However, as the French infantry declined in quality after 1809, the 4-pounders were reintroduced in order to provide direct support for formations of foot soldiers.

The Gribeauval system was approved by the king and officially adopted by the French army on 15 October 1765.

It was quietly introduced to keep it secret from foreign powers but also to avoid an unfriendly reaction from conservative elements in the French Royal Army.

[5] 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 the addition of a screw to elevate the barrel, a tangent gunsight and carriages with interchangeable parts.

Large numbers of Austrian and Prussian 6-pounders were captured in 1794–1800 and utilized to up-gun the French armies.

[8] After 1809 Napoleon reintroduced the 4-pounder for direct infantry support due to the lower quality of French and French-allied foot soldiers.

[6] In 1829 France adopted the Valée system, which reduced the calibers of field artillery to 8- and 12-pound cannons and 24-pound and 6-inch howitzers.

[9] Any cannon could be served by as few as six artillerists, but to achieve maximum rates of fire more gunners were needed.

The third gunner stood to the right and mopped out the barrel after a discharge and rammed home the cartridge and shot.

[13] The Canon de 4 Gribeauval threw a round shot that weighed 4 French pounds.

[11] At beginning of the French Revolutionary Wars, all armies attached 3- and 4-pounder cannons directly to the infantry units.

They were supposed to be served by trained gunners but in reality they were often worked by infantrymen drafted from the ranks.

After his defeat at the Battle of Aspern-Essling in 1809, Napoleon reversed this policy and rearmed his infantry units with battalion pieces.

[10] Artillery was rarely placed inside a village because of the danger of the buildings catching fire and detonating the ammunition.

If forced to unlimber under fire, it was best to approach the desired position from a flank to present the thinnest target.

Round shot was most effective when used against formed troops, particularly those in column and to a lesser degree against those in line.

Most soldiers hated to be under long-range artillery fire because they were unable to shoot back at their tormentors with shorter-ranged muskets.

The British avoided exposing their troops to round shot by placing them behind crests when possible, but all other nations customarily deployed their soldiers in the open.

A canister round consisted of a large number of musket balls that, when fired, spread out and flew in the direction of the target.

These companies were attached to the divisions of Jean Mathieu Seras, Jean-Baptiste Broussier, Paul Grenier, Gabriel Barbou des Courières, Jean Maximilien Lamarque, Louis Michel Antoine Sahuc and Emmanuel Grouchy.

Michel Marie Pacthod's National Guard division had two 8-pounders and four 4-pounders attached at the Battle of Montereau on 17–18 February.

[31] A 15 March order of battle shows that in the French Army of the Rhône, the artillery companies of Louis François Félix Musnier's 1st and Alexandre, vicomte Digeon's Cavalry Divisions each included two 8-pounders, two 4-pounders and two 6-inch howitzers.