Rebellion), in which artillery was hampered by the previous neglect of a
century, its field work was not often contemptible, and on occasion the
arm did excellent service. But in the campaigns of this war, fought out
by men whose most ardent desire was to decide the quarrel swiftly, the
marching and manoeuvring were unusually rapid. The consequence of this
was that the guns were sometimes either late in arriving, as at
Edgehill, or absent altogether, as at Preston. The _role_ of guns was
further reduced by the fact that there were few fortresses to be
reduced, and country houses, however strong, rarely required to be
battered by a siege train. The New Model army usually sent for siege
guns only when they were needed for particular service. On such
occasions, indeed, the heavy ordnance did its work so quickly and
effectually that the assault often took place one or two days after the
guns had opened fire. Cromwell in his sieges made great use of shells,
12-inch and even larger mortars being employed. The castle of Devizes,
which had successfully resisted the Parliamentary battering guns,
succumbed at once to vertical fire. It does not, however, appear certain
that there was any separation of field from siege ordnance, although the
Swedish system was followed in almost all military matters.