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{{Short description|Artillery by type}}
'''Wooden cannons''' have been manufactured and used in wars in many countries. The wooden parts were invariably strengthened with metal fittings or even rope. ▼
{{Distinguish|Quaker gun}}
▲'''Wooden cannons''' have been manufactured and used in wars in many countries. The wooden parts were invariably strengthened with metal fittings or even rope.
==Expedient technique==
The use of wood for [[cannon]]-making could be dictated either by the lack of metal
The barrel could be sometimes coated with tin in the interior, having the exterior reinforced with 8–10 iron
The cannons could fire a variety of
Wooden cannons have been used at various times. [[Aurangzeb]] in the [[Deccan Plateau|Deccan]] used such cannons for defensive purposes, as he lacked regular cannons but had abundant wood available.<ref name="Carman64"/>
Wooden cannons were used by the Vietnamese against the French during the [[Cochinchina campaign]] in 1862.<ref name="Carman64"/> Some Japanese forces used wooden cannons during the [[Boshin war]] in 1868.
The Romanians (motzes) from [[Apuseni Mountains]], Transylvania, extensively manufactured this type of cannon for use against the Hungarian army in 1848–1849. The wooden cannons had various calibers, up to 120–150 millimetres, and were made from fir, cherry, or beech tree. They were made using manpowered drills to obtain the desired caliber. In battle, the largest-caliber cannons were employed from fixed positions, whereas cannons of smaller calibers could be deployed in the field, carried on man-drawn or horse-drawn carriages, or transported on horseback via [[pack saddle]]s.▼
Wooden cannons were used in Europe on various occasions. Russian Tsar [[Peter the Great]] is known to have built several as a childhood pastime.<ref>{{cite book |url=
▲The barrel could be sometimes coated with tin in the interior, having the exterior reinforced with 8–10 iron circles. The firing system was identical with the one used on flintlocks.
▲
▲The cannons could fire a variety of missiles, from cannonballs made of iron, wood, or rock, to incendiary materials and a type of grapeshots (a load of smaller rocks with sharp edges to increase damage upon attacking compact infantry formations). Also, they were used as a psychological weapon, firing without missiles, simply for the sound, which was enough to create in enemy ranks a state of panic, believing that it is being attacked by military artillery. In the mountains, the sound was reverberated by the mountain slopes, the sound being thus repeated and amplified.
During the [[April Uprising]] in 1876, the Bulgarians used 52 [[Cherry gun|cherry-wood cannons]]. The barrels were lined inside with copper tubes. After a few shots, the guns would begin to crack, and were reinforced with ropes soaked in tar. During the [[Ilinden-Preobrazhenie Uprising]] in 1903 the Bulgarian partisans in Macedonia likewise produced cherry-wood cannons.
▲Wooden cannons were used by the Vietnamese against the French during the [[Cochinchina campaign]] in 1862.<ref name="Carman64"/> Some Japanese forces used wooden cannons during the [[Boshin war]] in 1868. The [[Indigenous peoples in South America|native peoples]] of [[South America]] used wooden cannons against the [[Spain|Spanish]] and [[Portugal|Portuguese]] during the 17th and 18th centuries.<ref>{{cite book |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=QTTD6CbZvIQC&pg=PA255&dq=%22wooden+cannon%22&lr=#PPA255,M1 |title=A Vanished Arcadia Being Some Account of the Jesuits in Paraguay 1607 to 1767 |author=R. B. Cunninghame Graham |publisher=Kessinger Publishing |year=2005 |isbn=9781417906529 |page=255}}</ref> The [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native Americans]] in [[North America]] used improvised wooden cannons against fortifications.<ref>{{cite book |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=Eb9maIwrd64C&pg=PA132&dq=%22wooden+cannon%22&lr=#PPA132,M1 |title=Stories of American Life and Adventure |first=Edward |last=Eggleston |publisher=Sumner Press |year=2008 |isbn=9781409788065 |page=132}}</ref> [[Squire Boone]] also constructed a wooden cannon used in the defense of Boonesborough, Kentucky in 1778 [[Siege of Boonesborough]].
During [[World War I]] the [[Imperial German Army]] developed a series of [[Albrecht Mortar|heavy wooden mortar]]s.
▲Wooden cannons were used in Europe on various occasions. Russian Tsar [[Peter the Great]] is known to have built several as a childhood pastime.<ref>{{cite book |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=1_fwo9-URNEC&pg=PA138&dq=%22wooden+cannon%22&lr=#PPA137,M1 |title=The Oxford Book of Military Anecdotes |first=Max |last=Hastings |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1986 |isbn=9780195205282 |page=138}}</ref> The Bulgarians used 52 [[Cherry gun|cherry-wood cannons]] during the [[April Uprising]] in 1876. The Macedonians likewise produced cherry-wood cannons before the [[Ilinden Uprising]] in 1903.
<gallery>
Vietnamese wooden cannon captured at the Vinh Long citadel by the French on 23 March 1862.jpg|Vietnamese wooden cannon [[Capture of Vĩnh Long|captured at the Vinh Long citadel]] by the French on 23 March 1862.
Vietnamese wooden cannon muzzle 1862.jpg|Muzzle of Vietnamese wooden cannon, 1862, [[Vĩnh Long]]
Japanese coastal wooden cannon 1853 1854.jpg|Japanese coastal wooden cannon built by the ''[[
Sendai1868Cannons.JPG|Wooden cannons used by the Sendai fief during the [[Boshin War]] in Japan in 1868. [[Sendai City Museum]]
Wooden Cannon GNM W622.jpg|European wooden cannon.
Wooden Cannon muzzle GNM W622.jpg|[[Muzzle (firearms)|Muzzle]] of the cannon shown in the previous picture
</gallery>
==Deception method==
{{main article|Quaker gun}}
In some wars, fake cannons made from a wooden log, sometimes painted black, were used to deceive an enemy. Misleading the enemy as to the strength of an emplacement was an effective delaying tactic. Both sides of the [[American Civil War]] used such faked weapons, called [[Quaker gun]]s. The name derives from the [[Religious Society of Friends]] or "Quakers", who have traditionally held a religious opposition to war and violence in the [[Peace Testimony]].
==See also==
*[[Bamboo cannon]]
*[[Leather cannon]]
==Notes==
{{Reflist}}
▲{{commons category|Wooden cannons}}
[[Category:Artillery by type]]
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