The pre-Revolutionary Gribeauval artillery system was well established by the
1790s, and continued in use until 1815 in some parts.
It comprised the 4, 8, & 12 pdr cannons, and the 6” howitzer.
By 1800, there were seen to be some problems , in that the 8pdr was too
heavy and offered little advantage over the 6pdrs used by the other Powers;
the 4pdr was too light ; and the Howitzer was also too short, giving it too short
a range. Its carriage was also perceived to be too light, and prone to breaking
in combat.
One early improvement was the 1795 Long Porte Howitzer, a copy of the
Prussian M1768 10 pdr . This was issued to accompany the 12pdr guns in the
heavy batteries, and remained in use throughout, becoming part of the new
An XI system.
The An XI system was developed from deliberations starting in 1801, and by
1805 pieces to the new design were being issued. The important pieces were
the AnXI 6pdr, and the AnXI 24pdr howitzer.
Both used a modified limber with a larger ammunition box fixed on it, rather
than a separate small box which travelled on the gun carriage of the
Gribeauval system.
Apparently none of these new pieces reached Spain where the Gribeauval
pieces continued until the end, perhaps because the Spanish also used that
system and there were plenty of captured pieces to hand.
In the German/Polish/Russian theatre, the AnXI pieces became the norm,
supplemented by the 12pdrs, for which there was a slightly improved carriage
made after 1805 as part of the AnXI improvements.
It’s also worth mentioning that after the victories of the 1800-1809, large
numbers of captured Austrian and Prussian pieces were in use,largely 6pdrs,
presumably using their proper limbers as well.
It seems impossible to be precise about how many, but it may well have been
in the hundreds.
AB can now offer the complete Gribeauval system, with 4,8,12 pdrs and 6”
howitzer , and the limber and caisson for same.All the carriages have been
subtly improved, and howitzer has a new barrel as well.
I’ve made the Long Porte howitzer to go with your Guard 12dr batteries .
And now we can offer the two AnXI pieces and their limber.
New range:
AB-F42 An XI 6pdr gun
AB-F43 8 pdr Gribeauval gun
AB-F45 6” Gribeauval Howitzer
AB-F46 12 pdr Gribeauval gun
AB-F48a AnXI limber for 6 pdr and 24 pdr howitzer
AB-F50 4 pdr Gribeauval gun
AB-F51 M1795 Longporte howitzer
AB-F62 An XI 24 pdr Howitzer
IF70c French line artillery
Online catalogue:
https://www.eurekaminuk.com/collections/new-releases-ab-figures-napoleonic
- Nick
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