Background
Military commanders had been complaining since the Napoleonic Wars about the problems of giving orders on a battlefield obscured by the smoke of firing. Verbal commands could not be heard above the noise of the guns, and visual signals could not be seen through the thick smoke from the gunpowder used by the guns. Unless there was a strong wind, after a few shots, soldiers using black powder ammunition would have their view obscured by a huge cloud of smoke. Snipers or other concealed shooters were given away by a cloud of smoke over the firing position. Black powder is also corrosive, making cleaning mandatory after every use. Likewise, black powder's tendency to produce severe fouling caused actions to jam and often made reloading difficult.
Read more about this topic: Smokeless Powder
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