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Cannons were used
to scare off the enemy and to protect the fort and your companions. The cannons weighed about five hundred pounds
per barrel. It usually took a couple of men to fire the cannon at the enemy. A few of the men would
have to hold the cannon in place while firing, while all the others would place the gunpowder in the cannon with
the cannon ball. Cannon balls usually ranged from the size of a large orange to a small un-ripe coconut,
and weighed about two pounds each. The last man who helped fire the cannon, would light the rope, which would ignite
the cannon, and would send the cannon ball out the other end, aimed at the opponent. After a couple of times of
firing, the cannon would become extremely hot. To cool off the cannons, they would rub a wet sponge over the
cannon until it had cooled down. Cannons were mostly located inside the fort, but rarely were there any on the
outside. On the inside of the fort, the cannons were placed in large square openings. They were placed on wooden
planks made into ramps, which were put together with square headed nails. The ramps sloped downward to the
wall to help move the cannons in place for firing. BOOM!
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| This is a picture of a cannon located on the outside of the fort. |
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| This is a cannon that is inside of the fort. |
Weapons
of the olden days!
A musket was one of the weapons that was used in the 1750s.
It was used for both self defense and protection of the fort. These muskets were placed in holes that were larger on
the inside than they were on the outside. This was a good defense for the people who were inside the fort because the
enemy saw a small hole, which would be harder to shoot into. On the other hand, the people inside the fort could see
more than the enemy could which gave them a better range on shooting. Another way that the people guarding the fort
had an advantage was that there was a moat around the fort. A moat is a small decline in the land that could make
it harder for the enemy to reach the fort. A hill seems to be useless, but when you are in a battle a hill could be
the most powerful and the deciding factor of who is going to win the battle. On
top of the hill you can see over the enemy. To get the hill, you want to find a way to scare the enemy away. A
good way to scare off the enemy is to make them believe that they are going to die. One main weapon that the soldiers
used in a battle was a bayonet. A bayonet was made out of steel, and was shaped like a triangle. The bayonet
was smaller at the tip, and gradually got larger. One of the main ways to use this weapon was to place it on the end
of your gun. You would try to stab your enemy with it. Many people died from this dangerous weapon, so
it became illegal to use in the 1920s. Sometimes people would stick the bayonet in the ground and would place
a candle in it to bring you light during the nighttime.
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| This is the hole where the muskets point out from, which is located inside of the fort. |
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| These are original bayonets. |
GUNPOWDER!
Gunpowder is a powder like substance that was used to shoot off cannons or guns. The gunpowder was usually stored
in a dark area with tall, thick walls that surrounded the barrels of gunpowder. The
gunpowder was stored this way because if the building would catch on fire the gunpowder would be ruined along with the
building. One of the oldest buildings that held gunpowder is still located in Fort de Chartres today.
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| This is where the gunpowder is stored. This is the oldest building in the fort. |
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| These are barrels full of gunpowder. |
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