18-pounder siege and garrison 5 deg. 0" 1,592 24-pounder siege and garrison 5 deg. 0" 1,901 32-pounder seacoast 5 deg. 0" 1,922 42-pounder seacoast 5 deg. 0" 1,955 8-inch Columbiad 27 deg.30" 4,812 10-inch Columbiad 39 deg.15" 5,654 12-inch Columbiad 39 deg. 0" 5,506 _Ranges of United States naval smoothbores of 1866_ Caliber Point-blank range Elevation Range in yards in yards 32-pounder of 42 cwt 313 5 deg. 1,756 8-inch of 63 cwt 330 5 deg. 1,770 IX-inch shell gun 350 15 deg. 3,450 X-inch shell gun 340 11 deg. 3,000 XI-inch shell gun 295 15 deg. 2,650 XV-inch shell gun 300 7 deg. 2,100 _Ranges of United States naval rifles in 1866_ Caliber Elevation Range in yards 20-pounder Parrott 15 deg. 4,400 30-pounder Parrott 25 deg. 6,700 100-pounder Parrott 25 deg. 7,180 In accuracy and range the rifle of the 1860's far surpassed the smoothbores, but such tremendous advances were made in the next few decades with the introduction of new propellants and steel guns that the performances of the old rifles no longer seem remarkable. In the eighteenth century, a 24-pounder smoothbore could develop a muzzle velocity of about 1,700 feet per second. The 12-inch rifled cannon of the late 1800's had a muzzle velocity of 2,300 foot-seconds. In 1900, the Secretary of the Navy proudly reported that the new 12-inch guns for _Maine_-class battleships produced a muzzle velocity of 2,854 foot-seconds, using an 850-pound projectile and a charge of 360 pounds of smokeless powder. Such statistics elicit a chuckle from today's artilleryman. SIEGE CANNON Field counterpart of the garrison cannon was the siege gun--the "battering cannon" of the old days, mounted upon a two-wheeled siege or "traveling" carriage that could be moved about in field terrain. Whereas the purpose of the garrison cannon was to destroy the attacker and his materiel, the siege cannon was intended to destroy the fort. Calibers ranged from 3- to 42-pounders in eighteenth century English tables, but the 18- and 24-pounders seem to have been the most widely used for siege operations. [Illustration: Figure 32--SPANISH EIGHTEENTH CENTURY SIEGE CARRIAGE.] The siege carriage closely resembled the field gun carriage, but was much more massive, as may be seen from these comparative figures drawn from eighteenth century English specifications: