Rene Chartrand, author of so many excellent Osprey volumes, begins his two-volume study of French artillery in the Napoleonic Wars with an examination of French artillery in the period 1792-1815. As usual, Chartrand deftly weaves together historical facts and personal insights to create a cogent overview of the subject at hand. In this case, Chartrand has a lot of ground to cover in less than 48 pages and the Vanguard format appears to have cramped his style. Although this volume is good, it is not great, and size constraints seem to be the culprit. Nevertheless, if you are a Napoleonic enthusiast then this is a good reference volume to have on one's shelf.
Napoleon's Guns 1792-1815 (1) begins with a short section on French artillery in the 18th Century and then rapidly moves into a lengthy discussion of the Gribeauval reforms of 1765. Indeed, a large chunk of the volume focuses on the Gribeauval system and I was surprised to learn just how extensive these reforms were once implemented. Most sources only mention Gribeauval's standardization of French artillery calibers, but he also improved artillery limbers, caissons, and ancillary equipment. Yet the most important Gribeauval reform was the quantitative increases; a typical French field army had its artillery support increased from 60 to 160 medium caliber cannon. Chartrand notes that Napoleon was very lucky to rise to prominence at a point when the French artillery had marked quantitative and qualitative advantages over all its opponents. Indeed, Napoleon recognized the value of the new field artillery and made it the centerpiece of his Grande Armée.
Chartrand does spend some time discussing the horse artillery units and the artillery trains (both interesting sections), as well as the regimental 4-pounder guns. However, there is no real discussion of the organization of different types of French field batteries or how a battery was commanded in combat. Supply issues are sidestepped. Chartrand does have sections on the paint schemes of the artillery, a brief section on ammunition and notes on artillery in the Imperial Period. Although the title suggests that coverage begins in 1792, there is virtually no mention of French artillery before 1800 in this volume. The color illustrations accompanying this volume are quite good: a 12 pounder field gun; a 6-inch howitzer; a caisson; and 8-pounder with limber and tools; a limber; a 6 pounder; and a 4-pounder in action.
Certainly the oddest omission is the almost total lack of information about the performance characteristics of the Gribeauval artillery pieces. There is only a single brief chart that lists typical ranges for ball, canister and grape ammunition, but this chart does not mention charges. Any artillerymen knows that different charges will affect the range that can be achieved, but Chartrand never discusses this important subject in this volume. Essentially, Chartrand used up most of the space in this volume discussing the Gribeauval system and artillery design issues, leaving precious little space for discussing relevant tactical issues. While I did learn a lot of interesting aspects of the Gribeauval system that are not always apparent, this volume is not very useful for understanding how the French employed their artillery in combat.
