I have mentioned in a previous issue of the newsletter that I had many unanswered questions on artillery and that I had more of them every day. Following are a few of these questions:
1) Napoleon introduced some captured Austrian guns, 6 and 12 pounders in the French Army which however were equivalent to a French 5 and 11 pounder. Ref. GUNS page 101, Fenkens tome I page 40.
2) The French 12 pounder was firing a ball weighing 13 ponds. Ref. GUNS page 101.
3) In 1809 at the battle of Wagram one of Napoleon's officers replaced a French 12 pounder with a captured Austrian 12 pounder which was of the same caliber of the French gun. Ref. NAPOLEON'S ARMY page 83.
I wonder if the Austrians had a new 12 pounder in 1809 or that the weight of the balls (11 pounds for the Austrian versus 13 pounds for the French) was only due to the smaller windage of the French guns of the Gribauval system?
The French since the reformation of Gribauval had less windage (GUNS page 67 says reduced in half) that the guns of other nations (FIREPOWER page 38) that gave them greater range and a heavier ball for the same caliber. According to LACHOUQUE ANATOMY OF GLORY page 51, the windage of the French guns was about 1/8 of an inch.
According to the following table (from Mullers' Treatise on Artillery) the windage of the 4 pounder was .18 in., the 6 pounder .29 in., the 8 pounder .34 in., and finally the 12 pounder .38 in. We are far from the 2 mm. given by the Anatomy of Glory.
| Characteristics | Weight of Shot | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 6 | 8 | 12 | 18 | 24 | 56 in. row | |
| RATE/MINUTE | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1/2 | 1/3 | 1 |
| Max. Range Ball In Meters (0-1 degree) elev. of piece | 700 | 750 | 800 | 900 | 1100 | 1200 | 1200 (shell at 10 degrees elev) |
| Diameter of Bore | 3.23 | 3.78 | 4.18 | 4.78 | - | ||
| Ball diameter in inches | 3.05 | 3.49 | 3.84 | 4.40 | 5.04 | 5.54 | 5.5 |
| Windage in inches | .18 | .23 | .34 | .38 | - | ||
I have no idea where is the truth. Now where it becomes interesting is when one starts to calculate the weights of the balls as per the above diameters. The weight of a 12 pound ball as per Lachouque (diameter 119 mm) about 13.6 pounds. The weight of the same 12 pounder ball calculated as per the above table (diameter 4.4 in. or 111.76 mm) is 11.4 pounds!!! So again where is the truth?
One finds that a ball in order to have a weight of 13 pounds should have a diameter of 117 mm. or 4.6 in. i.e. a windage of 4 mm.
It is quite clear it is not! If anyone can tell me where is the truth I would appreciate it very much.
But that is not all. I have some more goodies for you. Two kinds of canisters were used, the small and the large. According to Firepower page 36 the following was carried by British and French guns (see next table).
Table showing the scales of ammunition held by British and French guns about 1800.
| FRENCH | Round Shot | Heavy Case | Light Case | Total rounds per gun |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 pdr gun | 118 | 24 | 26 | 178 |
| 8pdr gun | 137 | 40 | 20 | 197 |
| 12pdr gun | 153 | 24 | 26 | 203 |
| Authority: Lauerma. | ||||
| BRITISH | Round Shot | Heavy Case | Shrapnel | Light Case |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Light 6pr gun | ||||
| Gun axle box | 8 | - | - | - |
| Gun limber | 32 | - | 5 | 5 |
| Wagon limber | 32 | - | 4 | 4 |
| Wagon body | 60 | 20 | 5 | 5 |
| Total | 132 | 20 | 14 | 14 |
| Total rounds per gun 180 | ||||
| 9pr gun | ||||
| Gun limber | 26 | - | 3 | 3 |
| Wagon limber | 26 | - | 3 | 3 |
| Wagon body | 36 | 12 | 2 | 2 |
| Total | 88 | 12 | 8 | 8 |
| Total rounds per gun 116 | ||||
| Authority: The Bombardier and Pocket Gunner | ||||
Now according to AUSTERLITZ page 199 (French edition) the French 12 pounders at Austerlitz in 1805 had only large canisters (42 lead balls in a container). Each gun had150 rounds of shots and 90 rounds of canister. It is also stated that the small canister was not suitable for the 12 pounder.
It is reported in Round shots and Rammers page 54 that all Gribauval guns were (at least in 1767) 18 caliber long.
According to French Military Weapons 1717-1938 page 144, the new artillery system of the YEAR IX consisted of the 6 and 12 pounder guns with a 17 caliber length.
According to WELLER, WELLINGTON AT WATERLOO page 176 the guns of the YEAR IX were heavier, more powerful and longer ranged. The carriage had been reinforced to absorb the recoil energy.
Again from Weller page 20 at Waterloo the older Gribauval light howitzers appear to have disappeared entirely. Anybody know about them? Rounds, Shots and Rammers page 54 claims that there were two types of howitzers, the old 8 in. for special use and the new 6 in. for field use.
French Military Weapons page 144 says that the Gribauval system had the 6 and 8 in. howitzers and the system of the YEAR IX had a 24 pounder howitzer. Is it a new howitzer? Different from the 6 in.?
It is reported that the British 6 pounder was equivalent in effect to the French 4 pounder and the British 12 pounder to the French 8 pounder (Jeffrey THE NAPOLEONIC WARGAME (page 37). That should be enough for today. Your help to clear up this mess would be appreciated. No guesses please.
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© Copyright 1999 by Jean Lochet
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