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The Canon de 8 Gribeauval or 8-pounder was a French cannon and part of the Gribeauval system developed by Jean Baptiste Vaquette de Gribeauval. The Old French pound ((フランス語:livre)) was 1.079 English pounds, making the weight of shot about 8.6 English pounds. The 8-pounder was the medium weight cannon of the French field artillery; the others were the light Canon de 4 Gribeauval and the heavy Canon de 12 Gribeauval. Replacing the older Vallière system, the Gribeauval system was introduced in 1765 and the guns were first employed during the American Revolutionary War. The most extensive use of Gribeauval guns was during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. The 8-pounder could be found in divisional reserves, advanced guards or army artillery reserves. Emperor Napoleon began to phase out the 8-pounder by increasing the proportion of 12-pounders in his artillery. The emperor began switching calibers to the handier 6-pounder piece, utilizing captured guns as well as newly-designed French cannons. The Year XI system began in 1803, but it only partly replaced the Gribeauval system which was not entirely suppressed until the Valée system was introduced in 1829. ==History== The Gribeauval system was formally adopted by the French army on 15 October 1765 after being approved by the king in August. It was discreetly introduced to keep it secret from foreign powers and to avoid an adverse reaction from conservative officers in the French Royal Army. The system included 4-, 8- and 12-pounder field pieces, the Obusier de 6 pouces Gribeauval (6-inch howitzer) and the 1-pounder light cannon. However, the 1-pounder was quickly discarded. The Canon de 8 Gribeauval was used widely during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. However, its first important operational use occurred in the American Revolutionary War. The new cannons were employed by the French expeditionary corps under Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau in 1780–1782 including the 1781 Siege of Yorktown. The Gribeauval system replaced a system developed in 1732 by Florent-Jean de Vallière. The earlier system lacked a howitzer and its cannons were difficult to move. These shortcomings became more obvious during the War of the Austrian Succession and the Seven Years' War. Despite this, the ranking artillery officer Joseph Florent Vallière stoutly opposed innovations to his father's system. Bitter resistance by Vallière and other reactionaries delayed full implementation of the new system until 1776. Gribeauval made both the barrels and the carriages lighter, so that his cannons were about half the weight of the Vallière guns. Other improvements were a screw to elevate the barrel, a calibrated rear gunsight and interchangeable parts for gun carriages. Napoleon determined to replace the 4-pounder with the heavier 6-pounder by using the large number of Austrian and Prussian cannons captured in 1794–1800. He also decided to replace some 8-pounders with a larger proportion of 12-pounders. In 1803 with the Year XI system, France began to manufacture new 6-pounder and 12-pounder cannons and 5½-inch and 6⅓-inch howitzers. The new system was only partly implemented by 1809. In that year, the 4-pounders were reassigned to the infantry battalions. France adopted the Valée system in 1829. The new system reduced the calibers of field artillery to 8- and 12-pound cannons and 24-pound and 6-inch howitzers. Mobility was increased by standardizing limber sizes so that 8-pounders and 24-pound howitzers used the smaller type while 12-pounders and 6-inch howitzers used the larger type. In all cases, the gunners rode into action while sitting on the limbers rather than having to walk beside the guns. All batteries were provided with four cannons and two howitzers. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Canon de 8 Gribeauval」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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