimposed charge, the Nock gun resembled a conventional flintlock musket with six barrels hexagonally brazed around a central barrel. All seven.46 caliber barrels were connected to the single flintlock pan in a manner intended to produce simultaneous discharge through row ignition, the gun was invented by James Wilson in 1779 and manufactured by Henry Nock for use through the Napoleonic Wars. Five hundred Nock guns were produced for the Royal Navy intended for use in repelling boarders or to clear an enemy deck in advance of boarding parties. Admiral Howes fleet was issued twenty guns for each ship of the line, the Nock volley gun was considered obsolete by 1805, but a surviving weapon was carried by Richard Widmark in the 1960 movie The Alamo. The Nock gun was brought to public attention by its inclusion in Bernard Cornwells Sharpe novels where it was wielded by both Sharpe and his friend and colleague Sergeant Patrick Harper. Two notable artillery-sized volley guns were developed in the mid-19th century, also developed in the 1860s, General Origen Vandenburgh of the New York State Militia designed a weapon that had eighty five parallel.50 caliber rifle barrels. After failing to sell the weapon to the United Kingdom, he sold a small number to the Confederate States of America. One Vandenburgh gun was located at Fort Fisher, North Carolina, a few hand-held volley guns were also developed during the 18th and 19th centuries. One of the most distinctive was the ducks foot volley gun, the principle behind this type of pistol is one of confrontation by one person against a group, hence, it was popular among bank guards, prison wardens and sea captains in the early 19th century
4.
Franco-Prussian War
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The conflict was caused by Prussian ambitions to extend German unification and French fears of the shift in the European balance of power that would result if the Prussians succeeded. On 16 July 1870, the French parliament voted to declare war on the German Kingdom of Prussia, the German coalition mobilised its troops much more quickly than the French and rapidly invaded northeastern France. The German forces were superior in numbers, had training and leadership and made more effective use of modern technology, particularly railroads. The German states proclaimed their union as the German Empire under the Prussian king Wilhelm I, the Treaty of Frankfurt of 10 May 1871 gave Germany most of Alsace and some parts of Lorraine, which became the Imperial territory of Alsace-Lorraine. French determination to regain Alsace-Lorraine and fear of another Franco-German war, along with British apprehension about the balance of power, the causes of the Franco-Prussian War are deeply rooted in the events surrounding the unification of Germany. In the aftermath of the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, Prussia had annexed numerous territories and this new power destabilized the European balance of power established by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 after the Napoleonic Wars. France was strongly opposed to any further alliance of German states, in Prussia, some officials considered a war against France both inevitable and necessary to arouse German nationalism in those states that would allow the unification of a great German empire. Bismarck also knew that France should be the aggressor in the conflict to bring the southern German states to side with Prussia, many Germans also viewed the French as the traditional destabilizer of Europe, and sought to weaken France to prevent further breaches of the peace. The immediate cause of the war resided in the candidacy of Leopold of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, France feared encirclement by an alliance between Prussia and Spain. The Hohenzollern princes candidacy was withdrawn under French diplomatic pressure, releasing the Ems Dispatch to the public, Bismarck made it sound as if the king had treated the French envoy in a demeaning fashion, which inflamed public opinion in France. They also argue that he wanted a war to resolve growing domestic political problems, other historians, notably French historian Pierre Milza, dispute this. According to Milza, the Emperor had no need for a war to increase his popularity, the Ems telegram had exactly the effect on French public opinion that Bismarck had intended. This text produced the effect of a red flag on the Gallic bull, gramont, the French foreign minister, declared that he felt he had just received a slap. Napoleons new prime minister, Emile Ollivier, declared that France had done all that it could humanly and honorably do to prevent the war, a crowd of 15–20,000 people, carrying flags and patriotic banners, marched through the streets of Paris, demanding war. On 19 July 1870 a declaration of war was sent to the Prussian government, the southern German states immediately sided with Prussia. The French Army consisted in peacetime of approximately 400,000 soldiers, some of them were veterans of previous French campaigns in the Crimean War, Algeria, the Franco-Austrian War in Italy, and in the Mexican campaign. Under Marshal Adolphe Niel, urgent reforms were made, universal conscription and a shorter period of service gave increased numbers of reservists, who would swell the army to a planned strength of 800,000 on mobilisation. Those who for any reason were not conscripted were to be enrolled in the Garde Mobile, however, the Franco-Prussian War broke out before these reforms could be completely implemented
5.
Yaqui Wars
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The Yaqui Wars, were a series of armed conflicts between New Spain, and the later Mexican republic, against the Yaqui Native Americans. The period began in 1533 and lasted until 1929, the Yaqui Wars, along with the Caste War against the Maya, were the last conflicts of the centuries long Mexican Indian Wars. Over the course of nearly 400 years, the Spanish and the Mexicans repeatedly launched military campaigns into Yaqui territory which resulted in several serious battles and some infamous massacres. The cause of the conflicts was like many of the Indian Wars in history, in 1684, following this, the Spanish gradually began settling on Yaqui land and by 1740, the natives were ready to resist. Some minor conflicts from before dated back to 1533 but in 1740 the Yaquis united their tribe with the neighboring Mayo, Opata, during the Mexican War of Independence from Spain the Yaqui did not participate on either side. It was when Occidente passed a law in 1825 making the Yaqui its citizens and subjecting them to taxes that the Yaqui decided to go to war, the first fighting was at Rahum. The movement was encouraged by Pedro Leyva, a Catholic priest, the Yaqui coalesced around Juan Banderas as their leader. Banderas managed to get the Mayos, Opatas and Pimas to join in the war against the Mexican government, Occidente was so affected by the war that the capital was moved from Cosala to Fuerte. In 1827 Banderas forces were defeated by Mexicans in the vicinity of Hermosillo and this defeat was partly due to the Yaquis having primarily bows and arrows, while the Mexicans had guns. After this defeat, Banderas negotiated a peace with Occidente, in which he was granted pardon, and recognized as captain-general of the Yaqui town, and was given a salary. In 1828 the office of captain-general was abolished, and Occidente government reasserted its right to tax the Yaqui, in 1832 Banderas renewed the war against the Mexican authorities, in cooperation with Dolores Gutiérrez, a chief of the Opata. In 1833 Banderas and Gutiérrez were executed after their forces were defeated in a battle near Buenavista, there were other leaders who continued resisting, so the wars continued. One incident in 1868 was a massacre by Mexican soldiers of about 120 Yaqui men, women and children, some 400 of the Yaqui prisoners were held inside a church which was then bombarded by artillery. Affairs such as this many of the natives to emigrate. Some warriors fled from their occupied pueblos along the Rio Yaqui, in 1834 Yaqui at Torim tried to drive the Mexican settlers from that location. The Mexican forces in this fighting were led by a Yaqui, Juscamea continued to cooperate with the Mexican government until 1840 when he was killed by anti-Mexican Yaquis in fighting at Horcasitas. During the 1830s and 1840s the Yaqui often allied with Manuel Gándara in his struggle against José de Urrea for control of Sonora, in 1838 this led to Urrea capturing the coastal salt deposits of the Yaqui and transferring them to state control. In 1857 Gándara was removed from power by Ignacio Pesqueira, the Yaqui under the leadership of Mateo Marquin, also known as Jose Maria Barquin, were among the chief allies of Gándara in his attempt to regain control of Sonora
6.
Shell (projectile)
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A shell is a payload-carrying projectile that, as opposed to shot, contains an explosive or other filling, though modern usage sometimes includes large solid projectiles properly termed shot. Solid shot may contain a pyrotechnic compound if a tracer or spotting charge is used, originally, it was called a bombshell, but shell has come to be unambiguous in a military context. Words cognate with grenade are still used for an artillery or mortar projectile in some European languages, shells are usually large-calibre projectiles fired by artillery, combat vehicles, and warships. Shells usually have the shape of a cylinder topped by a nose for good aerodynamic performance, possibly with a tapering base. Solid cannonballs did not need a fuse, but hollow munitions filled with something such as gunpowder to fragment the ball, needed a fuse, percussion fuses with a spherical projectile presented a challenge because there was no way of ensuring that the impact mechanism hit the target. Therefore, shells needed a fuse that was ignited before or during firing. The earliest record of shells being used in combat was by the Republic of Venice at Jadra in 1376, shells with fuses were used at the 1421 siege of St Boniface in Corsica. These were two hollowed hemispheres of stone or bronze held together by an iron hoop, as described in their book, these hollow, gunpowder-packed shells were made of cast iron. At least since the 16th Century grenades made of ceramics or glass were in use in Central Europe, a hoard of several hundred ceramic greandes were discovered during building works in front of a bastion of the Bavarian City of Ingolstadt, Germany dated to the 17th Century. Lots of the grenades obtained their orignal blackpowder loads and igniters, most probably the grenades were intentionally dumped the moat of the bastion before the year 1723. Early powder burning fuses had to be loaded fuse down to be ignited by firing or a portfire put down the barrel to light the fuse, other shells were wrapped in bitumen cloth, which would ignite during the firing and in turn ignite a powder fuse. Nevertheless, shells came into use in the 16th Century. By the 18th Century, it was known that the fuse towards the muzzle could be lit by the flash through the windage between the shell and the barrel, the use of exploding shells from field artillery became relatively commonplace from early in the 19th century. Until the mid 19th century, shells remained as simple exploding spheres that used gunpowder and they were usually made of cast iron, but bronze, lead, brass and even glass shell casings were experimented with. The word bomb encompassed them at the time, as heard in the lyrics of The Star-Spangled Banner, typically, the thickness of the metal body was about a sixth of their diameter and they were about two thirds the weight of solid shot of the same calibre. To ensure that shells were loaded with their fuses towards the muzzle, in 1819, a committee of British artillery officers recognised that they were essential stores and in 1830 Britain standardised sabot thickness as a half inch. The sabot was also intended to reduce jamming during loading, despite the use of exploding shell, the use of smoothbore cannons, firing spherical projectiles of shot, remained the dominant artillery method until the 1850s. By the late 18th century, artillery could use canister shot to defend itself from infantry or cavalry attack and this involved loading a tin or canvas container filled with small iron or lead balls instead of the usual cannonball
7.
Grapeshot
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In artillery, grapeshot is a type of shot that is not one solid element, but a mass of small metal balls or slugs packed tightly into a canvas bag. It was used both in land and naval warfare, when assembled, the balls resembled a cluster of grapes, hence the name. On firing, the spread out from the muzzle, giving an effect similar to a giant shotgun. Grapeshot was devastatingly effective against massed infantry at short range and it was used to savage massed infantry charges quickly. Cannons would fire solid shot to attack enemy artillery and troops at longer range, when used in naval warfare, grapeshot served a dual purpose. First, it continued its role as an anti-personnel projectile, however, the effect was diminished due to a large portion of the crew being below decks and the addition of hammock netting in iron brackets intended to slow or stop smaller shot. Second, the balls were cast large enough to cut rigging, destroy spars and blocks, Canister shot, also known as case shot, was packaged in a tin or brass container, possibly guided by a wooden sabot. Canister balls did not have to punch through the hull of a ship, so they were smaller. The later shrapnel shell was similar, but with a greater range. Scattershot is a form of grapeshot that uses chain links, nails, shards of glass. Although scattershot can be made, it is less effective than grapeshot due to the lack of uniformity in the projectiles mass, shape, material. Conflicts in which grapeshot was used include, Hussite Wars, Grapeshot was used in cannons. The noted pirate Bartholomew Roberts was killed by a blast of grapeshot from HMS Swallow on February 10,1722, Battle of Culloden, Jacobites under Bonnie Prince Charlie vs. British forces under the Duke of Cumberland Battle of the Plains of Abraham, kazimierz Pułaski was injured, and later died, from a grapeshot-inflicted wound in the Battle of Savannah during the American Revolutionary War. Battle of Guilford Court House, Cornwallis ordered two grapeshots to be fired into the middle of a battlefield where hand-to-hand combat between the British and Continental Army was taking place, during the Haitian Revolution, grapeshot was used by French troops against the victorious troops of Toussaint Louverture. During the Irish Rebellion of 1798, grapeshot was used by British forces against Irish forces, notably in the battles of New Ross, Arklow, Saintfield. At the Battle of Vinegar Hill, the British used grapeshot to kill hundreds of routed Irish rebels. Battle of Waterloo, The Earl of Uxbridge was hit in the leg by French grapeshot, the leg was amputated, in Victor Hugos novel Les Misérables, grapeshot was the weapon used against the barricades in the 1832 insurrection in Paris
8.
Belgian Land Component
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The Land Component is the land-based branch of the Belgian Armed Forces. The current chief of staff of the Land Component is Major-General Jean-Paul Deconinck, for a detailed history of the Belgian Army from 1830 to post 1945 see Belgian Armed Forces. Ranks in use by the Belgian Army are listed at Belgian military ranks, at the outbreak of war this reorganisation was nowhere near complete and only 117,000 men could be mobilised for the field forces, with the other branches equally deficient. In this way the King secured his control of the command, 4th Division - Namur and Charleroi. In addition, there were garrisons at Antwerp, Liège and Namur, each division contained three mixed brigades, one cavalry regiment, and one artillery regiment, as well as various support units. Each infantry regiment contained three battalions, with one regiment in each brigade having a company of six guns. An artillery regiment had three batteries of four guns, the nominal strength of a division varied from 25,500 to 32,000 all ranks, with a total strength of eighteen infantry battalions, a cavalry regiment, eighteen machine-guns, and forty-eight guns. Two divisions each had an artillery regiment, for a total of sixty guns. In 1940, the King of Belgium was the commander in chief of the Belgian Army which had 100,000 active duty personnel, its strength could be raised to 550,000 when fully mobilized. The army was composed of seven corps, that were garrisoned at Brussels, Antwerp, and Liege. Each infantry divisions had a divisional staff along with three regiments, each of 3,000 men. Each regiment had 108 light machine guns,52 heavy machine guns, nine heavy mortars or infantry gun howitzers, plus six antitank guns. Within the Free Belgian Forces that were formed in Great Britain during the occupation of Belgium between 1940–45, there was a land formation, the 1st Belgian Infantry Brigade. An additional three divisions were raised and trained in Northern Ireland, but the war ended before they could see action, however, they joined the initial Belgian occupation force in Germany, I Belgian Corps, whose headquarters moved to Luedenscheid in October 1946. Of the 75,000 troops that found themselves in Germany on 8 May 1945, there were also two reserve brigades, slightly bigger than the four active brigades, which were intended as reinforcements for the two divisions. After the end of the Cold War, forces were reduced, initial planning in 1991 called for a Belgian-led corps with 2 or 4 Belgian brigades, a German brigade, and possibly a U. S. brigade. However, by 1992 this plan was looking unlikely and in 1993 a single Belgian division with two brigades became part of the Eurocorps, the Land Component is organised using the concept of capacities, whereby units are gathered together according to their function and material. Within this framework, there are five capacities, command, combat, support, services, the command capacity groups the following levels of command, COMOPSLAND, Medium Brigade at Leopoldsburg and Light Brigade at Marche-en-Famenne
9.
Toussaint-Henry-Joseph Fafchamps
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Toussaint-Henry-Joseph Fafchamps, sometimes spelled Fafschamps, was a Belgian Army Captain. In 1851, with the Belgian gunsmith Joseph Montigny and the Fusnot company, Fafchamps made a prototype of his machine, as well as drawings, which were remitted to Montigny. The Fafschamps gun was a manually fired 50-barrels volley gun using needle fire and paper cartridges, Fafchamps named it the carabine multiple. Joseph Montigny further improved the weapon, completing the transportable 37-barrels Montigny mitrailleuse in 1863, the invention of Fafschamps thus became the basis of the mitrailleuse, which was used by the French in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. Initially kept under wraps as a weapon, it became widely used in battle by French artillery during the Franco-Prussian War
10.
Gatling gun
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The Gatling gun is one of the best-known early rapid-fire spring loaded, hand cranked weapons and a forerunner of the modern machine gun. Invented by Richard Gatling, it is known for its use by the Union forces during the American Civil War in the 1860s, which was the first time it was employed in combat. Later, it was used again in military conflicts, such as the Boshin War, the Anglo-Zulu War. It was also used by militias and the National Guard in episodes of the Great Railroad Strike of 1877, specifically in Pittsburgh, the Gatling guns operation centered on a cyclic multi-barrel design which facilitated cooling and synchronized the firing-reloading sequence. Each barrel fired a shot when it reached a certain point in the cycle, after which it ejected the spent cartridge, loaded a new round. This configuration allowed higher rates of fire to be achieved without the barrels overheating, the Gatling gun was designed by the American inventor Dr. Richard J. Gatling in 1861 and patented on November 4,1862. Gatling wrote that he created it to reduce the size of armies and so reduce the number of deaths by combat and disease, although the first Gatling gun was capable of firing continuously, it required a person to crank it, therefore it was not a true automatic weapon. The Maxim gun, invented and patented in 1883, was the first true fully automatic weapon, nonetheless, the Gatling gun represented a huge leap in firearm technology. The latter were used during and after the Napoleonic Wars. This negated much of the advantage of their rate of fire per discharge. In comparison, the Gatling gun offered a rapid and continuous rate of fire without having to be reloaded by opening the breech. The original Gatling gun was a weapon which used multiple rotating barrels turned by a hand crank. The US Army adopted Gatling guns in several calibers, including.42 caliber. 45-70.50 caliber,1 inch, the. 45-70 weapon was also mounted on some US Navy ships of the 1880s and 1890s. The Gatling gun was first used in warfare during the American Civil War, twelve of the guns were purchased personally by Union commanders and used in the trenches during the siege of Petersburg, Virginia. Eight other Gatling guns were fitted on gunboats, the gun was not accepted by the American Army until 1866, when a sales representative of the manufacturing company demonstrated it in combat. On July 17,1863, Gatling guns were used to over-awe New York anti-draft rioters. Two were brought by a National Guard unit from Philadelphia to use against strikers in Pittsburgh. Gatling guns were not used at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, also known as Custers Last Stand
11.
Montigny mitrailleuse
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The Montigny mitrailleuse was an early type of crank-operated machine-gun developed by the Belgian gun works of Joseph Montigny between 1859 and 1870. It was a version of the Mitrailleuse, invented by Belgian Captain Fafschamps in 1851 which was a fixed 50-barrelled volley gun. The Montigny mitrailleuse was designed to defend narrow defensive positions such as the moats of fortresses, the Belgian army initially purchased Fafschamps volley guns. Only later did they acquire Montigny mitrailleuses, Joseph Montigny also promoted and sold the weapon for offensive field use by placing the weapon on an artillery carriage. The weapon consisted of 37 barrels of 11 mm inside a protective casing. Loading was performed with a plate containing 37 cartridges. It was inserted against the breech in one stroke and locked in with a loading lever attached to the rear of the gun. The ammunition had a head and thin rolled brass foil body and was fired by needle pins. With the rotation of a crank, all shots were fired simultaneously, around 150–250 shots per minute could be fired depending on the skills of the operators. The whole weapon was very heavy, weighing 2,000 pounds, the Montigny Mitrailleuse was built in numbers and used mostly to defend Belgian forts and other defensive positions. Napoleon III showed personal interest in the mitrailleuse, Montigny had approached the French army for the purpose of a sale. Experiments to evaluate the weapon began in 1863 in a French facility near Paris, manufacture began at Meudon in 1866 under the direction of Verchères de Reffye and the undisclosed assistance of Montigny. Hence the weapon is known as the Reffye mitrailleuse. Altogether 215 mitrailleuses were manufactured for the French Army before the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71 and they were of the 13mm, 25-barrels type, and used elongated shotgun shell style cartridges instead of foil cartridges as in the Montigny mitrailleuse. The weapon, which was on a carriage, was deployed in six gun batteries. Most of the time, they were used quite ineffectively to engage distant targets, when the weapon was engaged at the Battle of Gravelotte in 1871, in an infantry support role and at shorter distances, it produced devastating effects. Gatling gun Mitrailleuse Victorian Ship Models, Montigny mitrailleuse with animationfilm
12.
Centerfire ammunition
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A centerfire cartridge is a cartridge with a primer located in the center of the cartridge case head. Unlike rimfire cartridges, the primer is a separate and replaceable component, centerfire cartridges have supplanted the rimfire variety in all but the smallest cartridge sizes. The stronger base of a cartridge is able to withstand higher pressures which in turn give a bullet greater velocity. Larger caliber rimfire cartridges require greater volumes of priming explosive than centerfire cartridges, reducing the amount of priming explosive would reduce the reliability of rimfire cartridge ignition, and increase the probability of misfire or dud cartridges. Economies of scale are achieved through interchangeable primers for a variety of centerfire cartridge calibers. The expensive individual brass cases can be reused after replacing the primer, gunpowder, the forward portion of some empty cases can be reformed for use as obsolete or wildcat cartridges with similar base configuration. Modern cartridges larger than.22 caliber are mostly centerfire, actions suitable for larger caliber rimfire cartridges declined in popularity until the demand for them no longer exceeded manufacturing costs, and they became obsolete. An early form of ammunition, without a percussion cap, was invented between 1808 and 1812 by Jean Samuel Pauly. This was also the first fully integrated cartridge, true centerfire ammunition was invented by the Frenchman Clement Pottet in 1829. However, Pottet would not perfect his design until 1855, the centerfire cartridge was improved by Benjamin Houllier, Gastinne Renette, Charles Lancaster, George Morse, Francois Schneider, Hiram Berdan and Edward Mounier Boxer. The identifying feature of centerfire ammunition is the primer which is a cup containing a primary explosive inserted into a recess in the center of the base of the cartridge. The firearm firing pin crushes this explosive between the cup and an anvil to produce hot gas and a shower of incandescent particles to ignite the powder charge, Berdan priming is less expensive to manufacture and is much more common in military-surplus ammunition made outside the United States. Berdan primers are named after their American inventor, Hiram Berdan of New York who invented his first variation of the Berdan primer and patented it on March 20,1866, in U. S. A small copper cylinder formed the shell of the cartridge, and this system worked well, allowing the option of installing a cap just before use of the propellant-loaded cartridge as well as permitting reloading the cartridge for reuse. S. Berdan primers have remained essentially the same functionally to the present day, Berdan primers are similar to the caps used in the caplock system, being small metal cups with pressure-sensitive explosive in them. Modern Berdan primers are pressed into the pocket of a Berdan-type cartridge case. Inside the primer pocket is a bump, the anvil, that rests against the center of the cup. Berdan cases are reusable, although the process is rather involved, the used primer must be removed, usually by hydraulic pressure or a pincer or lever that pulls the primer out of the bottom
13.
Dreyse needle gun
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The name Zündnadelgewehr/needle-gun comes from its needle-like firing pin, which passed through the paper cartridge case to strike a percussion cap at the bullet base. The Dreyse rifle was also the first breech-loading rifle to use the action to open and close the chamber. It has a rate of fire of about 10–12 rounds per minute, the rifle was the invention of the gunsmith Johann Nikolaus von Dreyse who, beginning in 1824, had conducted multiple experiments and in 1836 produced the complete needle-gun. It was his adoption of the bolt-action breechloading principle combined with this system which gave the rifle its military potential. Although being accepted for service in 1841 it wasnt introduced into service in Prussia until 1848, then later into the forces of many other German states. The employment of the radically changed military tactics in the 19th century. The needle-gun first made its appearance in street fighting during the May Uprising in Dresden in 1849 and it also played an important role in the Second war of Schleswig in 1864. The rifle saw its heaviest use in the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, one observer proclaimed, the needle-gun is the king. The success of the Dreyse needle gun spurred subsequent developments in technology and, before the start of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71. Although the Prussians won the war the Chassepot proved superior in all respects compared to the needle-gun. With the subsequent unification of Germany the Dreyse needle-gun was replaced by the Mauser Model 1871 rifle in German service, in 1877, Romania purchased 20,000 rifles &11,000 carbines from the Prussian government. Though considered long obsolete, these were used to effect in the Romanian War of Independence. Sometime in the late 1860s, Japan acquired a number of Model 1862 rifles. These were marked with the imperial chrysanthemum stamp, the cartridge used with this rifle consisted of the paper case, the bullet, the percussion cap and the black powder charge. The 15.4 mm bullet was shaped like an acorn, with the end forming a point. The bullet was held in a case known as a sabot - which separated from the bullet as it exited the muzzle. Between this inner lining and the case was the powder charge. The upper end of the case is rolled up and tied
14.
Machine gun
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A machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm designed to fire bullets in quick succession from an ammunition belt or magazine, typically at a rate of 300 to 1800 rounds per minute. Note that not all fully automatic firearms are machine guns, submachine guns, rifles, assault rifles, shotguns, pistols or cannons may be capable of fully automatic fire, but are not designed for sustained fire. Many machine guns also use belt feeding and open bolt operation, unlike semi-automatic firearms, which require one trigger pull per round fired, a machine gun is designed to fire for as long as the trigger is held down. Nowadays the term is restricted to heavy weapons, able to provide continuous or frequent bursts of automatic fire for as long as ammunition lasts. Machine guns are used against personnel, aircraft and light vehicles, or to provide suppressive fire. Some machine guns have in practice sustained fire almost continuously for hours, because they become very hot, practically all machine guns fire from an open bolt, to permit air cooling from the breech between bursts. They also usually have either a barrel cooling system, slow-heating heavyweight barrel, although subdivided into light, medium, heavy or general-purpose, even the lightest machine guns tend to be substantially larger and heavier than standard infantry arms. Medium and heavy guns are either mounted on a tripod or on a vehicle, when carried on foot. Medium machine guns use full-sized rifle rounds and are designed to be used from fixed positions mounted on a tripod. 50in, the M249 automatic rifle is operated by an automatic rifleman, but its ammunition may be carried by other Soldiers within the squad or unit. The M249 machine gun is a crew-served weapon, Machine guns usually have simple iron sights, though the use of optics is becoming more common. Many heavy machine guns, such as the Browning M2.50 caliber machine gun, are enough to engage targets at great distances. During the Vietnam War, Carlos Hathcock set the record for a shot at 7382 ft with a.50 caliber heavy machine gun he had equipped with a telescopic sight. This led to the introduction of.50 caliber anti-materiel sniper rifles, selective fire rifles firing a full-power rifle cartridge from a closed bolt are called automatic rifles or battle rifles, while rifles that fire an intermediate cartridge are called assault rifles. Unlocking and removing the spent case from the chamber and ejecting it out of the weapon as bolt is moving rearward Loading the next round into the firing chamber. Usually the recoil spring tension pushes bolt back into battery and a cam strips the new round from a feeding device, cycle is repeated as long as the trigger is activated by operator. Releasing the trigger resets the trigger mechanism by engaging a sear so the weapon stops firing with bolt carrier fully at the rear, the operation is basically the same for all autoloading firearms, regardless of the means of activating these mechanisms. Most modern machine guns use gas-operated reloading, a recoil actuated machine gun uses the recoil to first unlock and then operate the action. Machine guns such as the M2 Browning and MG42, are of this type, a cam, lever or actuator demultiplicates the energy of the recoil to operate the bolt
15.
Napoleon III
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Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte was the only President of the French Second Republic and, as Napoleon III, the Emperor of the Second French Empire. He was the nephew and heir of Napoleon I and he was the first President of France to be elected by a direct popular vote. He remains the longest-serving French head of state since the French Revolution, during the first years of the Empire, Napoleons government imposed censorship and harsh repressive measures against his opponents. Some six thousand were imprisoned or sent to penal colonies until 1859, thousands more went into voluntary exile abroad, including Victor Hugo. From 1862 onwards, he relaxed government censorship, and his came to be known as the Liberal Empire. Many of his opponents returned to France and became members of the National Assembly, Napoleon III is best known today for his grand reconstruction of Paris, carried out by his prefect of the Seine, Baron Haussmann. He launched similar public works projects in Marseille, Lyon, Napoleon III modernized the French banking system, greatly expanded and consolidated the French railway system, and made the French merchant marine the second largest in the world. He promoted the building of the Suez Canal and established modern agriculture, Napoleon III negotiated the 1860 Cobden–Chevalier free trade agreement with Britain and similar agreements with Frances other European trading partners. Social reforms included giving French workers the right to strike and the right to organize, womens education greatly expanded, as did the list of required subjects in public schools. In foreign policy, Napoleon III aimed to reassert French influence in Europe and he was a supporter of popular sovereignty and of nationalism. In Europe, he allied with Britain and defeated Russia in the Crimean War and his regime assisted Italian unification and, in doing so, annexed Savoy and the County of Nice to France, at the same time, his forces defended the Papal States against annexation by Italy. Napoleon doubled the area of the French overseas empire in Asia, the Pacific, on the other hand, his armys intervention in Mexico which aimed to create a Second Mexican Empire under French protection ended in failure. Beginning in 1866, Napoleon had to face the power of Prussia. In July 1870, Napoleon entered the Franco-Prussian War without allies, the French army was rapidly defeated and Napoleon III was captured at the Battle of Sedan. The French Third Republic was proclaimed in Paris, and Napoleon went into exile in England, charles-Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, later known as Louis Napoleon and then Napoleon III, was born in Paris on the night of 20–21 April 1808. His presumed father was Louis Bonaparte, the brother of Napoleon Bonaparte. His mother was Hortense de Beauharnais, the daughter by the first marriage of Napoleons wife Joséphine de Beauharnais, as empress, Joséphine proposed the marriage as a way to produce an heir for the Emperor, who agreed, as Joséphine was by then infertile. Louis married Hortense when he was twenty-four and she was nineteen and they had a difficult relationship, and only lived together for brief periods
16.
French Army
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The French Army, officially the Land Army is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces. Along with the French Air Force, the French Navy and the National Gendarmerie, the current Chief of Staff of the French Army is General Jean-Pierre Bosser, a direct subordinate of the Chief of the Defence Staff. All soldiers are considered professionals following the suspension of conscription, voted in parliament in 1997, as of 2014, the French Army employed 111,628 personnel. In addition, the element of the French Army consisted of 15,453 personnel of the Operational Reserve. The Kings of France needed reliable troops during and after the Hundred Years War and these units of troops were raised by issuing ordonnances to govern their length of service, composition and payment. These Compagnies dordonnance formed the core of the Gendarme Cavalry into the sixteenth century, stationed throughout France and summoned into larger armies as needed. There was also made for Francs-archers units of bowmen and foot soldiers raised from the non-noble classes. The bulk of the infantry for warfare was still provided by urban or provincial militias, raised from an area or city to fight locally and named for their recruiting grounds. Gradually these units became more permanent, and in 1480s Swiss instructors were recruited and these men would be paid and contracted and receive training. Henry II further regularised the French army by forming standing Infantry regiments to replace the Militia structure, the first of these the Régiments de Picardie, Piémont, Navarre and Champagne were called the Les Vieux Corps. It was normal policy to disband regiments after a war was over as a cost saving measure with the Vieux Corps and the Kings own Household Troops the Maison du Roi being the only survivors. Regiments could be raised directly by the King and so called after the region in which they were raised, or by the nobility and so called after the noble or his appointed colonel. In 1684 there was a reorganisation of the French infantry and again in 1701 to fit in with Louis XIVs plans. This reshuffle created many of the regiments of the French Army and standardised their equipment. The army of the Sun King tended to wear coats with coloured linings. There were exceptions and the troops, recruited from outside France. In addition to these regiments of the line the Maison du Roi provided several elite units, the Swiss Guards, French Guards, the revolution split the army with the main mass losing most of its officers to aristocratic flight or guillotine and becoming demoralised and ineffective. The French Guard joined the revolt and the Swiss Guards were massacred during the storming of the Tuileries palace, under Napoleon I, the French Army conquered most of Europe during the Napoleonic Wars
17.
Rifling
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In firearms, rifling consists of helical grooves in the internal surface of a guns barrel, which impart a spin to a projectile around its long axis. This spin serves to stabilize the projectile, improving its aerodynamic stability. Rifling is often described by its twist rate, which indicates the distance the rifling takes to complete one revolution, such as 1 turn in 10 inches. A shorter distance indicates a faster twist, meaning that for a given velocity the projectile will be rotating at a spin rate. Barrels intended for long, small-diameter bullets, such as the ultra-low-drag, 80-grain 0.223 inch bullets, extremely long projectiles such as flechettes may require high twist rates, these projectiles must be inherently stable, and are often fired from a smoothbore barrel. Muskets were smoothbore, large caliber weapons using ball-shaped ammunition fired at low velocity. Due to the high cost and great difficulty of manufacturing, and the need to load readily from the muzzle. Consequently, on firing the ball bounced off the sides of the barrel when fired, barrel rifling was invented in Augsburg, Germany in 1498. In 1520 August Kotter, an armourer of Nuremberg, Germany improved upon this work, though true rifling dates from the mid-16th century, it did not become commonplace until the nineteenth century. The most successful weapons using rifling with black powder were breech loaders such as the Queen Anne pistol, the grooves most commonly used in modern rifling have fairly sharp edges. More recently, polygonal rifling, a throwback to the earliest types of rifling, has become popular, polygonal barrels tend to have longer service lives because the reduction of the sharp edges of the land reduces erosion of the barrel. Supporters of polygonal rifling also claim higher velocities and greater accuracy, polygonal rifling is currently seen on pistols from CZ, Heckler & Koch, Glock, Tanfoglio, and Kahr Arms, as well as the Desert Eagle. Such guns have achieved significant increases in velocity and range. Examples include the South African G5 and the German PzH2000, gain-twist rifling begins with very little change in the projectiles angular momentum during the first few inches of bullet travel after ignition during the transition from chamber to throat. This enables the bullet to remain undisturbed and trued to the case mouth. After engaging the rifling the bullet is progressively subjected to accelerated angular momentum as burning powder propels it down the barrel. By only gradually increasing the rate, torque is spread along a much longer section of barrel. Gain-twist rifling was used as early as the American Civil War, colt Army and Navy revolvers both employed gain-twist rifling
18.
Artillery
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Artillery is a class of large military weapons built to fire munitions far beyond the range and power of infantrys small arms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach fortifications, and led to heavy, as technology improved, lighter, more mobile field artillery developed for battlefield use. This development continues today, modern self-propelled artillery vehicles are highly mobile weapons of great versatility providing the largest share of an armys total firepower, in its earliest sense, the word artillery referred to any group of soldiers primarily armed with some form of manufactured weapon or armour. In common speech, the artillery is often used to refer to individual devices, along with their accessories and fittings. However, there is no generally recognised generic term for a gun, howitzer, mortar, and so forth, the United States uses artillery piece, the projectiles fired are typically either shot or shell. Shell is a widely used term for a projectile, which is a component of munitions. By association, artillery may also refer to the arm of service that customarily operates such engines, in the 20th Century technology based target acquisition devices, such as radar, and systems, such as sound ranging and flash spotting, emerged to acquire targets, primarily for artillery. These are usually operated by one or more of the artillery arms, Artillery originated for use against ground targets—against infantry, cavalry and other artillery. An early specialist development was coastal artillery for use against enemy ships, the early 20th Century saw the development of a new class of artillery for use against aircraft, anti-aircraft guns. Artillery is arguably the most lethal form of land-based armament currently employed, the majority of combat deaths in the Napoleonic Wars, World War I, and World War II were caused by artillery. In 1944, Joseph Stalin said in a speech that artillery was the God of War, although not called as such, machines performing the role recognizable as artillery have been employed in warfare since antiquity. The first references in the historical tradition begin at Syracuse in 399 BC. From the Middle Ages through most of the era, artillery pieces on land were moved by horse-drawn gun carriages. In the contemporary era, the artillery and crew rely on wheeled or tracked vehicles as transportation, Artillery used by naval forces has changed significantly also, with missiles replacing guns in surface warfare. The engineering designs of the means of delivery have likewise changed significantly over time, in some armies, the weapon of artillery is the projectile, not the equipment that fires it. The process of delivering fire onto the target is called gunnery, the actions involved in operating the piece are collectively called serving the gun by the detachment or gun crew, constituting either direct or indirect artillery fire. The term gunner is used in armed forces for the soldiers and sailors with the primary function of using artillery. The gunners and their guns are usually grouped in teams called either crews or detachments, several such crews and teams with other functions are combined into a unit of artillery, usually called a battery, although sometimes called a company
19.
Agar gun
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The Agar gun was an early rapid fire machine gun developed during the US Civil War. The weapon was nicknamed the Coffee Mill Gun, and was called the Union Repeating Gun. During the Civil War, inventors were encouraged to create new, the Agar machine gun was one of about fifty or so hand-cranked machine guns developed for the war during this period. It was named after its inventor, Wilson Agar, the gun was nicknamed the Coffee Mill Gun because the crank and the ammunition hopper on the top of the weapon gave it a look similar to that of a common kitchen coffee grinder. Agar advertised the gun as an army in six feet square, in 1861, the Agar machine gun was demonstrated to President Abraham Lincoln, who was very impressed by the weapon. Lincoln wrote I saw this gun myself, and witnessed some experiments with it, ten of the weapons were purchased immediately. The Union eventually ordered fifty-four additional guns, throughout the war, these weapons were used, though not extensively. In January 1862 the 28th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry were said to have used the Agar Guns in a skirmish by Harpers Ferry, the Coffee Mill gun was also used somewhat by the Union during McClellans Peninsula Campaign in 1862. The Union Army was not the ones to have used the Coffee Mill guns. In September 1862, Confederates obtained seventeen of the guns when they captured Harpers Ferry. The Agar machine gun fired.58 caliber cartridges, standard paper cartridges were loaded into re-usable metal tubes. The weapon was fired using a crank, located at the rear of the gun. The crank would feed rounds into the weapon from the hopper, a wedge shaped block would rise up and lock the round in place, a cam operated hammer would then strike the percussion cap, firing the round. The empty metal tubes would subsequently be collected in a pan located under the weapon, the metal tubes would then be reloaded and placed back in the hopper. This made quite a bit of work for the gun crews, the Agar machine gun had a single barrel. This design proved to be prone to overheating, especially during periods of sustained fire, the overheating problem was ameliorated somewhat through the use of replacement barrels which could be swapped when the barrel in use overheated. Two spare barrels were carried with each gun. Agar also added a mechanism to the barrel, which consisted of a metal jacket through which air was forced to provide cooling
20.
American Civil War
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The American Civil War was an internal conflict fought in the United States from 1861 to 1865. The Union faced secessionists in eleven Southern states grouped together as the Confederate States of America, the Union won the war, which remains the bloodiest in U. S. history. Among the 34 U. S. states in February 1861, War broke out in April 1861 when Confederates attacked the U. S. fortress of Fort Sumter. The Confederacy grew to eleven states, it claimed two more states, the Indian Territory, and the southern portions of the western territories of Arizona. The Confederacy was never recognized by the United States government nor by any foreign country. The states that remained loyal, including border states where slavery was legal, were known as the Union or the North, the war ended with the surrender of all the Confederate armies and the dissolution of the Confederate government in the spring of 1865. The war had its origin in the issue of slavery. The Confederacy collapsed and 4 million slaves were freed, but before his inauguration, seven slave states with cotton-based economies formed the Confederacy. The first six to declare secession had the highest proportions of slaves in their populations, the first seven with state legislatures to resolve for secession included split majorities for unionists Douglas and Bell in Georgia with 51% and Louisiana with 55%. Alabama had voted 46% for those unionists, Mississippi with 40%, Florida with 38%, Texas with 25%, of these, only Texas held a referendum on secession. Eight remaining slave states continued to reject calls for secession, outgoing Democratic President James Buchanan and the incoming Republicans rejected secession as illegal. Lincolns March 4,1861 inaugural address declared that his administration would not initiate a civil war, speaking directly to the Southern States, he reaffirmed, I have no purpose, directly or indirectly to interfere with the institution of slavery in the United States where it exists. I believe I have no right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so. After Confederate forces seized numerous federal forts within territory claimed by the Confederacy, efforts at compromise failed, the Confederates assumed that European countries were so dependent on King Cotton that they would intervene, but none did, and none recognized the new Confederate States of America. Hostilities began on April 12,1861, when Confederate forces fired upon Fort Sumter, while in the Western Theater the Union made significant permanent gains, in the Eastern Theater, the battle was inconclusive in 1861–62. The autumn 1862 Confederate campaigns into Maryland and Kentucky failed, dissuading British intervention, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which made ending slavery a war goal. To the west, by summer 1862 the Union destroyed the Confederate river navy, then much of their western armies, the 1863 Union siege of Vicksburg split the Confederacy in two at the Mississippi River. In 1863, Robert E. Lees Confederate incursion north ended at the Battle of Gettysburg, Western successes led to Ulysses S. Grants command of all Union armies in 1864
21.
Inch
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The inch is a unit of length in the imperial and United States customary systems of measurement now formally equal to 1⁄36 yard but usually understood as 1⁄12 of a foot. Derived from the Roman uncia, inch is also used to translate related units in other measurement systems. The English word inch was a borrowing from Latin uncia not present in other Germanic languages. The vowel change from Latin /u/ to English /ɪ/ is known as umlaut, the consonant change from the Latin /k/ to English /tʃ/ or /ʃ/ is palatalisation. Both were features of Old English phonology, inch is cognate with ounce, whose separate pronunciation and spelling reflect its reborrowing in Middle English from Anglo-Norman unce and ounce. In many other European languages, the word for inch is the same as or derived from the word for thumb, the inch is a commonly used customary unit of length in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. It is also used in Japan for electronic parts, especially display screens, for example, three feet two inches can be written as 3′ 2″. Paragraph LXVII sets out the fine for wounds of various depths, one inch, one shilling, an Anglo-Saxon unit of length was the barleycorn. After 1066,1 inch was equal to 3 barleycorns, which continued to be its legal definition for several centuries, similar definitions are recorded in both English and Welsh medieval law tracts. One, dating from the first half of the 10th century, is contained in the Laws of Hywel Dda which superseded those of Dyfnwal, both definitions, as recorded in Ancient Laws and Institutes of Wales, are that three lengths of a barleycorn is the inch. However, the oldest surviving manuscripts date from the early 14th century, john Bouvier similarly recorded in his 1843 law dictionary that the barleycorn was the fundamental measure. He noted that this process would not perfectly recover the standard, before the adoption of the international yard and pound, various definitions were in use. In the United Kingdom and most countries of the British Commonwealth, the United States adopted the conversion factor 1 metre =39.37 inches by an act in 1866. In 1930, the British Standards Institution adopted an inch of exactly 25.4 mm, the American Standards Association followed suit in 1933. By 1935, industry in 16 countries had adopted the industrial inch as it came to be known, in 1946, the Commonwealth Science Congress recommended a yard of exactly 0.9144 metres for adoption throughout the British Commonwealth. This was adopted by Canada in 1951, the United States on 1 July 1959, Australia in 1961, effective 1 January 1964, and the United Kingdom in 1963, effective on 1 January 1964. The new standards gave an inch of exactly 25.4 mm,1.7 millionths of a longer than the old imperial inch and 2 millionths of an inch shorter than the old US inch. The United States retains the 1/39. 37-metre definition for survey purposes and this is approximately 1/8-inch in a mile
22.
Chassepot
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The Chassepot, officially known as Fusil modèle 1866, was a bolt action military breechloading rifle, famous as the arm of the French forces in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870/1871. It replaced an assortment of Minié muzzleloading rifles many of which were converted in 1867 to breech loading, a great improvement to existing military rifles in 1866, the Chassepot marked the commencement of the era of modern bolt action, breech-loading, military rifles. Beginning in 1874, the rifle was converted to fire metallic cartridges. It was manufactured by MAS, Manufacture dArmes de Châtellerault, Manufacture dArmes de Tulle and, until 1870, many were also manufactured under contract in England, in Belgium, and in Italy at Brescia. The approximate number of Chassepot rifles available to the French Army in July 1870 was 1,037,555 units, additionally, State manufactories could deliver 30.000 new rifles monthly. Gun manufacturers in England and Austria also produced Chassepot-rifles to support the war effort. The Steyr armory in Austria delivered 12.000 Chassepot carbines and 100.000 parts to France in 1871, the Chassepot was named after its inventor, Antoine Alphonse Chassepot, who, from the mid-1850s onwards, had constructed various experimental forms of breechloaders. The first two models of the Chassepot still used percussion cap ignition, the third model, using a similar system as the prussian Dreyse needle gun, became the French service weapon in 1866. In the following year it made its first appearance on the battlefield at Mentana on 3 November 1867 and it was reported at the French Parliament that Les Chassepots ont fait merveille. Or loosely translated, The Chassepots have done wonderfully, the heavy cylindrical lead bullets fired at high velocity by the Chassepot rifle inflicted wounds that were even worse than those of the earlier Minié rifle. In the Franco-Prussian War, the Chassepot met its prussian counterpart, the Chassepot had several advantages over the Dreyse. It featured a rubber obturator on its head to provide a more efficiant gas-seal. Although it fired a smaller caliber, the ammunition had more gunpowder, resulting in higher muzzle velocity, a flatter trajectory. Thus the sights on the Chassepot could be elevated up to 1600 meters, the Chassepots were responsible for most of the Prussian and other German casualties during the conflict. After the war,20,000 captured Chassepot rifles were sold to the Shah of the Qajar Dynasty, the breech was closed by a bolt similar to those of more modern rifles to follow. This simple yet effective technology was adapted to artillery in 1877 by Colonel de Bange. The Chassepot used a cartridge, that many refer to as being combustible. It held an 11mm round-headed cylindro-conoidal lead bullet that was wax paper patched, an inverted standard percussion cap was at the rear of the paper cartridge and hidden inside
23.
Paper cartridge
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This article addresses older paper small-arms cartridges, for modern metallic small arms cartridges see Cartridge. A paper cartridge is one of various types of small arms used before the advent of the metallic cartridge. These cartridges consisted of a cylinder or cone containing the bullet, gunpowder, and, in some cases. Combustible cartridges are paper cartridges that use paper treated with oxidizers to allow them to burn completely upon ignition, paper cartridges have been in use for nearly as long as hand-held firearms, with a number of sources dating their use back to the late 14th century. Their use became widespread by the 17th century, the first army to officially use paper cartridges is presumed to be piechota wybraniecka of Poland under the rule of Stephen Batory. Paper cartridges were often coated in beeswax, lard, or tallow, since the standard procedure for loading a musket or rifled musket involved biting open the cartridge, this caused problems for those with strict dietary restrictions. The grease used on these cartridges was rumoured to include tallow derived from beef, which would be offensive to Hindus, and pork, which would be offensive to Muslims. The Sepoy soldiers in the employ of the British in India, for example, were largely Hindu, who were forbidden to eat beef, or Muslim, who were forbidden to eat pork. Rumors of the use of lard and tallow in the lubrication of the cartridges they were using were part of the cause of the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the most common applications of paper cartridges were in muzzleloading firearms. While these may be loaded with powder and balls or bullets. This eliminated the operation of measuring the powder during loading, in the case where multiple projectiles were used, such as buck and ball loads, the cartridge also served to package up the projectiles, so they did not have to be measured or counted out. The paper also served as a patch in smoothbore firearms, which fired balls that were smaller than the diameter of the bore, the paper used in cartridges varied considerably. The instructions for making Enfield paper cartridges, published in 1859, some cartridges, such as those for percussion revolvers, used nitrated paper. Treated by soaking in a potassium nitrate solution and then drying, the two guns were similar enough, that both sides could make use of ammunition captured from the enemy without any problems. Indeed, the nature of musket balls in smoothbore weapons meant that undersized ammunition could be used in a pinch. There are a number of features which are not specific to the firearm, for example, the cartridge must be sturdy enough to withstand the handling it can be expected to receive. This means either a sturdy paper must be used, or the cartridge must be reinforced for strength, the importance of paper cartridges can be seen by the existence of cartridge paper, a paper specially produced for the production of paper cartridges. In some cases the cartridges were produced directly from paper pulp and it also helped the ball to not bounce around inside of the barrel as it was fired
24.
Canon obusier de 12
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The Canon obusier de 12, also known as the Canon de l’Empereur was a type of canon-obusier developed by France in 1853. Its performance and versatility allowed it to all the previous field guns, especially the Canon de 8. The cannon owes its alias to French president and emperor Napoleon III, the canon obusier was a smoothbore cannon firing either shells, balls, or canister. This was an improvement over previous cannon firing only balls, such as those of the Gribeauval system, the new weapon revolutionized field artillery. The French Army introduced the canon obusier de 12 in 1853 and this type of canon obusier, commonly called in English the 12-pounder Napoleon Model 1857, was the primary cannon used in the American Civil War. Over 1,100 such Napoleons were manufactured by the North, at Gettysburg,142 out of 360 Federal guns were Napoleons. The 12-pounder Napoleon was widely admired because of its safety, reliability and it was the last cast bronze gun used by an American army. The Federal version of the Napoleon can be recognized by the front end of the barrel. Confederate Napoleons were produced in at least six variations, most of which had straight muzzles, Napoleon III had his existing guns, such as the Canon obusier de 12, rifled to accommodate the La Hitte system. Such guns remained in use until 1870, media related to Canon obusier de 12 at Wikimedia Commons French weapons in the American Civil War Field artillery in the American Civil War licorne Twelve-pound cannon
25.
Breech-loading weapon
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A breech-loading gun is a firearm in which the cartridge or shell is inserted or loaded into a chamber integral to the rear portion of a barrel. Modern mass production firearms are breech-loading, early firearms, on the other hand, were almost entirely muzzle-loading. In field artillery, breech loading allows the crew to reload the gun without exposing themselves to fire or repositioning the piece. The main challenge for developers of breech-loading firearms was sealing the breech and this was eventually solved for smaller firearms by the development of the self-contained metallic cartridge. For firearms too large to use cartridges, the problem was solved by the development of the interrupted screw, breech-loading swivel guns were invented in the 14th century. The breech-loading swivel gun had a rate of fire, and was especially effective in anti-personnel roles. Breech-loading firearms are known from the 16th century, Henry VIII possessed one, which he apparently used as a hunting gun to shoot birds. More breech-loading firearms were made in the early 18th century, one such gun known to have belonged to Philip V of Spain, and was manufactured circa 1715, probably in Madrid. It came with a ready-to load reusable cartridge, patrick Ferguson, a British Army officer, developed in 1772 the Ferguson rifle, a breech-loading flintlock firearm. Later on into the century there were attempts in Europe at an effective breech-loader. There were concentrated attempts at improved cartridges and methods of ignition, the cartridge was loaded through the breech and fired with a needle. The needle-activated central-fire breech-loading gun would become a feature of firearms thereafter. The corresponding firearm was also developed by Pauly, Pauly made an improved version, which was protected by a patent on 29 September 1812. In 1846 another Paris Frenchman, Benjamin Houllier, patented the first fully metallic cartridge containing powder in a metallic shell, Houllier commercialised his weapons in association with the gunsmiths Blanchard or Charles Robert. In English-speaking countries the Flobert cartridge corresponds to the.22 BB, the first centrefire cartridge was introduced in 1855 by Pottet, with both Berdan and Boxer priming. The Dreyse Zündnadelgewehr or Dreyse needle gun, was a single-shot breech-loading rifle using a rotating bolt to seal the breech and it was so called because of its. 5-inch needle-like firing pin, which passed through a paper cartridge case to impact a percussion cap at the bullet base. It began development in the 1830s under von Dreyse and eventually a version of it was adopted by Prussia in the late 1840s. The paper cartridge and the gun had numerous deficiencies, specifically, however, the rifle was used to great success in the Prussian army in the Austro-Prussian war of 1866
26.
Reffye
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Jean-Baptiste Verchère de Reffye was a French artillery general of the 19th century, and superintendent of the works at Meudon. He was an ordnance officer for Napoleon III. He also established the gun manufacture in Tarbes, De Reffye developed in 1866 the Reffye mitrailleuse, one of the best early machine guns, which was used during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. It was based on the earlier Belgian Montigny mitrailleuse of 1863, jean-Baptiste Verchère de Reffye took a key role in introducing rifled breech loading cannons, a marked improvement over the previous La Hitte system which had been in place since 1858. The La Hitte system used rifled weapons, but they were muzzle-loading, which had the advantage of structural strength, in 1870, de Reffye developed the Reffye 85mm cannon, an 85 mm rifled breech-loading cannon, equipped with a breech screw, initially made of bronze. The cannon used shell cartridges for ammunition, De Reffye also developed the Reffye 75mm cannon in 1873. His cannons would be superseded by the Lahitolle 95mm cannon
27.
Paris
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Paris is the capital and most populous city of France. It has an area of 105 square kilometres and a population of 2,229,621 in 2013 within its administrative limits, the agglomeration has grown well beyond the citys administrative limits. By the 17th century, Paris was one of Europes major centres of finance, commerce, fashion, science, and the arts, and it retains that position still today. The aire urbaine de Paris, a measure of area, spans most of the Île-de-France region and has a population of 12,405,426. It is therefore the second largest metropolitan area in the European Union after London, the Metropole of Grand Paris was created in 2016, combining the commune and its nearest suburbs into a single area for economic and environmental co-operation. Grand Paris covers 814 square kilometres and has a population of 7 million persons, the Paris Region had a GDP of €624 billion in 2012, accounting for 30.0 percent of the GDP of France and ranking it as one of the wealthiest regions in Europe. The city is also a rail, highway, and air-transport hub served by two international airports, Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Paris-Orly. Opened in 1900, the subway system, the Paris Métro. It is the second busiest metro system in Europe after Moscow Metro, notably, Paris Gare du Nord is the busiest railway station in the world outside of Japan, with 262 millions passengers in 2015. In 2015, Paris received 22.2 million visitors, making it one of the top tourist destinations. The association football club Paris Saint-Germain and the rugby union club Stade Français are based in Paris, the 80, 000-seat Stade de France, built for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, is located just north of Paris in the neighbouring commune of Saint-Denis. Paris hosts the annual French Open Grand Slam tennis tournament on the red clay of Roland Garros, Paris hosted the 1900 and 1924 Summer Olympics and is bidding to host the 2024 Summer Olympics. The name Paris is derived from its inhabitants, the Celtic Parisii tribe. Thus, though written the same, the name is not related to the Paris of Greek mythology. In the 1860s, the boulevards and streets of Paris were illuminated by 56,000 gas lamps, since the late 19th century, Paris has also been known as Panam in French slang. Inhabitants are known in English as Parisians and in French as Parisiens and they are also pejoratively called Parigots. The Parisii, a sub-tribe of the Celtic Senones, inhabited the Paris area from around the middle of the 3rd century BC. One of the areas major north-south trade routes crossed the Seine on the île de la Cité, this place of land and water trade routes gradually became a town
28.
Brussels
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Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, is a region of Belgium comprising 19 municipalities, including the City of Brussels which is the capital of Belgium. The Brussels-Capital Region is a part of both the French Community of Belgium and the Flemish Community, but is separate from the region of Flanders or Wallonia. The region has a population of 1.2 million and an area with a population of over 1.8 million. Brussels is the de facto capital of the European Union as it hosts a number of principal EU institutions, the secretariat of the Benelux and the headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization are also located in Brussels. Today, it is considered an Alpha global city, historically a Dutch-speaking city, Brussels has seen a language shift to French from the late 19th century onwards. Today, the majority language is French, and the Brussels-Capital Region is a bilingual enclave within the Flemish Region. All road signs, street names, and many advertisements and services are shown in both languages, Brussels is increasingly becoming multilingual with increasing numbers of migrants, expatriates and minority groups speaking their own languages. The most common theory of the origin of Brussels name is that it derives from the Old Dutch Broekzele or Broeksel, meaning marsh, Saint Vindicianus, the bishop of Cambrai made the first recorded reference to the place Brosella in 695 when it was still a hamlet. The origin of the settlement that was to become Brussels lies in Saint Gaugericus construction of a chapel on an island in the river Senne around 580. The official founding of Brussels is usually situated around 979, when Duke Charles of Lower Lotharingia transferred the relics of Saint Gudula from Moorsel to the Saint Gaugericus chapel, Charles would construct the first permanent fortification in the city, doing so on that same island. Lambert I of Leuven, Count of Leuven gained the County of Brussels around 1000 by marrying Charles daughter, as it grew to a population of around 30,000, the surrounding marshes were drained to allow for further expansion. The Counts of Leuven became Dukes of Brabant at about this time, in the 13th century, the city got its first walls. After the construction of the city walls in the early 13th century, to let the city expand, a second set of walls was erected between 1356 and 1383. Today, traces of it can still be seen, mostly because the small ring, Brabant had lost its independence, but Brussels became the Princely Capital of the prosperous Low Countries, and flourished. In 1516 Charles V, who had been heir of the Low Countries since 1506, was declared King of Spain in St. Michael and St. Gudula Cathedral in Brussels. Upon the death of his grandfather, Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor in 1519 and it was in the Palace complex at Coudenberg that Charles V abdicated in 1555. This impressive palace, famous all over Europe, had expanded since it had first become the seat of the Dukes of Brabant. In 1695, during the Nine Years War, King Louis XIV of France sent troops to bombard Brussels with artillery, together with the resulting fire, it was the most destructive event in the entire history of Brussels
29.
Meudon
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Meudon is a municipality in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is in the département of Hauts-de-Seine and it is located 9.1 km from the center of Paris. The town of Meudon is built on the hills and valleys of the Seine, the wood of Meudon lies for the most part to the west of the town. The northwest part of Meudon, overlooking the Seine, is known as Bellevue, at Meudon, the argile plastique clay was extensively mined in the 19th century. The first fossil of the European diatryma Gastornis parisiensis was discovered in deposits by Gaston Planté. Archaeological sites show that Meudon has been populated since Neolithic times, the Gauls called the area Mol-Dum, and the Romans Latinized the name as Moldunum. The handsome Galliera Institutions, on the hill of Fleury, were founded by the duchess of Galliera for the care of aged persons and orphans, the buildings were completed in 1885. The old castle of Meudon was rebuilt in Renaissance style in the mid-sixteenth century and it was bought by Louis XIV as a residence for Louis, le Grand Dauphin, under whom Meudon became a center of aristocratic life. A branch of the Paris Observatory was founded in 1877 on the ruins, the Meudon town hall is about 43 m in altitude above that of Paris and the climb from there to the observatory offers some rewarding views of Paris. Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot, the inventor of the worlds first automobile, is reported to have carried out some early trials at Meudon in the early 1770s, chalais-Meudon was important in the pioneering of aviation, initially balloons and airships, but also the early heavier-than-air machines. A Corps dAérostatiers under the command of Jean-Marie-Joseph Coutelle was established in 1794, Hangar Y was built in 1880 at the request of the military engineer Captain Charles Renard, for the construction of balloons and airships. The building is 70 m long,24 m wide and around 26 m high. The airship La France, designed by Renard and Arthur Krebs, was built in Hangar Y in 1884 and was the first airship which was controllable during flight and which could return to its starting point. Although a choice residential district, access to the railway and the Seine river have made Meudon a manufacturing center since the 1840s, metal products and military explosives have been continuously produced there since then. From 1921 to 1981 the Air Museum was located here until it moved to Le Bourget Airport, CNRS has a campus in Bellevue. Meudon is well served by public transports operated jointly by the SNCF, Meudon is served by the line C of the RER by the Meudon – Val Fleury station. Meudon is also served by the transilien line N through the Meudon station, the T2 tramway line links the Pont de Bezons station to the Porte de Versailles station. Meudon is served by the Brimborion station and the Meudon-sur-Seine station, the T6 tramway line runs from Châtillon to Viroflay
30.
Versailles, Yvelines
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According to the 2008 census, the population of the city is 88,641 inhabitants, down from a peak of 94,145 in 1975. A new town, founded by the will of King Louis XIV, it was the de facto capital of the Kingdom of France for over a century, from 1682 to 1789, before becoming the cradle of the French Revolution. After having lost its status of city, it became the préfecture of Seine-et-Oise département in 1790, then of Yvelines in 1968. Versailles is historically known for numerous treaties such as the Treaty of Paris, which ended the American Revolutionary War and this word formation is similar to Latin seminare which gave French semailles. From May 1682, when Louis XIV moved the court and government permanently to Versailles, until his death in September 1715, during the various periods when government affairs were conducted from Versailles, Paris remained the official capital of France. Versailles was made the préfecture of the Seine-et-Oise département at its inception in March 1790, Versailles was made the préfecture of the Yvelines département, the largest chunk of the former Seine-et-Oise. At the 2006 census the Yvelines had 1,395,804 inhabitants, Versailles is the seat of a Roman Catholic diocese which was created in 1790. The diocese of Versailles is subordinate to the archdiocese of Paris, in 1975, Versailles was made the seat of a Court of Appeal whose jurisdiction covers the western suburbs of Paris. Since 1972, Versailles has been the seat of one of Frances 30 nationwide académies of the Ministry of National Education. Versailles is also an important node for the French army, a tradition going back to the monarchy with, for instance, the palace of Versailles is in the out-skirts of the city. Versailles is located 17.1 km west-southwest from the centre of Paris, the city of Versailles has an area of 26.18 km2, which is a quarter of the area of the city of Paris. In 1989, Versailles had a density of 3, 344/km2, whereas Paris had a density of 20. Born out of the will of a king, the city has a rational and symmetrical grid of streets, by the standards of the 18th century, Versailles was a very modern European city. Versailles was used as a model for the building of Washington, the name of Versailles appears for the first time in a medieval document dated 1038. In the end of the 11th century, the village curled around a medieval castle, the 14th century brought the Black Death and the Hundred Years War, and with it death and destruction. At the end of the Hundred Years War in the 15th century, in 1561, Martial de Loménie, secretary of state for finances under King Charles IX, became lord of Versailles. He obtained permission to four annual fairs and a weekly market on Thursdays. The population of Versailles was 500 inhabitants, Martial de Loménie was murdered during the St. Bartholomews Day massacre
31.
Prussia
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Prussia was a historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg, and centred on the region of Prussia. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organised, Prussia, with its capital in Königsberg and from 1701 in Berlin, shaped the history of Germany. In 1871, German states united to create the German Empire under Prussian leadership, in November 1918, the monarchies were abolished and the nobility lost its political power during the German Revolution of 1918–19. The Kingdom of Prussia was thus abolished in favour of a republic—the Free State of Prussia, from 1933, Prussia lost its independence as a result of the Prussian coup, when the Nazi regime was successfully establishing its Gleichschaltung laws in pursuit of a unitary state. Prussia existed de jure until its liquidation by the Allied Control Council Enactment No.46 of 25 February 1947. The name Prussia derives from the Old Prussians, in the 13th century, the Teutonic Knights—an organized Catholic medieval military order of German crusaders—conquered the lands inhabited by them. In 1308, the Teutonic Knights conquered the region of Pomerelia with Gdańsk and their monastic state was mostly Germanised through immigration from central and western Germany and in the south, it was Polonised by settlers from Masovia. The Second Peace of Thorn split Prussia into the western Royal Prussia, a province of Poland, and the part, from 1525 called the Duchy of Prussia. The union of Brandenburg and the Duchy of Prussia in 1618 led to the proclamation of the Kingdom of Prussia in 1701, Prussia entered the ranks of the great powers shortly after becoming a kingdom, and exercised most influence in the 18th and 19th centuries. During the 18th century it had a say in many international affairs under the reign of Frederick the Great. During the 19th century, Chancellor Otto von Bismarck united the German principalities into a Lesser Germany which excluded the Austrian Empire. At the Congress of Vienna, which redrew the map of Europe following Napoleons defeat, Prussia acquired a section of north western Germany. The country then grew rapidly in influence economically and politically, and became the core of the North German Confederation in 1867, and then of the German Empire in 1871. The Kingdom of Prussia was now so large and so dominant in the new Germany that Junkers and other Prussian élites identified more and more as Germans and less as Prussians. In the Weimar Republic, the state of Prussia lost nearly all of its legal and political importance following the 1932 coup led by Franz von Papen. East Prussia lost all of its German population after 1945, as Poland, the main coat of arms of Prussia, as well as the flag of Prussia, depicted a black eagle on a white background. The black and white colours were already used by the Teutonic Knights. The Teutonic Order wore a white coat embroidered with a cross with gold insert
32.
Rifle
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A rifle is a firearm designed to be fired from the shoulder, with a barrel that has a helical groove or pattern of grooves cut into the barrel walls. The raised areas of the rifling are called lands, which contact with the projectile. When the projectile leaves the barrel, this spin lends gyroscopic stability to the projectile and prevents tumbling and this allows the use of aerodynamically-efficient bullets and thus improves range and accuracy. The word rifle originally referred to the grooving, and a rifle was called a rifled gun, the word rifle is now used for any long hand-held aimed device activated by a trigger, such as Air rifles and the Personnel halting and stimulation response rifle. Rifles are used in warfare, hunting and shooting sports, formerly, rifles only fired a single projectile with each squeeze of the trigger. Modern rifles are capable of firing more than one round per trigger squeeze, some fire in an automatic mode. Thus, modern automatic rifles overlap to some extent in design, in fact, many light machine guns are adaptations of existing automatic rifle designs. A militarys light machine guns are chambered for the same caliber ammunition as its service rifles. Generally, the difference between a rifle and a machine gun comes down to weight, cooling system. Modern military rifles are fed by magazines, while machine guns are generally belt-fed, many machine guns allow the operator to quickly exchange barrels in order to prevent overheating, whereas rifles generally do not. Most machine guns fire from a bolt in order to reduce the danger of cook-off. Machine guns are often crewed by more than one soldier, the rifle is an individual weapon, the term rifle is sometimes used to describe larger crew-served rifled weapons firing explosive shells, for example, recoilless rifles. In many works of fiction a rifle refers to any weapon that has a stock and is shouldered before firing, the origins of rifling are difficult to trace, but some of the earliest practical experiments seem to have occurred in Europe during the 15th century. Archers had long realized that a twist added to the feathers of their arrows gave them greater accuracy. This might also have led to a increase in accuracy. Rifles were created as an improvement in the accuracy of smooth bore muskets, the black powder used in early muzzle-loading rifles quickly fouled the barrel, making loading slower and more difficult. Since musketeers could not afford to take the time to stop and clean their barrels in the middle of a battle, rifles were limited to use by sharpshooters, muskets were smoothbore, large caliber weapons using ball-shaped ammunition fired at relatively low velocity. Due to the high cost and great difficulty of manufacturing, and the need to load readily from the muzzle
33.
M60 machine gun
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The M60, officially the United States Machine Gun, Caliber 7.62 mm, M60, is a family of American general-purpose machine guns firing 7. 62×51mm NATO cartridges from a disintegrating belt of M13 links. There are several types of ammunition approved for use in the M60, including ball, tracer, introduced in 1957, it has served with every branch of the U. S. military and still serves with other armed forces. S. The M60 is a machine gun that fires the 7. 62×51mm NATO cartridge commonly used in larger rifles. It is generally used as a weapon and operated by a team of two or three individuals. The team consists of the gunner, the assistant gunner, the guns weight and the amount of ammunition it can consume when fired make it difficult for a single soldier to carry and operate. The gunner carries the weapon and, depending on his strength and stamina, the assistant carries a spare barrel and extra ammunition, and reloads and spots targets for the gunner. The ammunition bearer carries additional ammunition and the tripod with associated traversing and elevation mechanism, if issued, the M60 can be accurately fired at short ranges from the shoulder thanks to its design. This was a requirement for the design and a hold-over in concept from the M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle. It may also be fired from the bipod, M122 tripod. M60 ammunition comes in a cloth bandolier containing a box of 100 pre-linked rounds. The M60 uses the M13 ammunition link, a change from the older M1 link system with which it was not compatible, the cloth bandolier is reinforced to allow it to be hung from the current version of the feed tray. The later models changed the ammunition box attachment point and made this adaptation unnecessary, the M60 machine gun began development in the late 1940s as a program for a new, lighter 7.62 mm machine gun. It was partly derived from German guns of World War II, early prototypes, notably the T52 and T161 bore a close resemblance to both the M1941 Johnson machine gun and the FG42. The final evaluation version was designated the T161E3 and it was intended to replace the M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle and M1919A6 Browning machine gun in the squad automatic weapon role, and in the medium machine gun role. One of the weapons tested against it during its procurement process was the FN MAG, the U. S. Army officially adopted the T161E3 as the M60 in 1957. The M60 later served in the Vietnam War as an automatic weapon with many U. S. units. Every soldier in the squad would carry an additional 200 linked rounds of ammunition for the M60. The up-gunned M113 armored personnel carrier ACAV added two M60 gunners beside the main.50 caliber machine gun, and the Patrol Boat, during the Vietnam War, the M60 received the nickname The Pig due to its bulky size
34.
Patrice de MacMahon, Duke of Magenta
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Marshal Marie Esme Patrice Maurice, Count de MacMahon, Duke of Magenta, was a French general and politician, with the distinction of Marshal of France. He served as Chief of State of France from 1873 to 1875 and as the president of the Third Republic. MacMahon won national renown and the presidency on the basis of his actions in the war against the Germans. MacMahon was a devout conservative Catholic, a traditionalist who despised socialism and he took very seriously his duty as the neutral guardian of the Constitution and rejected suggestions of a monarchist coup détat. He also refused to meet with Gambetta, the leader of the Republicans and he moved for a parliamentary system in which the assembly selected the ruling government of the Third Republic, but he also insisted on an upper chamber. He later dissolved the Chamber of Deputies, resulting in public outrage, MacMahon soon resigned and retired to private life. Patrice de MacMahon was born in Sully, in the département of Saône-et-Loire and he was the 16th of 17 children of a family already in the French nobility. His ancestors were part of the Dál gCais and were Lords of Corcu Baiscind in Ireland and they applied for French citizenship in 1749. Patrice de MacMahon was educated at the Lycée Louis-le-Grand and at the Academy of St-Cyr, before commencing regimental duty MacMahon undertook two years of specialized training for the general staff from 1825 to 1827. He was then appointed as a sous-lieutenant to the 4th Hussars and he subsequently served In Algeria as a junior officer with the 20th Regiment of Line Infantry. MacMahon served as aide-de-camp to General Achard, and participated in the occupation of Algiers in 1830 and he stayed in Algeria from 1834–1854, and was wounded during an assault on Constantine in 1837. In December 1841 he was placed in command of a battalion of chasseurs à pied, designated regimental commander of the 2nd Foreign Regiment of the Foreign Legion in 1843, he was promoted to Divisional General in 1852. In the Crimean War, MacMahon distinguished himself in the Battle of Malakoff at Sevastopol, during which he uttered the famous quotation now attributed to him, Jy suis. He was offered the top French Army post after the war but declined, MacMahon was appointed to the French Senate in 1856. MacMahon fought in the Second Italian War of Independence as commander of the Second Corps and he secured the French victory at Magenta and rose to the rank of Maréchal de France while in the field. He was later created Duke of Magenta by Napoléon III as a result, in the Franco-Prussian War MacMahon commanded the I and V French Corps on the Army of the Rhines Southern line. On 4 August 1870 the Prussian 3rd Army attacked the Southern line and they quickly moved on to capture the city of Wörth two days later. After less than a week of fighting, the entire Army of the Rhine Southern line could not withstand the Prussian attacks and retreated west, MacMahon led the 120,000 strong remnants of the Army of the Rhine, reformed as the Army of Châlons, with Napoléon III
35.
Battle of Sedan
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The Battle of Sedan was fought during the Franco–Prussian War on 1 September 1870. Marshal MacMahon was wounded during the attacks and command passed to General Auguste-Alexandre Ducrot, after its defeat at Gravelotte, Marshal Bazaines Army of the Rhine retreated to Metz where it was besieged by over 150,000 Prussian troops of the First and Second Armies. Emperor Napoleon III, along with Marshal MacMahon, formed the new French Army of Châlons to march on to Metz to rescue Bazaine. The Prussians had repeatedly outmaneuvered the French in the string of victories through August 1870, the Prussians, under the command of von Moltke, took advantage of this maneuver to catch the French in a pincer grip. After a hard-fought battle with the French losing 5,000 men and 40 cannons in a sharp fight, the French withdrew towards Sedan. Their intention was to rest the army, which had involved in a long series of marches, resupply them with ammunition and then retreat. Having reformed in Sedan, the Army of Châlons deployed the First Corps to check the Prussian advance and they could not retreat owing to the exhaustion of their troops, and they were short on ammunition. The French rear was protected by the Fortress of Sedan, and offered a position at Calvaire dIlly. Moltke divided his forces into three groups, one to detain the French where they were, another to race forward and catch them if they retreated, the French were unable to move and had to fight where they stood. The Prussians thus encircled the French, Napoleon had ordered MacMahon to break out of the encirclement, and the only point where that seemed possible was La Moncelle, whose flank was protected by a fortified town. The Prussians also picked La Moncelle as one point where they would mount a breakthrough, prince George of Saxony and the Prussian XI Corps was assigned to the task, and General Baron von der Tann were ordered to attack Bazeilles on the right flank. This was the engagement, as the French First Corps had barricaded the streets. Von der Tann sent a brigade across pontoon bridges at 0400 hours, the combat drew new forces, as French brigades from the First, Fifth, and Twelfth Corps arrived. At 0800 the Prussian 8th Infantry Division arrived, and von der Tann decided it was time for a decisive attack. He had not been able to bring artillery to bear from long range, so he committed his last brigade to storm the town and his artillery reached Bazeilles at 0900 hours. Fighting began in earnest at 0600, and the wounded MacMahon had appointed General Auguste Ducrot to command, Wimpffen then threw his forces against the Saxons at La Moncelle. This led to a rally for the French, who drove back the artillery around La Moncelle and pressed the Bavarians. However, with the taking of Bazeilles, and the arrival of waves of Prussian troops
36.
Battle of Gravelotte
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The Battle of Gravelotte on 18 August 1870 was the largest battle during the Franco-Prussian War, named after Gravelotte, a village in Lorraine between Metz and the former French–German frontier. The battlefield extended from the woods border the Moselle above Metz to Roncourt. Other villages which played an important part in the battle of Gravelotte were Saint Privat, Amanweiler or Amanvillers and Sainte-Marie-aux-Chênes, the combined German forces, under Field Marshal von Moltke, were the Prussian First and Second Armies of the North German Confederation. The French Army of the Rhine, commanded by Marshal Bazaine, dug in along high ground with their left flank at the town of Rozerieulles. On 18 August, the battle began when at 08,00 Moltke ordered the First, by 12,00, General Manstein opened up the battle before the village of Amanvillers with artillery from the Hessian 25th Infantry Division. But the French had spent the night and early morning digging trenches and rifle pits while placing their artillery, finally aware of the Prussian advance, the French opened up a massive return fire against the mass of advancing Germans. The battle at first appeared to favor the French with their superior Chassepot rifle, however, the Prussian artillery was superior with the all-steel Krupp breech-loading gun. At 15,00, the guns of the VII and VIII Corps opened fire to support the attack. But by 16,00, with the attack in danger of stalling, Steinmetz ordered the VII Corps forward, at 17,15, the Prussian 4th Guards Infantry Brigade joined the advance followed at 17,45 by the Prussian 1st Guards Infantry Brigade. All of the Prussian Guard attacks were pinned down by lethal French gunfire from the rifle pits, by 18,30, a considerable portion of the VII and VIII Corps disengaged from the fighting and withdrew towards the Prussian positions at Rezonville. With the defeat of the First Army, Prince Frederick Charles ordered an artillery attack against Canroberts position at St. Privat to prevent the Guards attack from failing too. At 20,00, the arrival of the Prussian 4th Infantry Division of the II Corps and with the Prussian right flank on Mance Ravine, the line stabilised. By then, the Prussians of the 1st Guards Infantry Division, with the Prussians exhausted from the fighting, the French were now able to mount a counter-attack. General Bourbaki, however, refused to commit the reserves of the French Old Guard to the battle because, by that time, by 22,00, firing largely died down across the battlefield for the night. The battle was a Prussian and Hessian strategic victory in that it succeeded in blocking Bazaines way to Verdun, in a short time the Prussians trapped Bazaine in the city and the siege of Metz ensued. The casualties were severe, especially for the attacking Prussian forces, casualties for the combined Prussian and Hessian force were 20,163 troops killed, wounded or missing in action during the 18 August battle. The French losses were 7,855 killed and wounded along with 4,420 prisoners of war, while most of the Prussians fell to the French Chassepot rifle, most French fell under the Prussian Krupp shells. Losses of the Prussian Guards Corps were even more staggering, with 8,000 casualties out of 18,000 men, the Guards Jäger Battalion lost 19 officers, a surgeon and 431 men killed, wounded, or missing out of a total of 700
37.
United States Army
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The United States Armed Forces are the federal armed forces of the United States. They consist of the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, from the time of its inception, the military played a decisive role in the history of the United States. A sense of unity and identity was forged as a result of victory in the First Barbary War. Even so, the Founders were suspicious of a permanent military force and it played an important role in the American Civil War, where leading generals on both sides were picked from members of the United States military. Not until the outbreak of World War II did a standing army become officially established. The National Security Act of 1947, adopted following World War II and during the Cold Wars onset, the U. S. military is one of the largest militaries in terms of number of personnel. It draws its personnel from a pool of paid volunteers. As of 2016, the United States spends about $580.3 billion annually to fund its military forces, put together, the United States constitutes roughly 40 percent of the worlds military expenditures. For the period 2010–14, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute found that the United States was the worlds largest exporter of major arms, the United States was also the worlds eighth largest importer of major weapons for the same period. The history of the U. S. military dates to 1775 and these forces demobilized in 1784 after the Treaty of Paris ended the War for Independence. All three services trace their origins to the founding of the Continental Army, the Continental Navy, the United States President is the U. S. militarys commander-in-chief. Rising tensions at various times with Britain and France and the ensuing Quasi-War and War of 1812 quickened the development of the U. S. Navy, the reserve branches formed a military strategic reserve during the Cold War, to be called into service in case of war. Time magazines Mark Thompson has suggested that with the War on Terror, Command over the armed forces is established in the United States Constitution. The sole power of command is vested in the President by Article II as Commander-in-Chief, the Constitution also allows for the creation of executive Departments headed principal officers whose opinion the President can require. This allowance in the Constitution formed the basis for creation of the Department of Defense in 1947 by the National Security Act, the Defense Department is headed by the Secretary of Defense, who is a civilian and member of the Cabinet. The Defense Secretary is second in the chain of command, just below the President. Together, the President and the Secretary of Defense comprise the National Command Authority, to coordinate military strategy with political affairs, the President has a National Security Council headed by the National Security Advisor. The collective body has only power to the President
38.
William Babcock Hazen
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William Babcock Hazen was a career United States Army officer who served in the Indian Wars, as a Union general in the American Civil War, and as Chief Signal Officer of the U. S. Army. His most famous service was defending Hells Half Acre at the Battle of Stones River in 1862, Hazen was born in West Hartford, Vermont, but moved to Ohio at the age of three. He spent his boyhood in the town of Hiram and formed a personal friendship with future President James A. Garfield. He graduated from the United States Military Academy, in 1855, before the Civil War, he served primarily in the Pacific Northwest and Texas, where he was wounded severely on November 3,1859, during a fight with the Comanches along the Llano River. He was absent on leave until 1861. Soon after the fall of Fort Sumter, he was promoted to captain of the 8th U. S. Infantry, starting in January 1862, he commanded a brigade in the Army of the Ohio, under Maj. Gen. Don Carlos Buell. His first major battle was Shiloh, where Buells army arrived on the second day, in the fall of 1862, Hazen fought under Buell at Perryville. Hazens brigade defended a small cedar forest known by the locals as Round Forest, Hazen and Brig. Gen. Charles Cruft were at a salient in the Union line, whose loss would have given the Confederate a complete victory. George H. Thomas and Lovell H. Rousseau, Hazens division commander, several Confederate attacks were beaten off. Their defense was so spirited against heavy odds that they saved the Union line. The 4-acre Round Forest is now known informally as Hells Half Acre, Hazen was wounded in the shoulder during the fight and was promoted to brigadier general, effective November 29, for his gallantry. Months after the battle, a monument was erected by veterans of the fight in a small Union cemetery at the site and this is considered to be the oldest monument erected on a Civil War battlefield. Hazen was promoted to major in the regular army for Chickamauga. He served under Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman in the Atlanta Campaign, the March to the Sea, and he distinguished himself at the Battle of Picketts Mill while still leading a brigade in IV Corps. His brigade had to attack without support and suffered badly. Later, asked where his brigade was, Hazen replied, Brigade, Hell, but what is left of it is over there in the woods. Hazen was elevated to command in XV Corps late in the Atlanta Campaign. During Shermans March to the Sea, Hazens division distinguished itself in the capture of Fort McAllister, Georgia and this action opened communications between Shermans army group and the United States Navy
French weapons of the 19th century
