Leather cannon

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Leather cannon in the Germanic National Museum in Nuremberg
Detail of the damaged barrel behind the muzzle

The leather gun was a gun of the 17th century, which consisted of a copper or iron pipe, which was reinforced with iron rings, linen, rope and leather.

history

There is no specific information about the inventor of the leather cannon. There is evidence of the building and testing of a leather cannon by the Swiss Philipp (e) Eberhard (June 12, 1563 - May 5, 1627) from Zurich. This was in the course of his activity u. a. responsible for the city fortifications. At the time of his trials (August 1, 1622) a colonel von Wurmbrand visited the city. Whether this was the often mentioned Baron Melchior von Wurmbrandt-Stuppach (1586–1637) is not exactly proven. On January 9, 1623, Philipp Eberhard and Alexander (Bier) Brüyer (master coppersmith) received the official order for the manufacture of a leather cannon from the Zurich mayor Holtzhalb and the decreed lord of avenging (councilors). The first payment was: "25 gulden , 4 Mütt wheat or spelled, 4 buckets of wine and 2 fathoms of wood." Eberhard produced from 1623 to 1627 together with his partner Alexander (beer) Brüyer († March 10, 1639) and his assistant and Schwager Brändli a total of five leather cannons as front and rear loading models and four leather mortars. These leather cannons were intended as stationary guns for the fortifications of the city.

It was not until 1625 that Melchior von Wurmbrand offered his leather cannon to the Swedish King Gustav II Adolf . From a letter quoted by Olof Granberg he received a recommendation from Johan Skytte , the tutor of Gustav II Adolf of Sweden. On July 15 and 20 of the same year he carried out the first tests and demonstrations in Stockholm. Wurmbrandt was commissioned to build the leather cannons. As a reward, he was given the Juleta estate (in Södermanland), a number of iron works and a gratuity of 12,000 thalers. In the same year 1625, Wurmbrandt began in Stockholm and Arboga, together with Jacob Motell as a helper, with the production of leather cannons and the production of special ammunition ( hail of grapes ) by Captain Evert von Hoelle (the Swedish leather cannons were intended exclusively for firing such cluster munitions). The following people were involved in the production: the pewter founders Simon Hansson and Erik Anderson, the rope maker Michel, the cannon founder Metardus Gessus, a number of saddlers, gold beaters and papermakers. At the end of September 1627 the first series of Swedish leather cannons were delivered.

In the course of the Polish-Swedish War , the first 16 Swedish leather cannons landed on October 9, 1627 in Polish Prussia at Elbing. Von Wurmbrandt took from them two six-pounders and four three-pounders to the siege of Wormditt on October 13, where this type of gun had its first military use.

An important component of Gustav Adolf's tactical reform aimed at offensive warfare was the development of these light guns, which were easy to move and which could be assigned to field units ( infantry regiments ). The guns in use at the time were too cumbersome to be able to keep up with the mobile cavalry. The new cannon weighed only 50 kg (90 pounds) and could be carried by two people. She was about four feet long and had a caliber of three inches. Due to its complicated construction and weak materials, however, it was only used for a short time, for example at the end of the Polish campaign of 1628/29.

The climax in the history of the Swedish leather cannons was the fighting on the Vistula estuary at the summer solstice in 1628. The aim was to destroy the Polish fleet that was blocking the estuary. With eight leather cannons, the king himself crossed an area that was considered completely impassable for conventional heavy artillery and came within range of fire without being noticed. A large part of the Polish fleet was destroyed and the blockade was removed.

There were serious disadvantages, so only 10 to 12 rounds could be fired in a row. Then the cannon had to cool down. The species was only in use for three years and was retired at the end of the campaign. Nevertheless, the leather cannons were considered a technical sensation and enjoyed a legendary reputation.

Area of the trunnion a leather cannon from Luldwig Ripp.

In 1628 two new, hitherto unknown inventors suddenly appeared. The German Ludvig Ripp and the Scot Robert Scott. Scott, his nephew James Weymess and James Turner entered Swedish service in 1623 and during this time they became acquainted with the leather cannons. Based on their experiences, they further developed this type of gun. On January 2, 1628 there was a comparative shooting of Scott's leather cannon against the Ripp model at the Skeppsholmen fleet base in Stockholm. Scott demanded 14,800 thalers for his "invention", but this was too expensive for the Swedish government, and the Wurmbrandt leather cannons were still in use. Ripps leather cannon was called a copy of Wurmbrandt by many. Scott's model had iron rings for reinforcement on the leather jacket and was very different from the Wurmbrandt type. Because of its metal rings, it looked more like a wooden cannon. Neither model was adopted. Ripp ended his attempts and became a kit master in Riga (until 1643). He then gave his experimental cannon to Reich Chancellor Axel Ochsenstierna. Their current location are the Livrustenkamaren Stockholm.

In the same year 1628 Robert Scott left the Swedish service and sold his leather cannon to Copenhagen / Denmark through the mediation of the Danish ambassador Erik Krabbe, who had attended the comparison shooting in Stockholm. There he entered the Danish service and built (leather) cannons until he left. Robert Scott emigrated to England in 1630 with the Weymess family and nephew. There he received a pension from King Charles I and at the same time became an English citizen. At Vauxhall, Scott continued his experiments. He died in 1631, and his epitaph in Lambeth Church in London mentions him as the inventor. His nephew Weymess took over the further research of his uncle under the royal patronage of Charles I.

The last recorded use of the Swedish leather cannons took place in the Battle of Hönigfelde on June 26, 1629, when all ten leather cannons that were present at the battle fell into the hands of the Poles. The Poles kept six and bequeathed four to their imperial allies, probably through Hans Georg von Arnim-Boitzenburg to Wallenstein, actually Albrecht Wenzel Eusebius von Waldstein , Duke of Friedland. The loss of the ten leather cannons nullified the once tactical advantage, as the enemy now recognized the weaknesses and disadvantages of the leather cannon. Due to the lightweight construction of the leather cannons, the mounts were downright delicate and therefore not very robust. The pipes could not fire more than 10–12 shots in quick succession, then they had to cool down. Despite being impregnated with tar and pitch, they were very weather-sensitive and only designed for hail of grapes (not for full-caliber bullets). In addition, the new "regimental cannons" were now available in large numbers as successors.

On December 23, 1629 Gustav II Adolf ordered the closure of the Wurmbrandt factories in Arboga. It was given to the Scottish Colonel Alexander Hamilton (June 19, 1609; March 9, 1649) in 1630 for the manufacture of his own weapons. During a visit by the Polish King Sigismund III. Wasa in Marienwerder it would have been possible that two of the six leather cannons that were captured would have been given to the Polish king as a personal gift. After the lost battle, all remaining Swedish leather cannons were stored in Elbing and then brought to the Stockholm arsenal "... Whole or in pieces of different sizes and a number of more than 30 ...".

Wurmbrandt went back to his Juleta estate and opened a cannon foundry there until the turn of the year 1631. With a deed dated November 6, 1631, Wurmbrandt leased his Juleta estate to Jakob De la Gardie for three years. Three months later, he complained bitterly about the incomplete report. Wurmbrandt became commandant of Donauwörth and Lauingen in 1632. He was involved in the battle of Nördlingen in 1634 and was able to flee to Alsace. In 1636 he was captured by Croats near Kechersberg in Alsace. In 1636 and probably also in 1637 he led a legal dispute over the claims to the Commandery Nemerow with Count Heinrich Volrath von Stolberg. He died in 1637. From 1638 there is an exchange of letters about what should happen to his goods in Juleta (as compensation for a loan of 70,000 kroner to Gustav II Adolf, Paul Khevenhüller received the property as a pledge, after which Juleta was transferred to Hendrik until 1650 Trip leased).

When Swedish troops stood in front of the walls of the imperial- occupied city of Frankfurt an der Oder during the Thirty Years' War at the beginning of April 1631 , the opponents ridiculed them as "herring eaters" who would have eaten their leather cannons from hunger. One can therefore assume that until the end of 1630 / beginning of 1631 there were no longer any leather cannons in the Swedish troops.

As early as 1630, the foreign (exact origin unknown) master cannon maker Julius Koät was making leather cannons in Moscow according to a Swiss patent. The structure of these completely corresponded to the leather cannons used by the Swedes and were only intended for grape / hail ammunition and had the same problems regarding the heating of the tube, which, due to the multilayer construction, could not cool down quickly enough and burst. The term “ patent ” appears for the first time in this source .

Meanwhile, from 1630 onwards, a veritable flood of inventors developed. All over Northern Europe there were new builders of leather cannons.

  • In 1630 there were attempts by a clergyman in Antwerp to find “what kind” of artillery would be best for seagoing vessels.
  • 1631–1633, the Augsburg goldsmith and master craftsman Georg Lotter produced seven to eight leather cannons for the Prince Archdiocese of Salzburg.
  • In 1632, after the death of Gustav II Adolf, Alexander Hamilton entered the service of Duke Wilhelm of Saxe-Weimar . There he got an artillery foundry in Suhl, Thuringia. Johann Ludwig Hektor Graf von Isolani destroyed Suhl and the foundry there in October 1634. After the destruction of Suhl, Alexander Hamilton returned to England in 1635 and received a pension from King Charles I. He opened a foundry in Potterrow Port, south of Edinburgh.
  • On June 16, 1632, Alexander Koät (brother or son of Julius Koät, sources are unclear) was praised by the Tsar on the basis of a shooting demonstration with a leather cannon. The tsar was enthusiastic about the light leather cannons and instructed Koät to develop this type of cannon further. When master Julius Koät died in 1634, the production of the leather cannons in Russia was initially discontinued as there was no successor.
  • In 1633 a certain Cornelius Schmit is said to have received a patent for a leather cannon in Amsterdam.
  • In 1634 the Genoese or Marin Marini, who built for Genoa, is mentioned. On his type of leather cannon, the copper pipe was reinforced with strips and iron rings, then wrapped with rope, covered with wooden strips and finally leather covered. This was done first in a long cylinder shape, then in a short pot shape (comparable to a mortar). Possibly a reference to the Scott model.
  • In 1637 Weymess' funds were exhausted and he received a donation from King Charles I. He was now to build leather cannons against his old home Scotland. In this conflict, the first of his leather cannons were not finished until 1643.
  • In 1638 Hamilton received a letter from his relatives in Scotland and switched sides. In autumn 1638 he revised his old models based on the designs in Suhl.
  • In February 1639, the first leather cannons were made in Edinburgh.
  • In April 1639, the Earl of Montrose received the first pieces.
  • From 1640 to 1650 the existence of leather cannons can still be found in the Stockholm arsenal (source: Turner James). Thereafter, the whereabouts of the Wurmbrandt leather cannons is unknown.
  • 1640 Colonel Hinze assumed that these Wurmbrandt leather cannons had been brought to the battle of Newbourne / Newburn (August 28) by Sir Alexander Leslie. Part of Leslie's “Swedish” wages should have been paid in muskets and cannons.
  • In 1647 the leather cannon from 1628 by Robert Scott was destroyed in a fire in the arsenal in Copenhagen.
  • Alexander Hamilton died in 1649.
  • In 1651 Weymess manufactured new leather cannons. On September 3, 1651 Weymess lost its artillery for the second time near Worchester. Here he was captured and imprisoned at Windsor Castle until 1654 . In 1661 Weymess was again listed as the "Master Gunner of England" and General of the Artillery in Scotland. He died in Scotland in 1667.
  • In 1660, at the urging of the Tsar in Russia, a new, improved version of the leather cannon came onto the market. This had a stronger soul tube and was now able to shoot massive iron balls for the first time. In addition, metal straps or even a complete metal jacket were pulled over the outer leather layer. It is possible that the Scottish type was built. A "Jagan Van Stolper" is named as the builder. He is said to have built two cannons by 1661. One of them was given to the Tsar as an “Easter present”.
  • On July 26, 1689, there was a last battle with leather cannons at Killiecrankie. The Scottish general Hugh Mackay provoked an attack on the Jacobites.

This ends the history of the leather cannon in Europe.

From 1622 to 1689, just 67 years, the leather cannons were in use. Only three years of that in Swedish service. Nevertheless, the myth of this unique cannon has always been associated with the name of King Gustav II Adolf of Sweden.

The leather cannons sounded one last time in Edinburgh in 1788, three shots as a salute.

Museum reception

Preserved copies can be viewed in the following museums:

literature

  • Karl Friedrich Peschel: Handbook of weapon theory. Designed for prospective warriors and especially for the lectures at the Königl. Saxon. noble cadet corps . Arnold, Dresden 1825, p. 139 digitized .
  • August Friedrich Gfrörer : History of Gustav Adolphs, King of Sweden, and his time . Rieger & Comp., Stuttgart et al. 1837, p. 230 digitized .
  • W. Gohlke: Attempts to lighten the field guns in the 17th and 18th centuries . In: Journal of historical weapons . tape 4 , issue 12, 1908, pp. 387-395 (on- line ).
  • Carlo M. Cipolla : Sails and Cannons. The European expansion at sea . Wagenknecht, Berlin 1999, ISBN 3-8031-3602-4 , p. 81 .

Web links

Commons : Leather cannons  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  • Ake Meyerson: Läder cannons from Tidö. Bokförlags Aktiebolaget Thule, Stockholm 1938.
  • Directorate of the Swiss National Museum in Zurich: Anzeiger für Schweizerische Archeologie. Verlag des Schweizerisches Landesmuseums, Buchdruckerei Report House, Zurich 1924, p. 52 as well as New Series XXVI. Volume 1924, 2nd and 3rd issue.
  • David Stevenson, David H. Caldwell: Leatherguns and other lightartillery in mid-17th-century Scotland.
  • Hans Zwiedineck from Suedhorst: Wurmbrand, Melchior. In: Deutsche Biographie 44 (1898), p. 338 (online version).
  • Israel Hoppe: History of the First Swedish-Polish War in Prussia. Duncker & Humblot Publishing House, 1887.
  1. ^ Karin Marti-Weissenbach: Philipp Eberhard. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland . July 23, 2004 , accessed June 16, 2019 .
  2. ↑ Klaus Bußmann , Heinz Schilling : 1648 - War and Peace in Europe. Catalog volume and two text volumes, Münster 1998 [Documentation of the Council of Europe exhibition on the 350th anniversary of the Peace of Westphalia in Münster and Osnabrück.] Münster / Osnabrück 1998, ISBN 3-88789-127-9 , p. 115
  3. ^ Army History Museum / Military History Institute (ed.): The Army History Museum in the Vienna Arsenal . Verlag Militaria , Vienna 2016, ISBN 978-3-902551-69-6 , p. 171
  4. ^ Germanic National Museum Nuremberg | Object catalog. Retrieved April 10, 2018 .