Vallière system

The Vallière system was a new system of artillery introduced by Florent-Jean de Vallière and adopted by the French Royal Army in the 1730s. Under the new system, artillery pieces were produced in only five different calibers of cannons and two sizes of mortars. Henceforth, all new artillery pieces were manufactured in France to standard sizes. Previously, there was no standard system in place, so that the artillery included guns of various calibers and different nations of manufacture.

Vallière system
French Vallière cannon
Type	Artillery
Place of origin	Kingdom of France
Service history
In service	1732–1756, 1772–1774
Used by	Kingdom of France United States
Wars	War of the Polish Succession War of the Austrian Succession Seven Years' War
Production history
Designer	Florent-Jean de Vallière
Designed	1732

In the War of the Austrian Succession in the 1740s, the Vallière system began to reveal its shortcomings. Though the smaller caliber guns were considered to be suitable for field artillery, in fact, they were too heavy to quickly maneuver on the battlefield. Though the gun barrels were standardized, the gun carriages, limbers, and other vehicles were not standardized. After the same problems hampered the French artillery in the Seven Years' War, the French Army replaced the Vallière system with the lighter field artillery of the Gribeauval system in 1765.

New system

The Artillerie de Nouvelle Invention had been introduced to the French Royal Army by Lieutenant General François de la Frézelière, but never fully adopted. This system had been developed in 1679 by Antonio Gonzales, a Spaniard, and consisted of a range of fairly lightweight cannons. The Artillerie de Nouvelle Invention proved to have recoil problems and was never fully adopted and was discontinued in 1720. Oddly, the system's 4-pounder, 8-pounder, and 12-pounder cannons turned out to be similar in weight to the Gribeauval system's guns of the 1760s.^[1] The problem with French artillery of the 1720s was that the cannons were manufactured in different nations and were of various calibers. Supplying such a wide assortment of ammunition calibers was a logistical nightmare.^[2]

Whereas numerous formats and designs had been in place in the French army, Vallière standardized the French sizes in artillery pieces by allowing only for the production of 24-pounder, 16-pounder, 12-pounder, 8-pounder and 4-pounder cannons, mortars of 12-pouce and 8-pouce (pouce is a French inch), and stone-throwing mortars of 15-pouce.^[3] Caliber is normally measured as the inner diameter of the gun barrel. However, in the 1700s, caliber was often measured by the weight of a round shot. Hence, a 4-pounder gun.^[4]

The French pound weighing 1.097 English pounds, the French guns fired slightly heavier balls (13.164 pounds) than their English equivalent 12-pounder.^[5] The French inch was 2.707 cm, slightly longer than the English inch of 2.54 cm.^[6]

The Vallière system used core drilling of the bore of cannons founded in one piece of bronze, a method developed at that time by Jean Maritz, which allowed for much higher precision of the bore shape and surface, and therefore higher shooting efficiency.

The Valliere guns were also highly decorative and contained numerous designs and inscriptions.

• 
  Canon de 4 de Vallière, 1732, Le Pénétrant. Caliber: 84 mm.^[7]
• 
  A Canon de 12 de Vallière, founded by Jean Maritz in 1736. Caliber: 121 mm. Length: 290 cm.
• 
  A 24-pdr gun of de Vallière system (Canon de 24 de Vallière, Uranie), founded by Jean Maritz in 1745.

Barrel

The back part occasionally included an inscription showing the weight of the cannonball (for example a "4" for a 4-pounder), followed by the Latin inscription "Nec pluribus impar," a motto of King Louis XIV and translated literally as "not unequal to many," but ascribed various meanings including "alone against all," "none his equal," or "capable of anything" among many others.^{[8][9][10][11]} This was followed by the royal crest of the Bourbon dynasty. The location and date of manufacture were inscribed (in the example "Strasbourg, 1745") at the bottom of the gun, and finally the name and title of the founder (in the example "Fondu par Jean Maritz, Commissaire des Fontes").^[12] The breech was decorated with an animal face showing the rating of the gun (in the example the lion head for a 24-pounder).

• 
  Back part of the de Valliere 24-pdr gun Uranie.
• 
  De Vallière 24-pdr guns, Les Invalides.
• 
  The de Vallière cannons were drilled after being founded in one piece, according to the method developed by Jean Maritz.

Breech design

The guns had cascabel designs which allowed to easily recognize their rating: a 4-pounder would have a "Face in a sunburst", an 8-pounder a "Monkey head", a 12-pounder a "Rooster head", a 16-pounder a "Medusa head", and a 24-pounder a "Bacchus head" or a "Lion head".^[12]

Breech design

• 
  Lion head of a 24-pounder. Caliber 151 mm.^[7]
• 
  Bacchus head of a 24-pounder. Caliber 151 mm.^[7]
• 
  Medusa head of a 16-pounder. Caliber: 134 mm.^[7] Length: 300 cm.
• 
  Rooster head of a 12-pounder. Caliber: 121 mm.^[7]
• 
  Bird head of a 12-pounder Le Tonnerre. Caliber: 121 mm.

Operational activity

The surrender at Saratoga painting shows Daniel Morgan, in white, standing next to a Vallière 4-pounder.

The Valliere guns proved rather good in siege warfare but were less satisfactory in a war of movement.^[3] That was especially visible during the War of the Austrian Succession (1747–1748) and during the Seven Years' War (1756–1763) in which mobility was a key factor and lighter guns were clearly in need. The lack of howitzers was another issue.^[13]

Numerous Valliere guns were used in the American War of Independence, especially the smaller field guns. The guns were shipped from France and the field carriages provided for in the US. The guns played an important role in such battles as the Battle of Saratoga,^[12] and the Siege of Yorktown. George Washington wrote about the guns in a letter to General William Heath on 2 May 1777:

"I was this morning favored with yours containing the pleasing accounts of the late arrivals at Portsmouth and Boston. That of the French ships of war, with artillery and other military stores, is most valuable. It is my intent to have all the arms that were not immediately wanted by the Eastern States, to be removed to Springfield, as a much safer place than Portsmouth …. I shall also write Congress and press the immediate removal of the artillery, and other military stores from Portsmouth. I would also have you forward the twenty-five chests of arms lately arrived from Martinico to Springfield."

— George Washington letter to General Heath, 2 May 1777.^[12]

Obsolescence

Tests conducted at Strasbourg in 1765 found the ranges achieved by the lighter Gribeauval guns were comparable to those of the much heavier Vallière guns. Unlike the Vallière guns, the smaller caliber Gribeauval guns were true field artillery pieces. (See table below.)^[14]

1960s US Army personnel are standing with a Vallière 4-pounder mounted on a 20-pounder Parrott rifle carriage.

Characteristics: Vallière system vs. Gribeauval system artillery pieces^[15]

System	Caliber	Tube Weight	Tube Length	Shot Weight
Vallière	4-pounder	563 kg (1,241 lb)	2.19 m (7.2 ft)[note 1]	2 kg (4.4 lb)
Vallière	8-pounder	1,028 kg (2,266 lb)	2.85 m (9.4 ft)	4 kg (8.8 lb)
Vallière	12-pounder	1,566 kg (3,452 lb)	3.17 m (10.4 ft)	6 kg (13.2 lb)
Vallière	16-pounder	2,056 kg (4,533 lb)	3.36 m (11.0 ft)	8 kg (17.6 lb)
Vallière	24-pounder	2,643 kg (5,827 lb)	3.53 m (11.6 ft)	12 kg (26.5 lb)
Gribeauval	4-pounder	290 kg (639 lb)	1.57 m (5.2 ft)	2 kg (4.4 lb)
Gribeauval	8-pounder	580 kg (1,279 lb)	2.00 m (6.6 ft)	4 kg (8.8 lb)
Gribeauval	12-pounder	880 kg (1,940 lb)	2.29 m (7.5 ft)	6 kg (13.2 lb)
Gribeauval	16-pounder	2,000 kg (4,409 lb)	3.36 m (11.0 ft)	8 kg (17.6 lb)
Gribeauval	24-pounder	2,740 kg (6,041 lb)	3.53 m (11.6 ft)	12 kg (26.5 lb)

His son, Joseph Florent de Vallière (1717–1776), who became Commander of the Battalions and Schools of the Artillery in 1747, persisted in implementing his father's system. From 1763, Jean-Baptiste Vaquette de Gribeauval, as Inspector General of the French Artillery, and second in rank to de Vallière, started efforts to introduce the more modern system that would give France one of the strongest artilleries for the following century.^[13]