Cannon and Ammunition Wagon

 

The men in charge of transporting cannons and ammunition for Napoleon's Imperial Guard formed the Artillery Train of the Imperial Guard (there was a similar artillery train to service the cannons of the regular army).

They would move the cannons and ammunition wagons to and from the battlefield and were expected to protect these from enemy attacks if necessary.

Each gun was attached to a limber towed by four, six or more horses. On the limber was kept a crate containing a small number of rounds to allow the cannon to be fired in an emergency if the main ammunition wagon was not around.

The ammunition wagon (below) would contain a fair amount of rounds, sometimes of different kinds.

Theoretically, there were several ammunition wagons to service each gun.

A shovel and a pickaxe could be fixed to the sides and a spare wheel to the rear.

My wagon contains 18 fireable rounds (6 more are stored in the crate on the cannon's limber).

On the battlefield, the ammunition wagons were supposed to be kept in the rear, at enough distance from the guns they served so that an enemy round fired into the wagons and causing them to explode would not endanger the nearby cannons and crews.

Some men had therefore to run between the wagons and cannons to bring new rounds to fire.