...many shells burst among us, and the crack of these things deafened me, making my ears ring.
Bruce, H. A., Life of General Sir Charles Napier, G.C.B. London, 1885, p. 25.

Russian artillery officer Ilya Radozhitsky (the 3rd Light Artillery Company, the 11th Artillery Brigade attached to the 11th Infantry Division) on the battle of Ostrovno (1812):
"...гранаты разрывались на воздухе с адским визгом."

My translation:
"... [French] shells exploded in the air with hellish screech."

Radozhitsky, I.T., Pokhodnye Zapiski Artillerista. (Campaign Memoirs of an Artilleryman.) Moscow, 1835, vol.1, part 1, p. 79.

Yes the resonating 'crack' dissipating quickly in the cold air, making Napier's ears ring is very evocative, as is the hellish screech of shell fragments scything through the air , experienced by Ilya Radozhitsky. Combined with the vidoes of mid-C19th mortar demonstrations (mentioned below) I am beginning to get an idea. Thanks