Two 6 in (15 cm) howitzers were often added to four or six cannons to make up a battery of artillery in Napoleon's armies.

The 6 in (15 cm) howitzer was capable of firing an exploding shell at long-range targets or a canister shot at close-range enemy personnel.

However, the system lacked a howitzer and the weight of its cannons made them hard to move.

Nevertheless, the ranking artillery officer Joseph Florent de Vallière resisted any changes to his father's system.

[4] Sharp opposition by Vallière and other reactionaries held up full implementation of the Gribeauval system until 1776.

The new artillery pieces were manufactured so that both the barrels and the carriages were lighter, so they were about half the weight of the Vallière guns.

A screw to elevate the barrel, a calibrated rear gunsight and interchangeable parts for gun carriages were some other improvements.

[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.

Instead of having to march beside the guns, the Valée system allowed all gunners to ride into action while sitting on the limbers.

[7] The Obusier de 6 pouces Gribeauval was served by 13 crewmen and drawn by 4 horses.

The third gunner's station was to the right; he mopped out the barrel after a discharge and rammed home the cartridge and shell.

Other crewmen were assigned to bring up fresh ammunition, keep matches burning and the cannon's touch hole clear, position the cannon to fire, observe the shell's trajectory, drive the ammunition wagon and hold the horses.

[10] Though as few as six men could operate a field piece, it was necessary to assign a larger crew in order to maintain a high rate of fire in combat.

Each shell had a fuse 5 inches (12.7 cm) long that was cut by gunners to varying lengths according to the range.

An exploding shell had a kill zone of about 25 yards (22.9 m) but was less effective on soft, wet ground.

[23] By the Napoleonic Wars, the French realized that artillery had become one of the three main combat arms, together with infantry and cavalry.

[24] As early as the Battle of Wattignies in 1793 a Coalition observer remarked that the "immense artillery" of the French was the decisive factor.

As the quality of foot soldiers fell, the ratio was increased so that there were three guns per 1,000 men at the Battle of Leipzig in 1813.

[24] Soldiers were frightened of long range artillery fire to which their short-ranged muskets could not respond.

[22] When supporting an attack, the guns stayed 100 paces ahead of the advancing infantry until within close range.

Attached to each of the two cuirassier and four dragoon divisions was a half-battery of horse artillery composed of two 6- or 8-pounders and one 6-inch howitzer.

[32] In 1809 at the Battle of Talavera the British and Spanish captured 17 French and French-allied artillery pieces from Jean François Leval's division.