Osprey New Vanguard 60 : British Napoleonic Artillery (1) 1793-1815 : Field Artillery

This book examines the artillery equipment of the British forces during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars along with Wellington's Indian campaigns. The first book deals exclusively with the Field and Horse artillery starting with how the guns were designed and the various types of weapon used both brass and cast iron. This will also cover the experiments carried out at Woolwich and the regulation weapons, with an explanation of the Board of Ordnance and its role in weapons procurement. The British Army used two principle weapons in the field, the gun and the howitzer characterised by the 9 pounder gun and the 5.5 inch field howitzer. Also covered are the smaller field guns in the 3 and 6 pounder categories and the largest the 12 pounder field gun. The gun is only part of the story and all other aspects of the artillery train are covered, artillery limbers, ammunition wagons, horse husbandry and other such ephemera. The Royal Horse Artillery were formed in 1793 in order to accompany fast-moving cavalry units and as result of their role their equipment differed from that of the Foot artillery. The RHA often had lighter weapons and invariably favoured bronze guns. Wellington's campaigns in India were often conducted in conjunction with the armies of the Honourable East India Company. Indian artillery differed quite significantly to that of the home army and therefore a small section will deal with the weapons that were issued principally to the Bengal units. Text by Chris Henry with illustrations by Brian Delf.

Contents

• Introduction
• Design and Development
• Operational History
• The Variants
• Commentary on the Colour Plates