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 Post subject: secondary shrapnel
PostPosted: Sat Aug 18, 2018 11:40 am 
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Joined: Tue Nov 11, 2003 9:52 am
Posts: 1324
Found this. Don't know how accurate it is. I had heard of secondary shrapnel from tree limbs but not rocks and dirt.

https://www.quora.com/Werent-the-civil- ... ot-explode

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 Post subject: Re: secondary shrapnel
PostPosted: Sat Aug 18, 2018 1:57 pm 
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Joined: Fri Oct 12, 2007 3:20 pm
Posts: 1365
Location: USA
. . . or bone fragments! Interesting post.

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 Post subject: Re: secondary shrapnel
PostPosted: Sat Aug 18, 2018 3:00 pm 
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Location: USA
Solid shot was not quite as effective during the CW as compared to Napoleonic battles which used the tactic of firing solid shot in front of the infantry so it would spray up rocks, etc. and also bounce through the formation. The first effect, secondary shrapnel, was undone by the terrain. European battlefields tended to be very flat. American terrain wasn't and solid shot tended to bury into the ground rather than create spray and keep bouncing. The second, bounce effect, was undone by the use of two rank formations.

The differences between casualty levels during the Civil War and Napoleonic Wars isn't as great as you would think. The rifle's increased accuracy was more than offset by less dense formations. For comparison of two battles:

At Waterloo 80,000 French confronted 72,000 Allies.
Wellington suffered 23,185 casualties.
Napoleon suffered 26,000.

At Gettysburg 82,000 Yankees confronted 70,000 Rebs.
Meade loss 23,003.
Lee loss 20,448.

Nosworthy made a more detail study of the weapons and how effective they were and more or less found little difference under battlefield conditions. Fire fights still took place at about the same ranges, around 100 yards. And, still take place at those ranges in WW I, WW II and Modern wars. Mostly for the same reason.

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 Post subject: Re: secondary shrapnel
PostPosted: Sun Aug 19, 2018 10:18 pm 
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Location: Massachusetts, USA
Interesting posts.

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