Russian Artillery
Guns and Howitzers

Odds and Ends

Original research by Pete Perkins
Article and drawings by Dave Perkins

Trail boxes for field guns were shown in the USSR movie "War and Peace". Whether this is accurate or not I do not know. It should be noted however that the cutaway inside the trail cheeks was provided to lighten the carriage and the transverse strapping on the 6 pdr. was most likely for strengthening.

The box on the light limber (No 6) probably could have been used for ready-use ammunition while that on the medium limber was more likely used to store spare harness and tools in.

In Duffy's recently published "Borodino" there is a picture captioned "French troops abandoning Smolensk". Close examination however tells another tale, What is actually shown are Russian dragoons, or more likely, horse gunners, spiking a Russian 6 pdr (Darned if I know why?). The gun and limber are very interesting as they appear to be a standard light limber and gun adapted to horse artillery requirements. The limber box is positioned transversely on the frame making it possible to be used as a seat. Also there is a step fitted on the outside of the left cheek of the gun which would indicate that a gunner could have sat on the trail using this object as a footrest. In between the cheeks is a what appears to be a padded object. A seat perhaps.

All speculation of course, but the artist probably painted just what he saw and why not.

It should be noted that the small projection on top of the muzzles in the drawings is indeed a "sight". Apparently there was more to it than just a foresight but I have not been able to determine what. The system however was named after its inventor, Karbonov.

More Russian Artillery Guns and Howitzers of the System of 1805

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