Timeline of 19th Century Military Technology
A Yank, David Bushnell, designed and constructs the first successful submarine, the Turtle, an air tight barrel craft powered and directed by hand-cranked propellers. Arm with a wood auger which allowed the attachment of a mine to the wooden hull of the war ships of the era.
1776
1779
James Watt develops a commercially viable steam engine.
Grandoni develops a compressed gas rifle that shoots 20 rounds per minute of .36 cal.,
.44 cal. and .51 cal. shot with muzzle velocity of 1,000 feet per second.
It was relatively silent and smoke-free.
1784
General Henry Shrapnel develops an explosive shell with a casing designed to scatter fragments and shot at high velocity upon detonation.
Napoleonic Wars
1807
Dominant weapons were the flintlock musket with a bayonet and the smoothbore,
muzzle-loading cannon
Napoleon uses cannon to inflict more than 50% of the opposing side's casualties
Line and column formation
Napoleon experiments with hot air balloons
Major changes were sociopolitical and organizational rather than technological
Lasting influence on military thought throughout the century
Robert Fulton's paddle-wheeled steamer, the Clermont, travels up the Hudson
