[3] Jean Maritz began casting guns as a single, solid block, and then drilling the bore on a large machine.

This resulted in less windage – the gap between the cannonball and the bore – which meant less gas pressure escaped, so that smaller gunpowder charges could hurl the projectile farther and more accurately.

When less gunpowder could be used to achieve the same power and range, the ballistics experts found that cannon barrels could be made thinner, shorter, and lighter.

[3] The army of the Habsburg monarchy discovered that its artillery was outmatched by Prussian cannons during the War of the Austrian Succession.

In 1744, the new Director General Joseph Wenzel I, Prince of Liechtenstein began a series of reforms to improve the design of Austria's field artillery and provide training to its gunners.

By the start of the Seven Years' War, the Austrians had upgraded their artillery with lighter cannons and introduced a very good howitzer.

[4] Gribeauval's reforms encompassed not only the cannons but also the gun carriages, limbers, ammunition chests, and the accompanying tools.

Around 1791, the French chemist Nicholas Leblanc invented a process to manufacture soda ash, allowing to more cheaply convert calcium nitrate from guano to saltpeter, a necessary ingredient of gunpowder.

[9] Finally, since better gunners were needed to operate the new field pieces, France set up artillery schools to train its soldiers.

[10] The Gribeauval field artillery pieces were approximately half the weight of the Vallière guns of the same caliber, without sacrificing range.

However, it is probable that the French forces employed Gribeauval siege cannons during that conflict.

[15] Scotty Bowden and Charlie Tarbox gave canister shot ranges in meters as 600 for the 12-pounder, 550 for the 8-pounder, 400 for the 4-pounder, and 250 for the 6-inch howitzer.

[21] For siege and garrison artillery he retained the same proportions as the earlier Vallière System of 1732 but with the removal of the decoration and simplification of the dolphins.

[22] According to one author, only the Gribeauval siege guns were first used for major operations in the American Revolutionary War.

[26] In the early years of the French Revolutionary Wars, the artillery arm lost the fewest officers by emigration.

The artillerists had to rely on hired civilian drivers and horses to carry their guns into battle.

The commanding general Charles François Dumouriez remarked that French soldiers were more impetuous when their guns dominated the enemy, and that when the artillery was not successful, the infantry hung back.

Historian Ramsay Weston Phipps noted that the French artillery in the War of the First Coalition was "excellent" and helped overcome some of the failings of the new armies.

[28] After the Battle of Wattignies in 1793, one Allied observer wrote that the French victory was due to "their immense artillery".

[29] For his expert handling of the artillery at the Siege of Toulon in 1793, Napoleon Bonaparte was promoted to general of brigade and began his climb to fame and political power.

[30] When Napoleon became First Consul and later emperor, he appointed Auguste de Marmont to carry out most of his artillery improvements.

[32] Napoleon decided to replace the 4-pounders with 6-pounders in order to increase his artillery's hitting power.

Under the Bourbon Restoration in 1815, the 4- and 8-pounders were brought back into service and the new 6-pounders withdrawn based on a survey carried out by Charles-Étienne-François Ruty.