8 pound gun 1 26 model. Brigand Pounder - Bandit Gun

Characteristics Variations 8 lb. Brigand cannon 8
Pounder Brigand 12 12-pounder gun
Pounder Brigand 16 16-pounder gun
Pounder OZ 50 75 103 Evasion 0% 10% 23% Protection 70% 70% 70% Speed 0 1 2 Resistance Stun 200% 220% 245% Blight 200% 220% 245% Bleed 200% 220% 245% Debuff 200% 220% 245% Move 100% 120% 145%

Cannon - depending on the difficulty level 8-pounder, 12-pounder and 16-pounder - Boss living in the Thicket.

Bandit Cannon - Ancestor's memories

“

Simple folk are by their nature loquacious, and the denizens of the hamlet were no exception. It was not long before rumors of my morbid genius and secretive excavations began to fill local legend. In the face of my increasingly egregious flaunting of public taboos, awe turned to ire, and demonstrations were held in the town square. The whisper wilds of heresy roused the rabble to violent action. Such was the general air of rebellion that even my generous offer of gold to the local constabulary was rebuffed. To reassert my rule, I sought out unscrupulous men skilled in the application of force. Tight-lipped and terrifying, these mercenaries brought with them a war machine of terrible implication. Eager to end the tiresome domestic distraction, I instructed my newly formed militia of hardened bandits, brigands and killers to go ahead and do their work. Compliance and order were restored, and the noisesome population of the Hamlet was culled to more managable numbers.

„

Story

When rumors of the Ancestor's experiments reached the ears of the local residents, they became furious. In order to contain them, the Ancestor hired a gang of robbers who brought with them huge cannon incredible strength. Now that the Ancestor has died, the robbers continue to use it, terrorizing the village.

Behavior

Bandit Gun appears in the second position, with three bandits in the other three positions. The most dangerous of them is the Rogue Pyro, who makes the Cannon fire. If the Pyro is able to act on its turn, the Cannon will use one of its two attacks. The first one, BOOOOOM! (“BOOOOOOOM!”) is a long-range attack that hits the entire squad with huge damage and also causes a lot of stress. The second attack is a misfire! ("MISFIRE!") does no damage and gives the party stress treatment. The Cannon itself cannot use any of its attacks except the Reinforcement skill! (“Reinforcements!”), which summons another rogue. The cannon will use this skill at the start of each turn until all positions are filled. If you killed the Arsonist Rogue, the Cannon will first summon him, and therefore all other types of robbers. The chance of Cannon using his devastating attack increases depending on the dungeon's level.

Skills

Apprentice Level
Skill name	Attack type	From the position	Strikes to position	Chance to hit	Crit chance	Damage	Effect	Effect on yourself
Reinforcement*	Ranged	1, 2, 3, 4.	1, 2, 3, 4. (allies)	0%	0%	0	Summon Brigands**	No effect
BOOOOOOOM!***	Ranged	1, 2, 3, 4.	1+2+3+4.	83%	0%	9-27	Stress +15	No effect
MISFIRE!***	Ranged	1, 2, 3, 4.	1+2+3+4.	0%	0%	0	Stress -10	No effect

Veteran Level
Skill name	Attack type	From the position	Strikes to position	Chance to hit	Crit chance	Damage	Effect	Effect on yourself
Reinforcement*	Ranged	1, 2, 3, 4.	1, 2, 3, 4. (allies)	0%	0%	0	Summon Brigands**	No effect
BOOOOOOOM!***	Ranged	1, 2, 3, 4.	1+2+3+4.	89%	0%	12-35	Stress +15	No effect
MISFIRE!***	Ranged	1, 2, 3, 4.	1+2+3+4.	0%	0%	0	Stress -10	No effect

Champion Level
Skill name	Attack type	From the position	Strikes to position	Chance to hit	Crit chance	Damage	Effect	Effect on yourself
Reinforcement*	Ranged	1, 2, 3, 4.	1, 2, 3, 4. (allies)	0%	0%	0	Summon Brigands**	No effect
BOOOOOOOM!***	Ranged	1, 2, 3, 4.	1+2+3+4.	103%	0%	18-54	Stress +15	No effect
MISFIRE!***	Ranged	1, 2, 3, 4.	1+2+3+4.	0%	0%	0	Stress -10	No effect

* Bandit Cannon will always use Reinforcements! (Reinforcement) at the beginning of each of your turns, until all positions are occupied by robbers.

** Reinforcements! Reinforcement can only summon Brigand Matchman, Brigand Cutthroat, Brigand Fusilier and Brigand Bloodletter. If the Firebug Rogue is not on the battlefield, he will always be summoned first.

** There can only be 1 robber of each type on the battlefield. This means that the Cannon cannot summon two Arsonists or Thugs.

*** Bandit Cannon will use BOOOOOOOM! and MISFIRE! only after the Pyro skill “The fuse is burning!” (Fire In The Hole) regardless of the effects on it.

*** BOOOOOOOM! and MISFIRE! are mutually exclusive. Only one of these skills can be used after Brigand Matchman uses Fuse Burns! (Fire In The Hole).

NOTE: As the dungeon's difficulty increases, the chance of using BOOOOOOOM! increases significantly, and the probability of MISFIRE! decreases. An approximate table of relationships as difficulty levels increase:

	Apprentice	Veteran	Champion
BOOOOOOOM!	65%	70%	75%
MISFIRE!	35%	30%	25%

Strategy

First and most importantly, kill the Arsonist first! Do not allow him to live until the end of the turn, as his actions have disastrous consequences for the entire squad. It is recommended to take with you heroes that can attack in all positions, as the Pyro can be moved or summoned again to the third or fourth position, where it will be inaccessible to melee attacks. Luckily, the Pyro has very low speed and low health, making him an easy target to kill. Bleeding and Poison can kill the Pyro before he even lights the fuse, and stuns will cause him to miss his turn.

As for the Cannon itself, it has a LOT of defense points and is practically immune to all possible effects. In this battle, it is recommended to take heroes with AOE attacks with you so that you can deal with robbers and Cannon at the same time.

One strategy is to kill all the robbers, after which you can attack the Cannon without support. This is a rather long, but safe battle, since the Cannon will be busy summoning more and more robbers. However, any hero with Stun can reduce incoming damage, leaving the rogue stunned instead of having a new one summoned. Hit the rogue with one attack per turn, then stun him and finish him off when he is under the stun resistance increase buff. This will reduce incoming damage to the squad, without leading to constant calls for new robbers, and will allow you to finish off the Cannon more quickly, freeing up additional attacks for this. The Thug is the most obvious target for this strategy, as he spawns in the first position and his attacks deal more concentrated damage than the Marksman's, making it difficult to control incoming damage with healing.

Another strategy is to ignore the two rogues and focus on the Pyro and Cannon. This is a more dangerous and risky strategy, but it will help reduce the number of Reinforcements. High Damage and Evasion stats are recommended for this strategy.

On the highest difficulty level, fighting the Cannon can be quite a challenge, as the Pyro's health and evasion increases significantly, the Cannon's health doubles, and it begins to summon the Brigand Bloodletter rogue. Due to the increased health and damage of robbers, conventional strategies become less effective. For the last level of difficulty, it is recommended to assemble a squad without a healer in order to quickly destroy the robbers and beat the Cannon in those turns when it only summoned the Arsonist. A good option there will be a squad structure built on interaction with the Mark - Savage-Mercenary-Crossbowman-Tamer. However, it is risky to send such a squad into the Thicket without a healer due to the Unclean Giant monster found there.

• When entering the boss room, you can surprise two robbers, but not the Cannon or the Pyro.

TOOLS

Guns.

In French field artillery, as in Russian, the guns were cast from bronze with a composition of 11±1 parts of tin to 100 parts of copper.

There were 5 types of guns: the Gribovalevsky 4-, 8- and 12-pounders, adopted for service in 1765, as well as the 6- and 12-pounder systems of the 11th year (according to the republican calendar, i.e. 1803 according to the Gregorian). New 12-lb. the gun was 278 pounds (136 kg) lighter than the old one.

The Gribovalev guns had the usual division for those times into a muzzle, swivel and breech, and they weighed 150 cannonballs, and in the XI year system, the appearance of all guns was simplified as much as possible - almost no decoration was left, and their weight was equal to 130 cannonballs. I note that the 6-pound guns were completely new, and were not obtained as a result of drilling out the 4-pound Griboval guns, as Nilus writes. We tried to drill only long Valer 4-lb. guns.

Channel ended with a flat bottom with a 1/8 caliber rounding. The fuse has a diameter of 2.5 lines. Note that the French inch was duodecimal, as opposed to English decimal) drilled at an angle in the seed screw.

Diameter trunnions was equal to the diameter of the kernels, and they all had shoulders. The axis of the trunnions of the Gribovalev guns is 1/12 of the core diameter below the axis of the gun.

Dolphins had the form of a rectangular octagonal bracket.

Vingrad was 1 caliber in diameter.

Front sight usually had the appearance of a tide on the rear slope of the muzzle thickening, which did not protrude beyond the dimensions of the latter, but was sometimes indicated by engraving.

Torel- frustum.

Aim was simpler in design than even Markevich’s sight. It consisted of a copper plate embedded in a torel with a vertical cutout and a moving bar in it, which was fixed with a screw at the required height.

The relative length of all guns is 17 3/4 cores. The length of the channel for the Gribovalev guns is 16 5/6 cores, for the guns of the XI year system - 17.

Each French cannon had its name stamped in a band on the front of the gun's muzzle. On the breech, first the monogram of Louis XVI was stamped, then the French Republic and, finally, the coat of arms of Napoleon. On the left trunnion is the weight of the gun, on the right is the weight in pounds, and after the adoption of the metric system - in kilograms. On the torel belt there is the date, place of manufacture and the name of the craftsman. France had many more foundries than Russia; the main ones were, in order of decreasing importance, in Strasbourg, Douai, Metz, Turin and Paris.

The system of the 11th year, like the Gribovalev system in its time, had many opponents. Even under Napoleon, in 1810, it was decided to change the design of the 6-pounder. guns according to the Gribovalev model, but it seems that it was never implemented. After the Restoration 6-lb. the guns were completely cancelled.

Table 1. Dimensions and weight of guns.

		Gribeauval system				Year XI system
		V parts	12-lb.	8-lb.	4-lb.	V parts	12-lb.	6-lb.
			f. d.l. T.	f. d.l. T.	f. d.l. T.		f. d.l. T.	f. d.l. T.
Caliber		C	0.4.5.9	0.3.11.0	0.3.1.4		0.4.5.9	0.3.6.6
Core diameter		D=12p	0.4.4.9	0.3.10.0	0.3.0.4	D	0.4.4.9	0.3.5.6
Length	guns without propeller	L = 17 3/4 D	6.6.0.0	5.8.0.0	4.6.0.0	17 3/4 D	6.5.11.3	5.1.4.11
	channel	16 5 / 6 D	6.1.11.8	5.4.5.10	4.3.2.9	17D	6.2.8.9	4.10.9.6
	breech	1/3 L	2.2.0.0	1.10.8.0	1.6.0.0
	swivel part	1/6 L	1.1.0.0	0.11.4.0	0.9.0.0
	muzzle without head	1/2 L - 2D	2.6.2.6	2.2.4.0	1.8.11.4
	heads	2D	0.8.9.6	0.7.8.0	0.6.0.7	2D	0.8.9.6	0.6.11.0
	all vingrad	1 6 / 12 D	0.6.7.1	0.5.9.0	0.4.6.6		0.6.5.0	0.5.2.3
			2.6.5.3	2.2.6.0	1.9.1.8		2.6.11.1	2.0.0.3
	from the axle of the trunnions to the axis of the gun	1/12 D	0.0.4.6	0.0.3.10	0.0.3 1 / 3			0.0.3.5
Thickness walls	at the end of the breech	9 5 / 8 p.	0.3.6.4	0.3.0.11	0.2.5.1
	at the beginning of the breech	8 15 / 16 p.m.	0.3.3.4	0.2.10.3	0.2.3.0
	at the end of the swivel part	8 1/4 p.	0.3.0.3	0.2.7.7	0.2.0.11
	at the beginning of the swivel part	7 1/3 p.	0.2.8.3	0.2.4.1	0.1.10.2
	at the end of the muzzle	6 3 / 16 p	0.2.3.3	0.1.11.9	0.1.6.9
	at the head frieze	4 5 / 18 p.	0.1.6.10	0.1.4.5	0.1.0.11
	at the head	7 1/3 p.	0.2.8.3	0.2.4.1	0.1.10.2		0.2.7.9	0.2.0.6
	at departure	4 5 / 18 p.	0.1.6.10	0.1.4.5	0.1.0.11
Diameter	at the toreli	34p	1.0.5.6	0.10.10.6	0.8.7.4		0.11.9.9	0.9.4.7
	at the head	26 2 / 3 p	0.9.10.3	0.8.7.3	0.6.9.8		0.9.9.3	0.7.7.6
	Wingrad necks	8p	0.2.11.2	0.2.6.8	0.2.0.2
	in the middle of the vingrad's hand	D	0.4.4.9	0.3.10.0	0.3.0.4	D	0.4.4.9	0.3.5.6
	and trunnion length	D	0.4.4.9	0.3.10.0	0.3.0.4	D	0.4.4.9	0.3.5.6
	seeds		0.0.2.6	0.0.2.6	0.0.2.6		0.0.2.6	0.0.2.6
Thickness	dolphins	8 / 24 C	0.1.5.0	0.1.3.0	0.1.0.0
	shoulders near the trunnions	4p
	shoulders near the gun	1 1/2 p.
Weight of guns, lbs.			1808	1186	590		1530	790

Howitzers.

The field artillery was armed with 3 types of howitzers: the 6-inch Gribovalevskaya and the elongated one of the same caliber (along) a howitzer adopted outside any system, and a 24-pounder of the XI year, the model for which was the 7-pounder (by stone weight) Austrian. Since the elongated howitzer appeared in the period between the adoption of the Gribeauval system and the XI year, its appearance was appropriate: the barrel had the same friezes as the Gribeauval guns, and the carriage was similar to the carriages of the XI year. By the way, in the literature, 6-inch howitzers are often mistakenly called 6-pound howitzers, which gives rise to the illusion that they are smaller in caliber than 24-pounders, the caliber of which was equal to the caliber of 24-pounders. guns. The history of the appearance of these howitzers is as follows: at the beginning of the revolutionary wars, the French noticed the insufficient power of the Gribovalev howitzers, so very quickly, in 1795, they copied the Prussian 10-pound (by stone weight) howitzer. That's what they called her - a l "instar des prussiens, those. “Prussian model” (other names: a grande portee- “long-range”, de la garde- “guards”). True, very few of them were made (about 20), and the French made up for the deficiency with the same Prussian howitzers - of the 20 large-caliber howitzers that Napoleon took on his campaign to Russia, most, if not all, were Prussian.

In documents of that time, 24-lb. howitzers, together with howitzers of similar caliber from other countries, were collectively called obusiers de 5 pouces 6 lignes(howitzers caliber 5 inches 6 lines), although they had a caliber of 5 "7" "2"", and large-caliber howitzers were called obusiers de 6 pouces 4 lignes.

The chambers of all howitzers were cylindrical. Length of howitzers without turrets and wings in grenade diameters:

1. 6" Gribovalevskaya - 4.75
2. 6" long-range - 6.5
3. 24 lb - 6.75

Since the length of the 24-pound howitzer was too long to be loaded by hand, in 1810 it was decided to shorten it to 4.5 calibers, while maintaining the weight of 600 pounds, but, as with the cannons, this decision was not implemented.

French howitzers, unlike cannons, did not have names.

Table 2. Dimensions and weight of howitzers.

		6"	24-lb.	6" extended
		f. d.l. T.	f. d.l. T.	f. d.l. T.
Caliber		0.6.1.6	0.5.7.2	0.6.1.6
Length	channel	1.6.4.6	2.3.9.1 1 / 2	2.2.2.3
	channel in calibers	3	5	4 1 / 3
	chambers	0.7.0.0	0.7.0.0	0.9.8.6
	without wingrad	2.4.4.6	3.1.5.1 1 / 2	3.3.6.6
	all vingrad	0.4.9.6	0.5.0.3	0.7.0.0
	general	2.9.2.0	3.6.5.4 1 / 2	3.10.6.6
	from the torsion to the rear of the trunnions	1.1.6.6	1.2.5.5 1 / 2	1.4.7.0
	trunnions	0.3.9.0	0.3.9.0	0.4.6.0
	from the axle of the trunnions to the axis of the gun	0.0.6.0	0.0.2.0
Diameter	chambers	0.3.0.0	0.2.11.0	0.3.10.6
	trunnions	0.3.9.0	0.3.9.0	0.4.9.2
	seeds	0.0.2.6	0.0.2.6	0.0.2.6
	at the toreli	0.11.0.0	0.9.4.7 1 / 2	1.1.9.0
	at highest point heads	0.11.1.6	0.9.4.7 1 / 2	0.11.7.6
Distance between the last two diameters		2.3.9.6	3.1.0.0	3.3.1.6
Weight, lbs.		650	600	1368
Charge to full chamber, lbs. un.		1.12	1.10	4.8

CARRIAGES

The carriages of the French guns had two features: firstly, all of them, with the exception of the 6" Gribovalevsky howitzer, had iron axles; secondly, a simpler lifting mechanism consisting of a vertical screw rotating in a bronze bushing, on which rests a board connected hinge (hooks and loops on carriages of the XI year system) with a front cushion. Such a lifting mechanism was more reliable and made it possible to quickly move from the traveling position to the combat position and back by turning the bushing with the screw 90°. At the same time, carriages 12 and 8 -pounder guns had an additional traveling pair of sockets for the trunnions, which facilitated transportation, but made it difficult to move into a combat position. This was one of the reasons for the adoption of 6-pounder guns, which did not have such sockets. Another reason was that the opposing powers had precisely such calibers, which made it possible to use captured ammunition, which was facilitated by the fact that the caliber 6-lb. French guns was almost the largest among similar guns from other countries. To end this topic, I will also say that the French artillery was completely rearmed with guns of the XI year system only by the end of 1808, and Napoleon did not take a single 8-pounder and only 32 4-pounders on the Russian campaign. guns (4 companies of artillery of the Young Guard). All these calibers were transferred to the army that fought against the Spaniards, who at one time adopted the Griboval system.

The carriage adopted in 1803 for the new 12-lb. guns were not suitable for old ones, because the new guns had 16 lines less distance between the ends of the shoulders. This flaw was then corrected.

There were 4 types of axes in total:

1. for 12 lb. guns;
2. for 8-, 6-lb. guns, 6" long-range and 24-pound howitzers;
3. for 4-lb. cannons, charging boxes, carts and forges;
4. wooden for 6" Gribovalevsky howitzer.

5 types of big wheels:

The guns had a carriage box in which several shells were stored.

The French artillery did not have any special mounted guns. The horse artillery initially used Gribovalev howitzers and 8-pounders. guns, then 24-lb. howitzers and 6-pound. guns of the XI year system. 4-lb. the guns were never used in horse artillery, despite repeated mentions in modern publications.

All guns except the 4-pounder. guns, had 4 rules. Two of them, as usual, were inserted into brackets on the trunk cushion, and the other two into special brackets on the frames. At 4-lb. guns there were only 3 rules.

Each weapon was assigned one transportation 44 feet long, 11 lines in diameter, and weighing 18 pounds. LENDERS

The limbers of the French guns had almost the same design as the Russian ones: two wheels, an axle (iron, unlike the wooden Russian one), a drawbar, two lugs. The difference between the Gribovalevsky limbers was the absence of a box and the fact that the king pin was located above the axle. In the Gribeauval system there were 3 types of limbers:

1. for 12-, 8-lb. guns, howitzers and charging box
2. for 4-lb. guns
3. for forge and cart

They were supplied with 2 types of small wheels: with a diameter of 3" and 2" - for 4-pound limbers. guns and 3" 6" - for everyone else. The low height of the forward wheels was one of the shortcomings of the French artillery - largely for this reason Napoleon lost Waterloo.

As you can see, the French artillery used 7 types of wheels. In this respect, it was inferior to the Russian one, which had only 2 species.

A limber with a box was developed for the guns of the XI year system, but it was never introduced, and the old Gribovalevskie limbers from 12-lb. were used for the new guns. guns.

Gribeauval believed that for a 4-lb. 3-4 horses will be enough for a gun, for an 8-pounder. and 6" howitzers - also 4, and for a 12-pounder - 6 horses. But experience has shown that the team of the last three guns should be increased by 2 horses.

CHARGING BOXES

French charging boxes were a long narrow box with a gable iron lid and 4 wheels. Initially there were three charging boxes:

1. for 4- and 8-lb. guns,
2. for 12 lb. guns and
3. for 6" howitzers.

They differed from each other in the height of the sides and internal division into sections. Later only one was left - for 12-lb. guns. These same charging boxes were also used to transport ammunition for infantry.

In the year XI system, a new charging box was proposed, but the Gribovalevsky one was retained with corresponding changes to the internal space for the new 6-lb. and 24-lb. shells.

In 1791, a “flying” flight was organized. (volante) artillery, armed with 8-pound cannons and 6" howitzers, in which the servants were seated on charging boxes specially adapted for this purpose. These boxes had handrails, footrests and a leather-covered rounded lid, on which 8 people sat, and such boxes were called " wurst" (from German "Wurst" - sausage). With the introduction of normal horse artillery in 1792, "wurst" were abolished.

Napoleon considered it necessary to carry one and a half ammunition with him, i.e. about 300 shells per gun: full ammunition at the guns and half in the artillery park.

Table 4.

gun	When	Stock		1/2 stock		Total snar.	Of them		In the charging box				In the fire monitor box
		charger boxes	snar.	charger boxes	snar.		cores or pomegranate	buckshot	cores or pomegranate	buckshot		Total snar.	cores or pomegranate	kart.
										far	near
12-lb.	Gribeauval	3	213				153	60	48	12	8	68	9
	1812	3	224	1,5	108	332	278	56	60	12		72	6	2
8-lb.	Gribeauval	2	199				139	60	62	10	20	92	15
	1806	2	199	1	92	291	231	60	72	20		92	15
4-lb.	Gribeauval	1	168				118	50	100	26	24	150	18
	1806	1	168	0,5	75	243	198	45	120	30		150	18
6" howitzer	Gribeauval	3	160				147	13	49	3		52		4
	1812	3	160	1,5	78	238	220,5	17,5	49	3		52		4
6-lb.	1812	1,5	231	0,75	105	336	279	57	116	24		140	18	3
24-lb. howitzer	1812	2	156	1,5	112,5	268,5	256	12,5	72	3		75	4	2

Wurst charging box for 8-lb. The gun contained 66 shells, and for a 6" howitzer - 30 shells.
AMMUNITION

French gunpowder was slightly different in composition from Russian: 75 parts of saltpeter, 12.5 parts of sulfur and 12.5 coal versus 75:10:15.

The minimum clearance of the French guns was less than that of the Russians - only 1 line, the maximum - 2 lines, so the average core diameter is 1.5 lines less than the caliber.

Cores they were not lubricated to the pins, but were attached using two strips of tin nailed crosswise to the pins. The spies looked like truncated cones. The depth of the cup in the spiegel was approximately 1/4 of the diameter of the core. French spies for 12- and 6-lb. cores were 1.7 and 1.4 times lighter than Russians, respectively.

Unlike the Russians, in French caps they did not put tow on top of the gunpowder, but tied the cap in two places: around the groove in the spigot and under the sppiel; and the cap was not tied on top of the core.

The French artillery did not have much artillery weight, and the mass of the cannonball corresponded to the caliber, i.e. A 12 pound cannonball weighed exactly 12 pounds, etc.

Table 5. Cores.

		12	8	6	4
		fun. un.	fun. un.	fun. un.	fun. un.
Powder weight		4	2 1 / 2	2	1 1 / 2
Finished charge weight		16.11	11.2	8 1 / 2	5.12
		d.l. T.	d.l. T.	d.l. T.	d.l. T.
Powder charge height		8.3	6.9	6.3	6.1
Total charge height		13.6	11.6	10.8	9.11
Spiegel diameter	up	4.0.9	3.6.0	3.4.0	2.9.4
	at the bottom	3.7.0	3.0.6	3.2.0	2.7.6
Spiral height		2.0.0	1.10.0	1.10.0	1.6.0
Spiegel cup depth		1.1.0	0.11.0	0.10.0	0.8.0
Tin strips	length	14.0.0	12.0.0	11.0.0	10.0.0
	width	0.5.0	0.5.0	0.5.0	0.4.0

Grenades (obus, where obusier- howitzer; actually grenades - grenades- in French army were manual) had the same design as the Russians.

Composition for the tube channel: 5 parts pulp, 3 saltpeter and 2 sulfur. A whole tube for a 6" grenade burned for 30-40 seconds.

The 24-pound grenade had a spigot, since the large length of the channel did not allow the grenade to be installed correctly by hand.

The French field artillery did not have special incendiary shells, instead they used grenades with pieces of incendiary composition placed inside.

Buckshot, as in Russian artillery, consisted of a tin cup with an iron bottom, and wrought iron bullets poured in a special order, and was also divided into long-range ( grande- large) and near ( petite- small). Actually, Russian grapeshot was copied from the French after the campaigns of 1805-1807.

The experience of military operations showed that the need for short-range grapeshot was small, and it was canceled. And in general, throughout the Napoleonic wars, there was a tendency towards a decrease in the proportion of buckshot in the total number of shells, which indicates a change in tactics - the predominance of long-range combat.

Buckshot for 12-pound and 8-pound. the guns were not connected to the charge in the cap, since together they would be too long and heavy, so that the armored bag could tear, and for 6- and 4-lb. guns powder charge tied to the buckshot using a wooden shpiel, unlike Russian buckshot, which did not have shpiels. Buckshot for 6" howitzers was nailed to a spiegel, which had the shape of a wooden hemisphere.

Table 7. Buckshot.

			12		8		6	4		6"	24
			d.l. T.		d.l. T.		d.l. T.	d.l. T.		d.l. T.	d.l. T.
Bullet diameter	№1		1.5.0		1.2.9		1.1.6	0.11.10		1.5.0	1.2.9
	№2		1.0.0		0.10.9			0.10.6
	№3		0.11.6		0.10.2
Tin cylinder	sheet length		13.11.3		12.2.6		11.1.0	9.9.3		18.9.0
	height for buckshot	large	9.0.0		7.6.0		7.9.0	6.4.0		8.0.0
		small	8.4.0		7.5.0			7.3.0
Diameter of tray and lid			4.3.0		3.8.6		3.5.0	2.11.0		5.10.0
Pallet thickness			0.3.6		0.3.0		0.3.0	0.2.6		0.4.0
Cover thickness			0.1.0		0.1.0		0.1.0	0.1.0		0.1.0
Height	finished buckshot (without sppiegel for 6- and 4-lb.)	large	8.3.0		6.9.0		7.0.0	5.7.0		7.4.0
		small	7.6.0		6.8.0			6.6.6
	powder charge		8.7.0		7.4.0		7.1.0	7.0.0		6.6.0
Number of bullets	for large buckshot No. 1		41		41		41	41		60	76
	for small buckshot	№2	80	112	80	112		4 №1	63
		№3	32		32			59 №2
			fun. un.		fun. un.		fun. un.	fun. un.		fun. un.	fun. un.
Empty glass weight with tray			1.12		1.9			0.14
Pallet weight			1.5					0.6
Approximate weight	finished large buckshot		20.14		14.6			7.8		32.8
	finished small buckshot		20.4		14.7			8.9
Powder charge			4.4		2.12		2.4	1.12		1.6	2.0

ORGANIZATION

The organization of French artillery was radically different from Russian. When in Russia guns, service personnel and convoys were brought together, in the French army all this was separated.

1792. Field artillery is divided into reserve and regimental. In reserve - 12-, 8-, 4-lb. guns and 6" howitzers, in the regimental - only 4-pounder guns. All guns are divided into divisions of 8 guns of the same caliber, each division is served by one company of artillerymen. In total - 7 artillery regiments, each regiment has 20 companies. 9 companies are formed horse artillery.

1793. New 11 horse batteries were created, making a total of 20. The number of howitzers was increased, instead of 1/6 - 1/3 of the total number of guns. They are no longer combined into special batteries.

1799. The French armies consist of: 693 cannons, 173 howitzers, 2262 charging boxes. Regimental guns were abolished. A cavalry company of the guard was created.

1803. Year XI system adopted. By decree of the 10th floreal (April 30) of the XI year, 1 company was added to each foot artillery battalion, and the 7th company was also added to the 6th horse artillery regiment. Now each of the 16 battalions now has 11 companies, and the foot regiment has 22 companies. In total there were 8 regiments of foot and 6 regiments of horse artillery. All 17 additional companies were intended for service in the colonies.

1806. The horse artillery of the guard was consolidated into a regiment of 6 companies in 3 squadrons.

1808. Guard foot artillery was created - 6 companies of 84 people each. Horse Guards Artillery consists of 2 squadrons of 2 companies each. In this composition it will exist until 1815.

1810. Foot artillery - 9 regiments. The 7th Horse Artillery Regiment was created, but it was soon disbanded and its companies were distributed between the 1st and 4th regiments.

1811. Napoleon recreated the regimental artillery, transferring to it a huge number of captured 3-pounder cannons, mainly Prussian and Austrian. Each regiment was usually assigned 4 such guns.

1812. The Grand Army had 1372 guns. Most of them remained in the fields of Russia. After the end of the war, 875 captured or abandoned guns were taken to Moscow to create a monument, which, fortunately, was not built. Of these 875 guns, only 41% (358) were of French origin. The rest, in order of decreasing number, are Austrian, Prussian, Italian, Neapolitan, Bavarian, Dutch, Saxon, Württemberg, Spanish, Polish, Westphalian, English (Hanoverian) and Baden.
The regimental artillery ceased to exist.
The foot companies consisted of 6 cannons and 2 howitzers, but there were also pure cannon companies, for example, all 4 companies of the Young Guard were equipped with 8 4-pounder cannons. Horse companies had 4 cannons and 2 howitzers. Each division was assigned 1 infantry and 1 cavalry company, each heavy cavalry division - 2 cavalry companies, each light - 1. The corps usually had 2 companies of reserve artillery with 12 pounds. cannons and 6" howitzers.

1813. The 1st and 3rd regiments of horse artillery each had 7 companies, and each of the 9 infantry regiments had 28 companies. The foot artillery of the guard has 16 companies. In 1813-1814 there was a cavalry company of the Young Guard.

During the Empire, the number of guns in the French artillery increased by exactly 50%:

Table 9. Development of field artillery during the Empire.

Quantity	Initial state			Absolute increase			Relates. increase	Final state
	Guard.	Lin.	Total	Guard.	Lin.	Total		Guard.	Lin.	Total
Foot company	-	176	176	16	76	92	52 %	16	252	268
Mounted mouth	2	36	38	4	6	10	26 %	6	42	48
Guns	15	1 624	1 639	175	644	819	50 %	190	2 268	2 458
Artillery convoy company	2	40	42	14	30	44	105 %	16	70	86

An important advantage of the Russian cavalry was its excellent cavalry, which, if inferior to anyone, was only inferior to the cavalry of the English army. At the same time, both the horses themselves and their dressage were at their best.

Artillery

And finally, the Russian artillery was most decisively transformed. As a study by the commission of General A. A. Arakcheev showed, artillery had previously been underestimated, and actual artillery fire was 6–10 times superior to small arms fire. And this meant that it was the fire of field artillery that ensured the success of the army that had it in sufficient quantities. But at the same time, major shortcomings in the composition and organization of Russian artillery were revealed. The artillery was extremely varied in caliber, which made it difficult to control fire and supply ammunition. In addition, there were no horses in permanent composition batteries Usually mobilized horses were used, often of questionable condition, which had a bad effect on mobility. In addition, this did not provide sufficient speed for deploying guns into position and removing them from position.

Russian foot artillery

To solve these problems, Arakcheev introduced “artillery” horses, which should “never be separated from the company.” In 1803, following the example of the French artillery, standard charging boxes were introduced on the limbers, which made it possible to sharply reduce the time it took to prepare batteries for firing, since the ammunition necessary for battle moved along with the gun and ended up directly in position and in a convenient container. In 1805, artillery was unified with a sharp reduction in the number of artillery systems and calibers used. The carriages, limbers, harness and charging boxes were also unified. The low-powered regimental artillery was effectively eliminated, and its role was now to be filled by light artillery companies of 6-pounders and 1/4-pound unicorns.

Charging box

Old style 6-pounder gun

Organizationally, the artillery was consolidated into artillery brigades within infantry divisions. Such brigades consisted of battery and light companies. In addition, there were horse artillery companies as part of the cavalry corps and separate companies that were not part of the divisions.
In general, Russian artillery took first place in the world in terms of specific power (weight of a salvo per number of barrels). At the same time, it was distinguished by its harmonious organization and, thanks to the constant high-quality horse composition and the reduction in the weight of the guns, excellent mobility on the battlefield and on the march.

Field artillery charging box

Field artillery charging box

French army

The French army improved throughout the revolutionary and Napoleonic wars. And very often she was an innovator in military affairs. For example, it was in the French army that they first switched to the widespread use of shock column tactics. After clashes with the Russian army in 1805–1807, it underwent a smaller scale of reform than the Russian army, as it demonstrated its superiority. Basically, the reform of this period was expressed in the abandonment of semi-brigades and the restoration of the regimental level.

Infantry

The French infantry corps, which was the main strategic and operational unit of the French army, did not have such a clear and fixed structure as the Russian one. In addition, unlike the Russian corps, it was the highest organizational unit (for the Russians it was an army that included several corps) and, including all three types of troops, could conduct completely independent actions in the strategic direction without additional reinforcement. It consisted of 2–5 infantry divisions and 1–2 cavalry brigades or divisions, as well as corps artillery, which partly compensated for the French divisional artillery, which was weaker than in the Russian army.

The infantry division consisted of 3 brigades of 2 regiments each and usually 2 artillery batteries. The regiment consisted of 4 line and one reserve battalion. True, this division was not rigid. For example, in Davout’s 1st Infantry Corps, the regiments consisted of 5 line battalions and 1 reserve, but the brigade consisted of one regiment, that is, in fact, there was no regimental link. The battalion consisted of 6 companies, 1 grenadier, 4 fusiliers and one voltigeur.
Voltigeurs were an analogue of Russian rangers, but, unlike the latter, most often they were not separated into separate brigades, regiments and battalions, but were dispersed as part of line battalions. This did not make it possible to use them separately as fighting forces on the battlefield. But this order made it possible to better organize the interaction of battalion columns and rifle chains in the division’s battle formations. This also allowed the French to use division formations that were more complex than in the Russian army.
Voltigeurs were considered light infantry. They were armed with both smooth-bore guns and rifled carbines, as well as cutlasses. Voltigeurs, unlike Russian rangers, did not seriously rely on single actions away from their troops and were mainly trained to act in loose formation in the battle formations of divisions and regiments - therefore they were better prepared for such actions.
Their percentage in French units was somewhat lower than the percentage of rangers in the Russian army, which was compensated by a large percentage in allied units, for example in the Westphalian Corps of Marshal Davout.

French line infantry

Fusilier companies were the line infantry of the French army. Linear infantry, as in the Russian army, was intended for a bayonet attack in battalion columns or for salvo fire combat in a deployed linear formation. But unlike the Russian infantry, the French fusiliers deployed not in a 4-rank, but in a 3-rank formation. This difference was due best characteristics French guns and the level of training of the infantry. In practice, this meant that the French battalion, firing in deployed formation, had approximately a 25% advantage in fire performance. The line infantry were armed with smoothbore rifles with a bayonet. In the training of fusiliers, much more time was devoted to drill training and actions in close formation, mainly with an attack orientation.

French voltigeurs

The French grenadiers were noticeably different from the Russians. Grenadier companies were also elite, but differed in the principle of formation - to be enrolled there, a soldier had to have 4 years of service or 2 campaigns behind him. Four privates and one corporal in the grenadier company were sappers. Their distinctive feature traditionally had a leather apron and a large beard (a tradition that continues today in the French army) - they had to be strong and tall, since they walked in front of the assault columns and had to open doors, windows, gates and walls with their large axes populated areas where the enemy was holed up. However, in practice, those with the thickest beards were often hired as sappers.
In general, the French infantry, in its organization and composition, was maximally adapted to achieve success in active, attacking operations in field battle.

Cavalry

The French cavalry, in contrast to the Russian, was considered primarily as impact force on the battlefield, so its basis was made up of cuirassier and carabinieri units and also horse-jaeger units intended for the battlefield. In addition, there were hussar, dragoon and uhlan regiments. The latter were mostly Polish.
Because of this composition, the French cavalry was used to a limited extent as an independent operational force, but was of greater importance than the Russian on the battlefield. Napoleon again began to use cavalry as a ram when breaking through the enemy front, although this was considered unprofitable in the era of the total armament of armies small arms and the high saturation of armies with field artillery. Heavy cavalry made it possible to quickly break the distance and overthrow the enemy. The main thing was to bring her into battle in right moment.

"Old Guard", grenadiers

Cuirassiers were practically no different from Russians and also represented men-at-arms, perfectly suited for breaking infantry squares. The weapons were similar, only instead of cuirassier carbines, blunderbusses were used, adapted for firing at infantry at point-blank range at full gallop. The carabinieri of the French army differed from the cuirassiers essentially only in their uniforms and in the same way could successfully attack infantry.
The hussars, whose weapons and uniforms were modeled on the Hungarian cavalrymen, acted as light cavalry capable of pursuing the enemy, engaging with enemy cavalry and performing rapid maneuvers. Actually, the name “hussars” was borrowed from the Hungarian “huzzar”.
The lancers, another part of the light cavalry, were Polish cavalry with their traditional weapons, including the pike. Expectations that the pike would significantly increase the capabilities of cavalry in the fight against infantry did not materialize. But the pike turned out to be useful in battles with cavalry.

Saxon cuirassiers

An important innovation in Napoleon's army was the mounted chasseurs. They were light cavalry, but, like cuirassiers, they were used for action in the thick of battle. Mounted rangers were intended mainly for conducting fire combat both from horseback and on foot.
Napoleon's cavalry demonstrated its capabilities by overthrowing the enemy at Austerlitz and breaking through his front at Wagram.
Cuirassiers and carabiniers were consolidated into heavy cavalry divisions, lancers, hussars and horse huntsmen into light ones. The division included 2–3 brigades of two regiments and sometimes an artillery regiment. But in heavy divisions there were often brigades of the same regiment. Each regiment consisted of 4 squadrons.
The French cavalry corps consisted of 1–2 heavy, 1 light cavalry divisions and sometimes corps artillery. These corps were an important component of attack tactics and were used primarily for rapid frontal attacks and development of success on the battlefield. It was the French who were the first in Europe of that period to use large masses of cavalry in battle.
Despite having excellent training and weapons, the French cavalry had one big disadvantage. Due to the limited capabilities of the stud farms of Napoleon's empire and heavy losses, the French cavalry had, on average, a worse cavalry composition than the Russian cavalry. This limited the mobility of the French cavalry and prevented them from being used on greater depth. Although with a frontal attack on the battlefield special significance it didn't.

Artillery

French artillery was at the forefront of its fleet and organization even before the French Revolution. Faced in mid-18th century century with the superiority of the enemy’s artillery, the French were the first to undertake a radical and strictly thought-out reorganization. The great engineer and artilleryman General Gribeauval introduced such generally accepted innovations as limbers with standardized charging boxes, new frame sights, vertical aiming screw mechanisms, “long-range” buckshot in tin caps, and returned to cap loading.
In 1803, Napoleon carried out another reform that affected the number of calibers. For example, 8-pounder and 4-pounder guns were replaced with 6-pounder ones, since, according to Napoleon's observations, in battle the guns of both old calibers were used in the same way and the differences between them were not taken into account. A longer howitzer of a slightly reduced caliber was introduced to achieve greater range, which made it possible to unify the ammunition with 24-pounder siege guns.
By the time of the invasion of Russia, French artillery was reduced to 8-gun companies with 6 guns and 2 howitzers, which made it possible to use the battery for a wide variety of purposes, although it complicated fire control and supplying the battery with ammunition. Reserve (or corps) artillery had batteries of 12-pounder and 8-pounder guns and large-caliber howitzers and was intended for long-range combat and the destruction of fortifications and suppression of enemy artillery. Divisional artillery was represented mainly by 6-pound and 4-pound cannons and medium-caliber howitzers (24 pounds) and was used in the division's combat formations at the starting positions for direct fire support. The regimental artillery had a different organization of batteries - 4-guns and was equipped with 3-pounder and 4-pounder cannons. She was supposed to accompany the attacking infantry with fire and wheels.
In terms of mobility and firepower per number of guns, French field artillery was somewhat weaker than Russian due to large quantity light 3-pound and 4-pound guns. But it included both heavy long-range guns and regimental artillery, intended for operations in infantry combat formations not only in defense, but also in the offensive (which allowed it to be used more flexibly), and had more powerful artillery systems in heavy artillery.

Armament of armies

Russian army

IN early XIX century, the Russian army was faced with the enemy's superiority in small arms. This fact was all the more unpleasant because since the time of Peter the Russian small arms were at the proper world level. But the very first clashes between the Russian army and the French showed the superiority of the French gun of the 1777 model over Russian guns. But not only did French weapons provide tactical advantage, it was also more monotonous. And in the Russian army by 1808 the situation was such that 28-caliber guns were in service. At the same time, the guns were like domestic production, and foreign.
In 1805, a new, very reliable gun was adopted. But due to the unification of the cartridge with the old one, it turned out to be heavy and with powerful recoil with a modest range and accuracy of fire.

Infantry pistol model 1809

In 1808, relying on captured French guns of the 1777 model and purchased English guns of the 1794 model, Tula gunsmiths managed to develop a model that was not inferior to them. The new gun had, following the example of foreign prototypes, a caliber reduced from 19 mm to 17.8 mm and a reduced weight from 5.16 kg to 4.46 kg. It was possible to increase the initial bullet speed and accuracy of fire. They were also able to increase the number of hits on a standard 1.8 to 1.22 arshin target from 100 steps to more than half the bullets, while when shooting from the old gun the norm was a quarter of the bullets hit. Maximum range shooting reached 300 steps. To speed up loading, all types of guns used paper cartridges containing a bullet and a powder charge.

Gun flintlocks

In 1805, new models of screw guns were created for non-commissioned officers and huntsman rifles. These were rifled weapons that provided the ability to fire at a distance of up to 1 thousand steps, and at 500 steps they showed the same accuracy as a gun of the 1808 model at 100. Also, based on the gun of the 1808 model, cavalry guns were developed.
But, despite the successes in rearming the army, only half of the army managed to rearm with the new model guns. Another disadvantage was the use of an old bayonet - shorter than the French ones, and designed for older, longer guns, which was especially noticeable when repelling cavalry attacks. True, the percentage of rangers armed with rifle weapons has increased noticeably. Now screw guns and fittings were available in the Jaeger regiments at the rate of 12 per company and in the cavalry units, except for the hussars, at the rate of 16 per squadron.

6-inch long (left) and 24-pounder (right) French howitzers

In general, the small arms of the Russian army in 1812 can be assessed as somewhat worse than the French, but at the level of the general armament of the “Great Army”, taking into account the armament of the troops of the allied and subject states.
The characteristics of the main guns in service with the Russian army were as follows.
Model 1805 infantry rifle. Its weight (without bayonet) is 5.16 kg, length 145.8 cm (with bayonet 183 cm). Caliber – 19 mm, bullet weight – 30 g, gunpowder weight – 10.7 g. Maximum firing range 250–300 steps, effective aimed shooting range (probability of hitting a standard target more than 1/2) – 75 steps.
Infantry rifle model 1808. Its weight (without bayonet) is 4.47 kg, length 145.8 cm (with bayonet 183 cm). Caliber - 17.8 mm, bullet weight - 23.8 g, gunpowder weight - 9.9 g. Maximum firing range is 300 steps, effective aimed shooting range (probability of hitting a standard target is more than 1/2) - 100 steps.

Model 1808 infantry rifle

Dragoon rifle model 1809. Its weight (without bayonet) is 3.73 kg. Caliber - 17.8 mm, bullet weight - 23.8 g, gunpowder weight - 9.6 g. Maximum firing range is 200 steps, effective aimed shooting range (probability of hitting a standard target is more than 1/2) - 75 steps.

Dragoon rifle model 1809

Model 1805 rifle. Weight 4.26 kg. Caliber - 16.5 mm, bullet weight - 23.8 g. Maximum firing range is 1 thousand steps, effective aimed shooting range (the probability of hitting a standard target is more than 1/2) - 500 steps.
Cavalry fitting of the 1803 model. Weight 2.65 kg. Caliber – 16.5 mm, bullet weight – 23.8 g, gunpowder weight – 7 g. Maximum firing range is 900 steps, effective aimed shooting range (probability of hitting a standard target is more than 1/2) – 300 steps.

Cavalry fitting, model 1803

However, due to the lower rate of fire of small arms (compared to artillery) and the shorter range of smoothbore rifles (compared to buckshot), the role of small arms fire in relation to artillery was small, which smoothed out the effect of the difference in small arms.

Jaeger fitting

In the field of artillery, the picture was more favorable for the Russian army. Thanks to the reform, the most used calibers remained in service. These are respectively 12-pounder and 6-pounder guns and 1/2- and 1/4-pound unicorns. The remaining artillery systems were lightened and standardized across carriages. Maintenance of the guns has been simplified. Artillery companies received a mixed composition of guns and howitzers, selected according to the weight of the artillery system, and this allowed flexible use of firepower and at the same time equal mobility of all guns in the artillery company. The mobility and weight of a volley of artillery companies were considered more important than range. Therefore, from the 12-pounder guns, medium and small-proportion guns were left; 12-pounder large-proportion guns, not suitable for rapid transportation and deployment, remained only for fortress and siege artillery. The same fate befell the 1-pound unicorn.

1/4 – pound unicorn in section

Sectional view of a 12-pounder small-proportion gun

In addition, much attention was paid to maximizing the rate of fire and ease of loading. For this reason, the gap between the core and the walls of the bore was made larger than that of French guns. Also, for guns of small proportions, the barrel was made shorter. This simplified loading the cannon with a cap, which contained a projectile, wad and gunpowder. But at the same time, such measures reduced the accuracy and range of fire due to the worse obturation of the projectile core in the barrel bore.

Lighting shells

Unitary loading shots

Quite a specific weapon of the Russian army were unicorns. The field artillery of other countries included howitzers, which differed from cannons in having a much shorter and thin-walled barrel. They were intended to fire mainly grenades and bombs and had a lower muzzle velocity and a steeper trajectory. In the Russian army, instead of field howitzers, unicorns were used, which, in fact, occupied an intermediate position between a cannon and a howitzer.
The characteristics of the guns in service with the Russian army were as follows.

12-pounder medium proportion gun

12-pounder model 1805 gun

Gun weight - 800 kg (50 pounds), system weight - 1624 kg (101.5 pounds), caliber - 4.76 inches (121 mm), barrel length - 16.5 caliber, harness - 6 horses.
Firing range: cannonball - 2.8 km (1300 fathoms), grenade - 1.1 km (500 fathoms), buckshot - more than 300 meters (150 fathoms).

12-pounder gun of smaller proportion:

12-pounder small proportion gun

Gun weight - 480 kg (30 pounds), system weight - 1210 kg (75.6 pounds), caliber - 4.76 inches (121 mm), barrel length - 13 calibers, harness - 6 horses.
Firing range: cannonball - 2.6 km (1300 fathoms), grenade - 1.1 km (500 fathoms), buckshot - more than 300 meters (150 fathoms).

6-pounder gun

Model 1805 6-pounder gun

Gun weight - 355 kg (22.2 pounds), system weight - 980 kg (61 pounds), caliber - 3.76 inches (95 mm), barrel length - 17 calibers, harness - 6 horses for cavalry and 4 for foot artillery .
Firing range: cannonball - 2.2 km (1 thousand fathoms), grenade - about 900 m (400 fathoms), buckshot - more than 300 meters (150 fathoms).

1/2 pound unicorn
Gun weight - 680 kg (42.5 pounds), system weight - 1810 kg (113 pounds), caliber - 6.1 inches (155 mm), barrel length - 10.5 caliber, harness - 6 horses.
Firing range: cannonball - 2.2 km (1 thousand fathoms), grenade - 1.3 km (600 fathoms), buckshot - 550 meters (250 fathoms).

1/4 pound unicorn:

Gun weight - 345 kg (21.6 pounds), system weight - 950 kg (59.3 pounds), caliber - 4.84 inches (123 mm), barrel length - 10.5 caliber, harness - 4 horses (6 - equestrian).
Firing range: cannonball - 1.3 km (600 fathoms), grenade - about 900 m (400 fathoms).
If we take into account the number of guns in the army and their superiority in rate of fire over small arms (up to 9 rounds/min. versus 4 rounds/min. for smoothbore guns and 1–2 rounds/min. for rifled guns), then it becomes clear that exactly artillery pieces determined the firepower of the army.

Markevich quadrant

Sight (diopter) of the Markevich system

Kabanov's sight

1/4 – pound unicorn model 1805

Unicorn breech with wingguard and scope mount

As the main tactical code, Russian artillery used the “General Rules for Artillery in a Field Battle” developed by Count Kutaisov, approved by Emperor Alexander I and sent to the troops as instructions. Here is the content of these “Rules”.
"1. In a field battle, shots at 500 fathoms are doubtful, at 300 fathoms they are quite accurate, and at 200 and 100 fathoms they are fatal; for the last three distances our new buckshots can also be used. Consequently, when the enemy is still at first range, you should shoot at him rarely, in order to have time to aim your gun more accurately and make it difficult for him to move with your shots; at the second distance, shoot more often in order to stop or at least prolong his approach, and finally strike with all possible speed in order to knock him over and destroy him.
2. From the beginning of the battle, hide the number of your artillery, but increase it as the case continues, so that your point of attack will be hidden from the enemy, and if he were attacking, he would meet artillery where he might not have expected it.
3. When the real intention of the enemy has not yet been noticed, the batteries should consist of a small number of guns and be scattered in different places. In this situation, you are a small target, and you yourself have more means of harming him with indirect and cross shots and complicating his enterprises.
4. Batteries of a large number of guns should be placed in such cases when it is necessary to make a breach in the enemy’s line or to stop his strong desire to reach some point, or when it is necessary to knock him out of some position.
5. Avoid placing batteries on very elevated, steep places; on the contrary, batteries of unicorns can be placed with great benefit behind small elevations, which would only cover them, for almost all of their shots, except grapeshot, are mounted.

Shotgun AN-IX

French 6-pounder gun and 6-inch howitzers

However, even such a magnificent gun had drawbacks, such as insufficient reliability and a tendency to corrosion of some components. But the main thing was some difference in caliber of the guns produced and the need for individual fitting of parts. This created certain difficulties in creating and arming a mass army. Therefore, in 1801 the French adopted the AN-IX gun, which became the main one by the time of the invasion of Russia. This gun was almost identical to the gun of the 1777 model and differed from the old one by greater unification of parts and the replacement of corroded, but not load-bearing, iron parts with copper ones. In addition, it was possible to slightly reduce the weight of the gun.

Perhaps the excellent capabilities of the 1777 model gun had an effect, but less attention was paid to rifled weapons in France. The main type of rifled weapon was the "Carbine de Versailles" model 1793 in infantry and cavalry versions. It was only in 1804 that a slightly improved AN-XII carbine was developed, which differed only slightly from the Carbine de Versailles. The saturation of the French army with rifled weapons was somewhat lower than the Russian one. Non-commissioned officers, sergeants and sappers from light infantry and 6 riflemen in a voltigeur company were mainly armed with rifled carbines.

The characteristics of the main guns in service with the French army were as follows.

Shotgun AN-IX. Its weight (without bayonet) is 4.375 kg, length 151.5 cm (bayonet length 46.5 cm). Caliber – 17.5 mm, bullet weight – 27.2 g, gunpowder weight – 12.24 g. Maximum firing range is 300–400 steps, effective aimed shooting range (probability of hitting a standard target is more than 1/2) – more than 100 steps.

Rifled carbine "Carbine de Versailles": Its weight (without bayonet) is 3.45 kg, length is 102.5 cm. Caliber is 13.5 mm, bullet weight is 17.5 g, gunpowder weight is 4 g. Maximum range is approximately 1 thousand steps, effective aimed shooting range (probability of hitting a standard target is more than 1/2) - more than 500 steps.

In the field of artillery, the French army held a leading position for a long time, which was not lost in the quarter century that passed after Gribeauval's reform. But Napoleon, himself an excellent artilleryman, noted the presence of excessive calibers in the Gribeauval system. For example, Napoleon pointed out that in most cases, when firing, commanders do not make a difference between 8-pounder and 4-pounder guns. At the same time, the 8-pounders are too heavy, and the 4-pounders have weak ammunition. As a result, it was decided to settle on a 6-pound gun, which should replace both calibers.

It was also decided to switch to a new howitzer with a longer barrel length and a smaller caliber. This made it possible to increase the flatness of the trajectory and more effectively use these weapons in maneuverable field combat. In addition, this made it possible to unify the ammunition with the 24-pound siege gun.

Finally, Colonel Villentroy created heavy long-range howitzers with an increased powder charge and barrel length. These howitzers had calibers of 8, 9 and 11 inches. At the same time, the most powerful 11-inch howitzer could fire at a distance of up to 5.8 versts. The 8-inch howitzer was also used in field battles. In addition to changes in the calibers used and barrel lengths, the guns of the new models were lightweight and simplified in design.

The reform was supposed to bring French artillery to a new qualitative level. In fact, it was not carried out as decisively and effectively as in Russia. The reason was the slight superiority of French artillery over the artillery of most opponents, which already existed at the time the reform began. The “patchwork” nature of Napoleon’s empire and the lack of clear management of military production also had a negative impact. Many factories of Napoleon's empire, especially in conquered territories such as the Confederation of the Rhine, produced according to old models and in the old caliber system. So, in the end, the reform not only did not reduce, as required, the number of calibers in the army, but, on the contrary, increased it. Of the new guns, only the 6-pounder gun and the 24-pounder howitzer were fired in significant quantities. The “Grand Army” entered the war with more than two dozen artillery systems.

The characteristics of the main guns in service with the French army were as follows.

12-pounder gun of the Gribeauval system:

Gun weight - 860 kg (54 pounds), system weight - 2160 kg (135 pounds), caliber - 4.76 inches (121 mm), barrel length - 16.5 calibers.

Firing range: cannonball – 2.7–3 km, grenade – about 1.2 km, buckshot – up to 600 meters.

8-pounder Gribeauval gun

Gun weight - 580 kg (36 pounds), system weight - 1760 kg (110 pounds), caliber - 4.1 inches (104 mm), barrel length - 16.5 calibers.

Firing range: cannonball – 2.7 km, grenade – about 1 km, buckshot – up to 500 meters.

4-pounder Gribeauval gun

Gun weight - 280 kg (18 pounds), system weight - 1120 kg (70 pounds), caliber - 4.76 inches (121 mm), barrel length - 16.5 calibers.

Firing range: cannonball – 2.6 km, grenade – about 1.1 km, buckshot – up to 400 meters.

6-pounder gun of the new system

Gun weight - 400 kg (25 pounds), system weight - 1440 kg (90 pounds), caliber - 3.9 inches (96 mm), barrel length - 16.5 calibers.

Firing range: cannonball – 2.3 km, grenade – about 1 km, buckshot – up to 400 meters.

6-inch extended howitzer

Gun weight - 320 kg (20 pounds), caliber - 6 inches (164 mm), barrel length - 4 1/3 calibers.

Firing range: cannonball – 3 km, grenade – about 3 km, buckshot – up to 400 meters.

24-pound howitzer of the new system

Gun weight – 320 kg (20 pounds), caliber – 6 inches (155 mm), barrel length – 5 calibers.

Firing range: cannonball – 3 km, grenade – about 3 km, buckshot – up to 500 meters.

Although in general French artillery looked inferior to Russian due to the wide variety of calibers and the large number of low-power regimental guns, it had an advantage when fighting fortifications and manpower at long distances due to the presence of large-caliber howitzers and with a steep trajectory that made it possible to hit the enemy behind fortifications .

When comparing the characteristics of Russian and French weapons, you need to take into account several general points related to their use.

During the Napoleonic Wars, volley rifle and artillery fire dominated. Only rangers and voltigeurs in loose formation could fire differently. This was caused, among other things, by the black powder used. When there was a discrepancy in the salvo, the latecomers fired into the smoky cloud, which after each salvo clouded the battle formations.

The maximum rate of fire largely depended not on the characteristics of the weapon, but on the training of the soldiers. A well-trained soldier, as practical shooting has shown even today, could easily ensure a rate of fire of 3-4 rounds per minute from a smoothbore gun using a cartridge. This pace could not be maintained for long, but it allowed for 10–12 salvoes to be fired at a battalion column attacking at a fast pace, 7–9 at a running attack, and 2–3 at a cavalry attack at a gallop. Given the low accuracy of fire even against close battle formations, rifle fire alone was usually not able to stop the attack of battalion columns or cuirassiers.

Field artillery had a longer firing range than smooth-bore shotguns. At the same time, the field gun had a maximum rate of fire thanks to cap loading of 7–9 rounds per minute. At the same time, the accuracy of artillery fire at equal distances was also higher. Here, too, the high tempo could not be maintained for long, but it made it possible to fire 25–35 volleys of grapeshot at a battalion column attacking at a fast pace, 15–20 against an attacking run and 7–10 against a cavalry attacking at a gallop. This rate of fire was a powerful stopping force against both infantry and cavalry, provided there were a sufficient number of guns along the length of the attacked front. Such superiority of artillery usually made it possible to win a firefight with infantry even at short distances. The power of artillery on the battlefield in relation to other types of troops was, perhaps, greatest precisely at the beginning of the 19th century.

Since this question, to be honest, is simply SICK of me, and there are a bunch of “experts” who very often poke me into land instructions on the firing range of guns and other similar issues, I decided to make a post to solve this problem once and for all.
First of all, a little theory - if you do not take fortress artillery, then a land cannon in battle encounters rather flimsy protection. These can be earthen fortifications, lunettes, barriers using wood or stone, but the distinctive property of these fortifications will be their relative low strength. That is, if these are wooden spears, then they are dug into the ground. If the stones are piled up, but not cemented, etc.
At sea, in linear battles (or in battles between fortresses and ships), cannon cores had to overcome quite serious protection in the form of the “armor” (hull) of the ship, and often this protection was multi-layered, as for example is clearly visible here:

This protection had a total thickness of 60 to 100 centimeters (that is, up to a meter). Most often, even the most powerful guns could not penetrate it, and shooting at ships essentially came down to maximum hits in the hull (if we are talking specifically about causing critical damage/sinking the ship). This maximum of hits gradually undermined the protection, potholes appeared somewhere, chips appeared somewhere, connections were broken somewhere, the wood gradually sagged and broke, most often in the area of ​​the upper deck or gun ports, and finally the critical moment came when " the armor" stopped holding.
If we talk about analogies, then perhaps the most accurate imitation of this explanation I came across in the film “Death Race” with Statham:

In the film, the role of armor is played by a 6-inch armor plate at the back of Statham’s car, which competitors shoot at with all types of weapons. Sooner or later, this plate receives critical damage and can no longer withstand hits. The meaning is absolutely the same.

Now let's move on to the numbers. First of all, we note that the Gribovalevsky land cannons could fire as much as 2-2.5 km, but absolutely no one used such a range. Why? Yes, for two simple things - there were no sights for such distances yet, and the dispersion of fire was very high. Therefore, in the Gribovalevsky instructions for ground artillery we see the following figures

Effective fire distances for guns of various calibers

If we open the English naval shooting manuals (for example, from 1832), we will see the following figures:
For long guns:
Maximum sighting range 500-400 meters (sorry, here and below I am simplifying the English yard to an ordinary meter; for those who need it, they will convert it into exact values)
Effective target firing range - 200 meters
Pistol range - 50 meters.
For carronades:
maximum sighting range - 200 meters
effective sighting range - 50 meters
pistol distance - 10 meters.
Why do the values ​​of land and sea systems differ so much? Really naval guns were they worse?
No, they were no worse, and sometimes even better. It’s just that the admirals laid down such values ​​because it was not about maximum, A sighting range, and secondly, from these ranges could cause damage to enemy ships. That is, in reality, naval guns could fire much further, but the accuracy of the fire and the damage from it were very bad at distances above the recommended ones. The question is - was it possible to use guns beyond the maximum effective range? The answer is why not? For example, the accuracy of a carronade over 200 meters is non-existent. But who prevents, for example, from conducting unaimed fire with carronades not on the sides, but on the sails of ships? Nobody! The area of ​​the sails is much larger than the part of the side being hit, therefore, according to the theory of probability, such fire may well be effective. Yes, the speed of the cannonball at this distance is not enough to break through a bulwark or something wooden, but tearing a sail or knocking down a yard is quite enough.
One more thing should not be forgotten - ground artillery fires from a fixed platform (ground, fortress wall, etc.) at a target that is stationary or slowly moving relative to the gun/battery. Even the galloping speed of a horse is 15-18 km/h, in sea terms - 8-8.5 knots, that is, the speed of an ordinary frigate. But most often the cavalry goes to the battery(speaking nautical term- into "longitudinal fire"), and does not jump along the battery(the meaning of the cavalry attack is clear - to suppress this very battery, and not to run away from its fire). The walking speed of infantry (110 steps per minute at a step of 70 cm) is significantly lower - approximately 4.6 km/h or 2.5 knots, but again - infantry goes towards the battery, not along it.
Naval artillery has a completely different task - there the enemy moves precisely along the battery, since the movement is most often parallel relative to each other, and this leaves an additional imprint on the accuracy (or, if you like, inaccuracy) of shooting and on the effective combat distance.
Oddly enough, but land artillery, operations against ships, most often used naval instructions. This is understandable - ships, especially battleships, are a very specific enemy. And here it is necessary to introduce such a concept as the probability of hitting the target, which directly depended on the number of guns firing at the target. It is clear that an airborne salvo creates a kind of “cloud” of nuclei, which covers the target. As far as I understand, in the case of long distances this probability distribution of hits is akin to Gaussian, at short distances it is linear and uniform. That is, as in the case of the movie with Statham, the decisive role is played by the number of hits per unit of time.
Now let's move from theory to practice.
The first debate on this topic arose for me a long time ago, regarding Toulon of the 1793 model. Let me remind you that Bonaparte then captured the forts of Eguiet and Balaguier, located on one side of the exit to Toulon harbor. The width of the passage from the harbor itself is 1200 meters. The question is: could the guns of these forts clearly block the exit of ships from Toulon?
The answer is obvious - no, they couldn’t. And this is even though (according to Nilus) "A 12-pound core with a charge of 4 pounds at a distance of about 300 fathoms goes deep: into the ground by 7-9 feet, into a tree by 2.5 feet, into a stone by 4 inches. 300 fathoms is about 650 m; 2.5 ft. = 0.75 m." Still, the sides of the ships are clearly not land, and we will leave what kind of tree Nilus had in mind - to the author’s conscience.
The next issue of our program was my supposedly delusional ideas of shelling the brig "Mercury" with grapeshot. And again, the author of the opus about my nonsense gave a breakdown for land buckshot (the weight of one bullet is 23 grams). Well, how many times have I said - such buckshot was never used at sea!
In the same Russian fleet there were the following types of buckshot: short-range and long-range buckshot. The charge for both buckshots is 1.64 kg. The weight of the long-range buckshot was 10.9 kg, it had 48 bullets (each weighing 227 grams). The weight of the short-range buckshot is 11.2 kg, it contains 94 bullets (each weighing 119 grams). The maximum firing range of short-range buckshot is up to 400 meters, long-range up to 700. The British and French used bullets weighing 384 and 452 grams in buckshot on 32-pound and 24-pound guns! So it’s one thing to have buckshot in a hunting rifle for birds, and another thing to have buckshot for battleship. She is also on board any small ship (for example, brig) can cause quite a lot of damage, tearing sails, breaking yards, etc.