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Finally, there was the introduction of the breech-loading cartridge, replacing the cumbersome method of muzzle-loading with a ramrod. From the early days of gunpowder, military engineers had used it for undermining enemy fortifications, and from the 1600s it was used for blasting in mines and quarries. These were hazardous operations, but the risk was much reduced by William Bickford’s invention of the safety fuse in 1831.

Swedish reenactors fire an artillery piece during a reenactment of a battle from the Thirty Years’ War. The gunpowder used in muskets and cannons produced thick smoke that obscured battlefields, as well as residue that could make the weapons less accurate.

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