Bombs and carcasses were usual for mortar firing, but stone projectiles remained in use as late as 1800 for the pedrero class (fig. 43). Mortar projectiles were quite formidable; even in the sixteenth century missiles weighing 100 or more pounds were not uncommon, and the 13-inch mortar of 1860 fired a 200-pound shell. The larger projectiles had to be whipped up to the muzzle with block and tackle. [Illustration: Figure 40--THE "DICTATOR." This huge 13-inch mortar was used by the Federal artillery in the bombardment of Petersburg, Va., 1864-65.] In the last century, the bronze mortars metamorphosed into the great cast-iron mortars, such as "The Dictator," that mammoth Federal piece used against Petersburg, Va. Wrought-iron beds with a pair of rollers were built for them. In spite of their high trajectory, mortars could range well over a mile, as witness these figures for United States mortars of the 1860's, firing at 45 deg. elevation: _Ranges of U. S. Mortars in 1861_ Caliber Projectile Range weight (pounds) (yards) 8-inch siege 45 1,837 10-inch siege 90 2,100 12-inch seacoast 200 4,625 13-inch seacoast 200 4,325 At the siege of Fort Pulaski in 1862, however, General Gillmore complained that the mortars were highly inaccurate at mile-long range. On this point, John Mueller would have nodded his head emphatically. A hundred years before Gillmore's complaint, Mueller had argued that a range of something less than 1,500 yards was ample for mortars or, for that matter, all guns. "When the ranges are greater," said Mueller, "they are so uncertain, and it is so difficult to judge how far the shell falls short, or exceeds the distance of the object, that it serves to no other purpose than to throw away the Powder and shell, without being able to do any execution." PETARDS "Hoist with his own petard," an ancient phrase signifying that one's carefully laid scheme has exploded, had truly graphic meaning in the old days when everybody knew what a petard was. Since the petard fired no projectile, it was hardly a gun. Roughly speaking, it was nothing but an iron bucket full of gunpowder. The petardier would hang it on a gate, something like hanging your hat on a nail, and blast the gate open by firing the charge.