Jean-Florent de Vallière (7 September 1667 – 7 January 1759) was a French artillery officer of the 18th century. He was lieutenant-general of the King's Armies. In 1726, de Vallière became Director-General of the Battalions and Schools of the Artillery. Vallière was a member of the Académie de Marine. After his death, his seat went to Chabert-Cogolin. Through the Royal Ordonnance of 7 October 1732, Vallière endeavoured to reorganize and standardize the King's artillery. He significantly improved the method used for founding cannons, superseding the technique developed by Jean-Jacques Keller. He thus developed the de Vallière system,''A Dictionary of Military History and the Art of War'' By André Corvisier, p.83

/ref> which set the standard for French artillery until the advent of the Gribeauval system.

Vallière system

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 ( Canon de 24), 12, 8 and 4 pound guns (the weight is the weight of the cannonballs), mortars of 12 and 8 French inches, and stone-throwing mortars of 15 French inches. The French pound weighing 1.097 English pounds, the French guns fired slightly heavier balls (13.164 pounds) than their English equivalent 12-pounder. The French inch was 2.707 cm, slightly longer than the English inch of 2.54 cm. The Vallière system 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. The Valliere guns were also highly decorative and contained numerous designs and inscriptions.

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. This was 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 ...

. 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").Springfield Armory
/ref> The breech was decorated with an animal face showing the rating of the gun (in the example the lion head for a 24-pounder).

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".

Operational activity

The Valliere guns proved rather good in siege warfare but were less satisfactory in a war of movement. That was especially visible during the

War of the Austrian Succession The War of the Austrian Succession was a European conflict fought between 1740 and 1748, primarily in Central Europe, the Austrian Netherlands, Italian Peninsula, Italy, the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. Related conflicts include King Ge ...

(1747–1748) and during the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...

(1756–1763) in which mobility was a key factor and lighter guns were clearly in need. The lack of

howitzers The howitzer () is an artillery weapon that falls between a cannon (or field gun) and a mortar. It is capable of both low angle fire like a field gun and high angle fire like a mortar, given the distinction between low and high angle fire break ...

was another issue. Numerous Valliere guns were used in the

American War of Independence The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

, 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 The Battles of Saratoga (September 19 and October 7, 1777) were two battles between the American Continental Army and the British Army fought near Saratoga, New York, concluding the Saratoga campaign in the American Revolutionary War. The Battle ...

, and the

Siege of Yorktown The siege of Yorktown, also known as the Battle of Yorktown and the surrender at Yorktown, was the final battle of the American Revolutionary War. It was won decisively by the Continental Army, led by George Washington, with support from the Ma ...

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

wrote about the guns in a letter to General William Heath on 2 May 1777:

Obsolescence

Hiss 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 Lieutenant General Jean-Baptiste Vaquette de Gribeauval (; 15 September 1715 – 9 May 1789) was a French artillery officer and engineer who revolutionised the French cannon, creating a new production system that allowed for lighter, more uniform ...

, 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.''Napoleon's Guns'', 1792-1815 by René Chartrand, Ray Hutchins, p.6
/ref>

Notes

References

* Chartrand, René 2003 ''Napoleon's guns 1792-1815 (2)'' Osprey Publishing * {{DEFAULTSORT:Valliere, Jean-Florent De Valliere system 1667 births 1759 deaths French generals Members of the French Academy of Sciences