Wednesday 13 April 2011

Recently painted No 25 Napoleonic French Artillery Caissons



In 1800 Napoleon created the French artillery train. Before 1800 the men in artillery train were civilian contract drivers that were pretty unreliable during active service, infact at the Battle of Novi the civilian-drivers panicked and abandoned all wagons, caissons and guns
The Napoleonic soldiers-drivers were former cavalrymen, wounded or unfit for service in cavalry. Sometimes foreigners were accepted as drivers, especially if they were strong and knew horses. Among the foreigners were especially many Dutch and also some Prussian prisoners.
If necessary and possible the French doubled the amount of horses in artillery train. In 1813 at Dresden "The rain having prevented the infantry of both armies from using their muskets ... it was the artillery which, in spite of the difficulty of manoeuvring on the rain sodden ground, played a decisive role. In particular the French artillery, whose teams of horses Napoleon had doubled up, using animals from the headquarters wagons, which remained safely in Dresden."
The French train driver was armed with a carbine, a short infantry-type sabre, and a pistol. They were expected to take a hand in protecting themselves and their ammunition wagons if attacked by Cossacks, Spanish or Tyrolean guerrillas etc. The colour of the train troops coat was officially iron grey
In 1805 France had 10 battalions of artillery train
Each battalion consisted of 1 elite company and 4 centre companies. The elite company (best draft horses and best drivers) was assigned to a battery of horse artillery. The centre companies were assigned to foot batteries.

The  Artillery Train company in 1805-1807 consisted of
 2 officers
 7-10 NCOs
 2 trumpeters
 84 privates
There were also 2 blacksmiths and 2 harness makers.

While for the 100 Days war the Artillery Train company in 1815 consisted of,
1 sergeant major
4 sergeants
1 farrier
4 corporal
2 trumpeters
24 drivers of 1st Class
60 drivers of 2nd Class
There were also 2 blacksmiths and 2 harness makers.

The bulk of ammunition was carried in caissons, designed by Gribeauval to hold the new 'fixed' ammunition. The caisson was an 11-foot long, narrow-bodied wagon with a sloping lid hinged to open, the interior being divided into compartments for the assembled rounds. Powder and matches were also carried in the caisson, as were shovels and a pick (fastened to the sides), a detachable tool-box at the front and a spare wheel. The ammunition caissons and wagons were painted in olive-green, metal and wooden parts, including the wheels. The oil paint increased the resistance of the wood against the damp and bad weather
The ammunition was also kept in the small coffer attached to each gun's trail. The ammunition in the coffer consisted of’
12pdr - 9 cannonballs
8pdr - 15 cannonballs
4pdr - 18 cannonballs
6.4 inch howitzer - 4 canisters
5.5 inch howitzer – an unknown amount!
Once more the figure are for Posties grand Napoleonic collection, the figures are 15mm Essex




27 comments:

  1. Nice looking cassion. From the lists I get the impression you are going to paint up a lot..or??
    Cheers
    paul

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  2. Nope!! At least I hope not????

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  3. Very nice. I always like these pieces.

    Cheers
    Christopher

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  4. Great post. Beautiful paintjobs, great basing, nice clear pics and excellent unit info. I love these posts.

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  5. What they all said - good stuff!

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  6. cool! i'd like to see a canon in firing position. :)

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  7. Nice pictures, some great detail. Love the connection to History you give your posts.

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  8. Postie's a lucky guy! Good job, again

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  9. Napoleon knew what he was doing with artillery, hands on. One time he saw a gun crew having a hard time and said, here, gimme that and jumped in. Too bad I forgot which book that was in.

    Most of these dingbats who get promoted and end up in charge couldn't do that. You could do a vignette of that scene. Didn't you have eleven Napoleons a while back? Two birds, one stone, that way you can do the cannon firing at the same time.

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  10. Good idea, not sure Postie would like me pulling his bases apart though??

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  11. Those look awesome! Giddy up little horses!

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  12. Lovely work Ray, quite night was it?

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  13. Hi Ray,

    Nicely painted and based.

    I do like cassions - which reminds me that I dont have any in 15mm!

    Cheers

    Ken

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  14. Oh go on...paint the lot. You know you want to:-D
    Cheers
    paul

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  15. May they never see a cavalry charge!

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  16. Well, you can't have too many Napoleons when you're the Number One Blog in the world for Napoleon vignettes already, so maybe you could splurge on just one more, even a plastic one converted. And this one could be yours, if you just cough up a small outlay.

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  17. Very nice Ray.Looking great.

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  18. Really nice Ray, I just gave a spare 1 of these to my buddy today stangely enough.

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  19. FELICIDADES, es usted un gran artista siempre original, y ademas le agradezco los comentarios ,que amablemente ,me dedica en mi blog. alfons

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