Round shot and infantry

[fishfingers]

Simple question of physics and biology, alot of the time, I see my 6lb and 12lb cannonballs rip into an enemy infantry unit, knocks down about 10 men but only kills 3 of them, the rest stand up.....

Ok, can someone explain to me how a human is supposed to survive getting hit by a 12 pound ball of iron travelling at 400m/s?

[Sasu]

If a cannonball hits a formation that has three ranks of men, in a right angle, depending on the point of impact, it will literally go through three men. If the energy involved is high enough, it can just cleanly go through the three men and not impact the men next to them (physically). It can also throw the hit men and their body parts around in great velocity knocking the men beside them down. I think that this is represented in the situation you described. ...If the enemy formations has more than three ranks, you could perhaps watch the moment of impact in a replay with slow motion, to see which soldiers are hit and which just knocked down.

On a side note, there is a phenomenon, from this era of cannons (17th to 19th century), where soldiers have been reported dying, when a cannonball has just missed them. Some modern researchers say that, in these cases, the cannonball has, in fact, hit the soldier, but in a very "gentle" angle. The impact is not very visible, but the energy involved will cause internal damage and bleeding.

[Atkins]

On a side note, there is a phenomenon, from this era of cannons (17th to 19th century), where soldiers have been reported dying, when a cannonball has just missed them. Some modern researchers say that, in these cases, the cannonball has, in fact, hit the soldier, but in a very "gentle" angle. The impact is not very visible, but the energy involved will cause internal damage and bleeding.

this phenomenon was quite well known to the royal navy back in the day. sailors would just seem to drop down dead after a cannonball had flew by quite close to them. no marks on the body or anything, but they were dead as a doornail.