The first phase of the Napoleonic War began when France declared war on Britain, Spain and Holland in February 1793 and continued until the peace of Amiens in March 1802. The peace was not destined to last and in May 1803, Britain declared war on France and the second phase of the war continued until after June 1815 when Napoleon abdicated. The history of any famous regiment invariably considers the men, the theatres of operation and usually in a much smaller way, the equipment. In the case of the Royal Artillery this is due to the apparent absence of any surviving gun carriages and limbers and most of the previous studies have limited themselves to the comparisons with the anachronistic material of earlier and later periods. This compendium draws together new and existing contemporary information that provides new insights into the field equipment and uniforms of the period. While some of the material has been published before much is placed into the public domain for the first time.
The ordnance considered by this book is limited to the field artillery and the supporting equipments. The role of field artillery was to support the army in the field and in this context the Royal Regiment of Artillery had two fighting arms, the Royal Artillery and the Royal Horse Artillery. The Royal Artillery supported the infantry and was formed into ‘Brigades’, the gunners marching with the guns. The Royal Horse Artillery supported the cavalry and was formed in ‘Troops’, with all the gunners mounted or riding on the equipment. The field pieces of this period were bronze, smooth-bore weapons and the inventory of the field artillery was made up from the light and heavy 3-pr, the light, heavy and long 6-pr, and the medium 12-pr. Later, after 1808, came the 9-pr; also included in the field inventory were the light and heavy 5.5-inch howitzers and the iron 24-pr howitzer. There were trials with other ordnance but none was taken into full service, so these are not considered nor is the ordnance associated with the garrison and siege artillery. In addition to field equipments, this book also addresses the different gun carriages, limbers, ammunition wagons, other supporting equipment, the drills and exercises, and the uniforms of the period.
The Duke of Richmond, the Master General of Ordnance, had proposed a new design for the gun and limber when it was decided to introduce horse artillery into the British service. Generally attributed to General Congreve (1st Bart) it probably owed more to General Desaguliers. He had designed a block trail carriage and a double draught limber for experimental service of a heavy 3-pr gun in 1779. This was based upon a French gun carriage captured at Martinique in 1761 and followed the principles of Prussian horse artillery. As a result, new equipment was introduced which included many of the latest ideas. The wheels of the gun and limber were the same size, 60 inches in diameter and interchangeable; iron axles of the same length were fitted to both the gun and limber so the wheels of the gun could follow in the tracks of the limber. A new design of gun carriage, the block trail, was adopted and the limber was fitted to carry the first-line ammunition. The advantages of this new equipment were so apparent, it was issued to the rest of the field artillery as soon as it became available. In Spain, where there was a constant re-supply of new wheels and carriages as the war progressed, the changeover took some time and there were several different styles of gun carriage and limber in use by the foot brigades, some going back to the 1760s, but the horse artillery was fully equipped with the new designs from the start.
Thus, it can be seen, at the beginning of the Napoleonic War that British field artillery was in transition. The short-comings of the earlier field systems had become self evident and with the introduction of the new equipments for the horse artillery, the ordnance had taken the opportunity to sweep up all the desired changes into the new designs and there was an immediate and progressive replacement of the older equipments in the foot artillery brigades. The programme of replacement began with the introduction of the larger wheels and iron axles and there is some evidence to suggest that the bracket trail carriages were used in conjunction with the new style of limber but with an extended rear bolster to carry the pintle for the trail transom. This evolution progressed throughout the war.
By 1814 all of the bracket trail carriages, and the old limbers of the field artillery engaged in the European conflict had been replaced, although Woolwich placed less emphasis on upgrading equipment in the Colonies. One thing has become clear, the introduction of the block trail carriages to the foot artillery was much sooner and on a more comprehensive scale than generally considered.
Information is given on the different guns, howitzers and carriages used by the British field artillery during the Napoleonic Wars and, where the information is available, details of their performance is included. It is clear, during the war the field artillery used other types of ordnance not covered by this book; this omission is due to the lack of contemporary information or that their use was more a trial or on a temporary basis rather than an adoption into service. In every case, where the information has been available, the ordnance is represented and fully illustrated.
No research, however intensive, is ever the final word on any subject and it may well be further information has yet to be placed into the public domain. Added to this must be an understanding that troop and brigade commanders were very much their own men and individual practices and modifications were not at all uncommon. These factors need to be considered when referring to the drawings with no specific attribution.
C.E. Franklin was born in London in 1934. He joined the Royal Air Force in 1951, spending much of his later appointments as an engineer specialising in guided weapons. On leaving the service in 1984 he joined British Aerospace. He retired in 1990 and now spends most of his time in research and writing. He is the author of British Napoleonic Field Artillery, British Rockets of the Napoleonic and Colonial Wars 1805–1901 and British Napoleonic Uniforms: A Complete Illustrated Guide to Uniforms, Facings and Lace. He lives in Lea, Lincolnshire.