Present arms!

The word “artillery” comes from a Latin expression “art tallere” meaning literally ”the art of firing”. It originated in the 14th century. Initially, huge bombards mounted on fixed bases were used mainly for making holes in walls of medieval castles. With time, movable artillery (siege and fortress) appeared, which provided troops with support during attacks. The main feature of fortress artillery as compared to field artillery was that it was ground bound. The construction of mounts of fortress cannons differed from those of field ones and fortress mounts did not have to be equipped with huge wheels for transportation. Consequently, fortress artillery ensured better aiming precision. It was used to destroy enemy troops and its siege artillery positions. (Hitting an enemy cannon was called “disassembly”). In spite of a great significance of fortress artillery, service in artillery units commonly called “service in the wall” was perceived as the worst of kind of service in the 17th, 18th and the first half of the 19th century; it did not offer any possibility of promotion or displaying of one’s worth in a battle and was treated as the end of a military career for ambitious officers. The situation started to change in the second half of the 19th century when modern cannons, often protected with mighty armoured structures and turned by means of complicated mechanisms came into use. An officer of fortress artillery had to become a high-class specialist technician and even recruits had to be literate, to do basic calculations and be familiar with technology. Consequently, conscription into artillery service was carried out mainly in urban areas with well-developed industry as well as in mining and railway areas, etc. This type of artillery never existed in Zamość; its appearance was a direct cause of liquidation of Zamość Fortress.