A
canister round, fired from a
cannon, was a thin-walled metal
cylinder packed with
musket balls and
sawdust. Some canister rounds that have been found were packed with
nails, pieces of
hinges, and other
scrap metal. A
wooden block, or "
sabot," was attached to the bottom of the canister, helping to keep the round in the middle of the
bore and preventing the
explosion gases from shooting out around the
sides. Attached to the bottom of the sabot was the
cloth bag that contained the
propellant powder that set off the round. When the powder was set off, the
force of the explosion would
disrupt the can and the shot would
spray out of the
muzzle with
murderous effect.
Canister rounds were the
smoothbore cannon's most
lethal load and, in their time (late
18th through
19th centuries), probably
killed more
soldiers than all other types of
artillery rounds combined. Canister was effective only at
short range, - 600
yards or less - but, like the blast from a
giant sawed-off shotgun, the mass of the
slugs from the round would
spread out and
decimate anything
downrange. When the
enemy was within 150 yards, soldiers would
load the guns with
two or even
three rounds of canister and fire them off
at one time.