The Canon de 24 de Vallière was a type of cannon designed by the French officer Florent-Jean de Vallière (1667–1759), Director-General of the Battalions and Schools of the Artillery. The cannon was a result of the Royal Ordonnance of October 7, 1732, enacted to reorganize and improve the King's artillery.''A Dictionary of Military History and the Art of War'' By André Corvisier, p.83

/ref> Whereas numerous formats and designs had been in place in the French army, De Vallière standardized the French sizes in artillery pieces by allowing only for the production of 24, 12, 8, and 4 pound guns, mortars of and , and stone-throwing mortars of . The 24-pdr was the largest caliber available to French artillery in this system. The cannon used core drilling of the bore of cannons founded in one piece of

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

, 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. As with other de Valliere guns, the 24-pdr was also highly decorated and contained numerous designs and inscriptions.

Front part

Starting with the front part, the gun had a sight design at its extremity. They followed the name of the gun (here ''Uranie''). Then, a Latin phrase "Ultima Ratio Regum", initially introduced by

Louis XIV LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...

, and rather descriptive of the role of the gun: "The Last Argument of Kings". Under that appears the name " Louis Charles de Bourbon, Comte d'Eu, Duc d'Aumale", the ''Grand Maître de l'artillerie de France'' (Grand Master of the Artillery of France), followed by a royal emblem. In the middle of the cannon are trunnions, used to position the gun in place and elevate or depress it. On top of the trunnions are dolphin-shaped ornaments, which are used in lifting the gun.Springfield Armory
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Back part

The back part consists in, sometimes, an inscription showing the weight of the cannonball (for example a "4" for a 4-pounder), followed by a Latin inscription "'' Nec pluribus impar''", meaning that the King is "Not unequal to many (suns)". This is followed by the royal crest of the

Bourbon dynasty The House of Bourbon (, also ; ) is a dynasty that originated in the Kingdom of France as a branch of the Capetian dynasty, the royal House of France. Bourbon kings first ruled France and Kingdom of Navarre, Navarre in the 16th century. A br ...

. At the bottom of the gun, the location and date of manufacture are inscribed (in the example "Strasbourg, 1745"), and finally the name and title of the founder (in the example "Fondu par Jean Maritz, Commissaire des Fontes de France"). The cascabel is decorated with an animal face showing the rating of the gun (the lion head for a 24-pounder). Image:De_Valliere_gun_front.jpg, Front part of the de Valliere 24-pdr gun ''Uranie''. Image:De_Valliere_gun_back.jpg, Back part of the de Valliere 24-pdr gun ''Uranie''.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Canon de 24 de Valliere Valliere system