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Grapeshot was a kind of anti-personnel ammunition used in cannons. Instead of a solid shot, a mass of loosely packed metal slugs is loaded into a canvas bag. The assembly of balls resemble a cluster of grapes (hence the name). On firing, the balls spread out from the muzzle at high velocity, giving an effect similar to a shotgun but scaled up to cannon size. Upon impact with a person, debris could go flying and become secondary projectiles. These were taken advantage of, especially with many people, because then chunks of bone could be sent flying and could fatally injure many people.
Cannons would use solid shot to attack enemy artillery and troops at longer range, and switch to grape when they or nearby troops were charged.
Conflicts in which grapeshot was famously and effectively used include:
- Battle of Culloden - 1746, Jacobites under Bonnie Prince Charlie v British forces under the Duke of Cumberland
- 13 Vendémiaire - Napoleon, when a brigadier general during the later stages of the French Revolution, famously dispersed a Royalist mob on the streets of Paris with a "whiff of grapeshot" on 5 October 1795. He was rewarded with the command of the Army of Italy in 1796, and his victories at the battles of Lodi, Castiglione, Arcola and Rivoli provided a springboard for his military and political ambitions.
- During Irish Rebellion of 1798, widely used by British forces against Irish rebels, notably in battles of New Ross, Arklow and Vinegar Hill
- Battle of Borodino, 1812 (Prince Mikhail Kutuzov (Russia) v Napoleon Bonaparte (France) ).
Improvised Grapeshot (Saladshot)
Grapeshot can also be improvised using grapeshot made from chainlinks, shards of glass, rocks, et cetera. This can be called 'saladshot', as it's made up of bric-a-brac.
In The Curse of the Black Pearl, a chase scene with two ships involves a rally of improvised grapeshot from one ship, which is also made up of bric-a-brac--silverware, splints of wood, bottles (and one neck flask).
The Shrapnel round was an invention to deliver the effect of grape shot at a distance.
See also
"Grapeshot"