Book Review:
Napoleon's Guns,
1792-1815 (volume 1)

By Rene Chartrand
Artwork by Ray Hutchins

 

Napoleon’s Guns, 1792 to 1815. Rene Chartrand Ray Hutchins If you are interested in Napoleon’s artillery, in particular the field guns, then you’ll have a good read ahead of you with this title.

Rene Chartrand’s Napoleon’s Guns (I) looks at the reformation of France’s artillery throughout the 18th Century and reveals there was quite a battle over which system to adopt.

Everyone will have heard of General Jean-Baptiste Gribeauval, but how about General Jean Valliere?

It was the later who began the much-needed revolution in the French artillery arm in the 1730s and for a while it did the trick by standardizing calibers and making them more mobile.

But the need for mobility became paramount during the Seven Years War, in which the French cannons were totally outclassed by its opponents. Enter Gribeauval and his plan to make his artillery the best organized and equipped in Europe.

The Gribeauval system was based on Austria’s Lichtenstein system – with improvements – but the doubling of firepower for the French army didn’t stop Valliere’s son from trying to throw it all out and reintroduce his dad’s one.

Anyway, the political in-fighting is fascinating and so is Chartrand’s overview of Napoleon’s Guns.

The chapters include Field Ordnance, Standard Manufacture and Expert Service, Valliere Counterattacks, Artillery Units, The Year XI System, Regimental Guns, Paint and Trim, Mountain Artillery, Ammunitions and Imperial Campaigns.

Ray Hutchins’ artworks are nicely rendered images of a French 12-pounder, a 6-pound howitzer, caissons and other equipment, a Year XI field gun and carriage and a 4-pounder crew in action.

- Richard Moore

8.5/10