When I was in the military, the artillery guys were known for being pretty crazy and having a good time. At the Civil War reenactment, it was no different for the cannon crews. During the battle, these guys just kept packing blasting their cannons off and must have been having a great time. It was a lot of fun to watch the cannons go off and the booms were pretty epic.
While this was a lot of fun to watch, I couldn't help but think how much devastation a cannon crew could actually do on the battlefield back then. During our trip, we saw trees that were ripped in half or had cannon balls stuck in them. These things could cause some serious damage as they tore through people. They really are a brutal weapon. I would not want to be on the receiving end of one of those cannon balls.
For the reenactment, they don't shoot off cannon balls or any projectile but use blank cartridges instead. They still aren't the safest things to be around and we needed to stay back pretty far from the cannon crew when they were firing. This was just another example of how cool these reenactments could be to see in person.
