A prepared charge of powder that could be attached
to a barrier, door, or other obstacle and detonated to destroy the obstacle.
Petards could be arranged in any number ways using a wide range of powder
vessels and attachment methods ranging from complicate fixtures involving
brass pots, boards, and hooks to simple canvass bags with a powder hose.
The illustration (right) shows front and rear views of a hook petard. This
type of petard was applied to wooden doorways; the powder vessel was fixed
to the board with leather straps and the board fixed to a doorway with the
hook. A fuze at the top rear of the powder vessel would be touched off and
the poor man detailed to handle the job would run like mad to the nearest
cover. If all went well and the powder vessel didn't fly off backward away
from the door a hole would be blasted through the board and doorway, or even
better, the force of the explosion would be transmitted evenly to the board,
the board would be propelled forward, and the door would be knocked right
down off its hinges.
A prepared charge of powder that could be attached
to a barrier, door, or other obstacle and detonated to destroy the obstacle.
Petards could be arranged in any number ways using a wide range of powder
vessels and attachment methods ranging from complicate fixtures involving
brass pots, boards, and hooks to simple canvass bags with a powder hose.
The illustration (right) shows front and rear views of a hook petard. This
type of petard was applied to wooden doorways; the powder vessel was fixed
to the board with leather straps and the board fixed to a doorway with the
hook. A fuze at the top rear of the powder vessel would be touched off and
the poor man detailed to handle the job would run like mad to the nearest
cover. If all went well and the powder vessel didn't fly off backward away
from the door a hole would be blasted through the board and doorway, or even
better, the force of the explosion would be transmitted evenly to the board,
the board would be propelled forward, and the door would be knocked right
down off its hinges.
