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Well I suppose calling it required reading might suggest it is Importantš Who knows? Perhaps the 3-D printing revolution will allows us to create 1807/8 carriages with Gribeauval tubes at will. Meanwhile I have to agree that any two bracket model will do. I’m still waiting for a manufacturer to offer a correctly equipped Russian jaeger, after all. But I do find the minutiae a very enjoyable part of the hobby. Right now I’m working out how to present the change from iron to gold-colored spurs in the Russian artillery.
Also, the information does tend to separate the sheep from the goats. Granted Fitzgerald does not cite his sources, he has a good reputation and the narrative is convincing. It is a subject a number of people have been investigating and this is the first time I’ve seen this explanation. That is, that the reworked equipment constituted a new design. There has been mention of modifications, but as an ad hoc design. There is the larger context, the argument whether French artillery had intrinsic advantages. I think that debateĀ has been settled for the thoughtful hobbyist, but it doesn’t stop Ā the echos.
I do think understanding artillery is key to the later Napoleonic period. Ā All the big battles fromĀ Aspern-Essling Ā seem to feature enormous artillery bombardments Ā substituting for volley fire to break the opponent. Did Waterloo start late because the mud held up the artillery, or did it start late because the French doctrine requiredĀ a preparatory bombardment.Ā Ā How much of a physical obstacle was the gun line backed by multiple caisson lines? How vulnerable was a grand battery to infantry or cavalry attack? At Waterloo, the French were hit by the British heavies masked by the routing French infantry. But how degraded was subsequent French efficiency? Or for that matter, how effective was the Allied artillery after the cuirassiers repeatedly swept Wellington’s right flank? Ā Barbero sees the whole battle as a struggle to clear the field in order to bring the battery forward to blast the Allied center.
My own thinking about Borodino has been greatly influenced by this. I sat down to try and understand why there were onlyĀ about 100 guns in the French battery and realized that was as many as would fit between the woods on either side. That, in turn, led me to think that the capture of the village of Borodino was quite important. I had read Duffy way back when who felt it was just a waste of the overexposed L-g. Jaeger. But if they had properly prepared their position, perhaps they could have hung on like the Allies as Hougoumont. Ā The front of the great redoubt was protected by a woods at effective cannon range. The French could not bring batteries in without getting smashed.Ā But theĀ capture of the village allowed Eugene to establish batteries to bombard the great redoubt from the north, leading, eventually, to a successful French assault.
On the flip side, I think I calculated that the Russians could cover the front with guns 10 yards apart three times! Which makes me suspect that: the Russian batteries were not at full strength; the Russian emphasis on 12lbers was an inefficient use of its manpower; French casualties have been minimized. Compare the respective casualties at Wagram and its massive artillery duel.
Which raises another question, how effective was counter-battery fire? For all the yakking about doctrine eschewing it, few ever point out that when the enemy battle line is one enormous battery backed by infantry, it’s not really possible to target one and not the other.
I think we have some feel for how long a battalion could stand exchanging volleys at what distances, but I’m not sure we have a very good handle on the basics of grand batteries. – It’s bit like another interest of mine, the battle of Jutland. The combat was highly statistical but we have scant data. To this day it is unclear if the British BC losses were due to inadequate armor, reckless munition handling, or a problem in their propellant chemistry. And what about the remarkable impotence of the torpedoes? You can pretty much justify all kinds of guesses.
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