Canon obusier

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 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.

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

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.