The first "canon-obusier", the Paixhans gun, in 1842. Musée de la Marine.
Field shell gun "Canon-obusier de campagne de 12 modèle 1853 Le Hangest". Bronze, founded in Strasbourg in the mid-1850s. Caliber: 121 mm. Length: 1.91 m. Weight: 626 kg (with carriage: 1200 kg). Metal ball or explosive shell 4.1 kg.
Canon-obusier Le Lassaigne, modèle 1853.

The Canon-obusier (literally "Shell-gun cannon", "gun-howitzer") was a type of cannon developed by France in the 1850s. The canon-obusier was a smoothbore cannon using either explosive shells, solid shot, or canister, and was therefore a vast improvement over previous cannon firing only solid and canister shot, such as the Gribeauval system.

The very first canon-obusiers were naval shell guns, invented in 1823 by Henri-Joseph Paixhans and introduced in the French Navy in 1842.[1] This invention was related to the origin of the development of the Dahlgren shell gun in the United States in 1849.

The French Army introduced the canon-obusier de 12 in 1853. The US version of this type of canon-obusier, commonly called the "12-pounder Napoleon Model 1857", was one of the most-used cannon in the American Civil War.[2][3] Over 1,100 of these "Napoleons" were manufactured by the Union, and 600 by the Confederacy.[4]

The canon-obusier de 12 followed rifled cannon of the Treuille de Beaulieu system which had been introduced in 1858.[5]

The term "Canon-obusier" remained in use after World War I to designate various gun howitzers of the French Army.

See also

References

  1. ^ A Treatise on Naval Gunnery By Howard Douglas p.432 [1]
  2. ^ The Mitrailleuse by Dr. Patrick Marder Military History Online
  3. ^ Nps.gov
  4. ^ Nps.gov
  5. ^ "...the introduction by the French army of the Beaulieu 4-pounder rifled field-gun in 1858: the new artillery, though much more accurate and long-ranged than the smoothbore 'canon-obusier' it replaced (which, incidentally, was the most prevalent artillery piece of the US Civil War), was not suited to firing anti-personnel case-shot (which, in French, is called 'mitraille')." in The Mitrailleuse by Dr. Patrick Marder Military History Online
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