Note 270 — BATTLE OF ORTHEZ.

“There was a prejudice in the army against this weapon, which had hitherto not been used in the field; the opinion seems to have been, that if it had been an efficient means of destruction, it would sooner have been borrowed from the East Indian nations. Lord Wellington, however, was willing that they should be tried; and some experiments which were made at Fontarabia gave reason for supposing that they might be found useful on the Adour. The direction of this new arm was assigned to Sir Augustus Fraser, but the trial was to be made under all the disadvantages of inexperience; for the corps was composed of men hastily brought together, and entirely ignorant of the arm they were to use; and the rockets themselves were equipped in five different ways, and consequently liable to as many failures.”—Southey.

A twelve-pounder rocket laid on the ground, and discharged without a tube, by simply applying a match to the vent, will run along the ground four or five hundred yards, seldom rising higher than a man’s head; and then, alternately rising and falling, will continue its course with such effect, as, after ranging 1200 yards, to pierce through twenty feet of turf, and explode on the other side, scattering the seventy-two carbine balls, with which it was loaded, in all directions. No barricade could for an instant retard its force; and should it by any accident strike against a stone, or any obstacle which it cannot pierce or overturn, it will bound off, and continue its terrible course.

They are of various dimensions, as well in length as in calibre, and are differently armed, according as they are intended for the field or for bombardment,—carrying, in the first instance, either shells or case-shot, which may be exploded at any part of their flight, spreading death and destruction among the columns of the enemy; and in the second, where they are intended for the destruction of buildings, shipping, stores, &c. they are armed with a peculiar species of composition which never fails of destroying every combustible material with which it comes in contact: the latter are called carcass-rockets.

The powers of this weapon are now established upon the best of all testimonies—that of the enemy; a striking instance of which occurred at the siege of Flushing, where General Monnet, the French commandant, made a formal remonstrance to Lord Chatham respecting the use of them in that bombardment.

The form of all the different kinds of these rockets is cylindrical, and they are composed of strong metallic cases, armed, as before stated, either with carcass composition for bombardment and conflagration, or with shells and case-shot for field-service. They are, however, of various weights and dimensions, from the eight-inch carcass, or explosion-rocket, weighing nearly three hundredweight, to the six-pound shell-rocket, which is the smallest size used in the field. The sticks which are employed for regulating their flight are also of different lengths, according to the size and service of the rocket, and which, for the convenience of carriage, are stowed apart from the rocket, and so contrived as to consist of two or more parts, which are connected to it, and to each other when requisite, with the utmost expedition.

They are divided into three classes, heavy, medium, and light,—the former including all those of above forty-two pounds, which are denominated according to their calibre, as eight-inch, seven-inch, six-inch, &c. rockets; the medium include all those from the forty-two pound to the twenty-four pound rocket; and the light, from the eighteen-pounder to the six-pounder, inclusive. The carcass-rockets are armed with strong iron conical heads, containing a composition as hard and solid as iron itself, and which, when once inflamed, bids defiance to any human effort to extinguish it, and, consequently, involves in an inextinguishable flame every combustible material with which it comes in contact. The forty-two pounder and thirty-two pounder carcass-rockets are those which have hitherto been chiefly employed in bombardments. The penetration of the thirty-two pound carcass-rocket, in common ground, is nine feet,—and in some instances where they have been employed, have been known to pierce through several floors, and through the sides of houses: this is the smallest rocket used in bombardment, and the largest employed in the field,—the more usual size for the latter service being the twenty-four, eighteen, twelve, and six-pounders. The ranges of the eight-inch, seven-inch, and six-inch rockets, are from 2,000 to 2,500 yards; and the quantity of combustible matter, or bursting powder, from twenty-five to fifty pounds; and from their weight, combined with less diameter, they possess a greater power of penetration than the heaviest shells, and are therefore equally efficient for the destruction of bomb-proofs, or the demolition of strong buildings.

The largest rocket that has yet been constructed has not, we believe, weighed more than three hundred-weight.

The forty-two and thirty-two pounders are those which have hitherto been principally used in bombardment, and which, for the general purposes of that service, are found quite sufficient, as they will convey from seven pounds to ten pounds of combustible matter each, and have a range of upwards of three thousand yards. The thirty-two pounder rocket may be considered as the medium rocket, being the smallest used in bombardment as a carcass or explosion rocket, and the largest used with shot or shell in the field; but as the twenty-four pounder is very nearly equal to it in all its applications in the latter service, being quite equal to the propelling of the Cohorn shell, or twelve-pounder shot, it is, from the saving in weight, generally preferred to the thirty-two pounder. The eighteen-pounder, which is the first of the light nature of rockets, is armed with a nine-pound shot or shell; the twelve pounder with a six-pound ditto; the nine-pounder with a grenade; and the six-pounder with a three-pound shot or shell. From the twenty-four pounder to the nine-pounder rocket, inclusive, a description of case-shot rocket is formed of each nature, armed with a quantity of musket or carbine balls put into the top of the cylinder of the rocket.