Napoleon's Brick Guard and Army

  Jean-Baptiste Vaquette de Gribeauval (1715 - 1789), the French artillery officer and engineer who improved and standardised the French artillery system before the French Revolution, not only redesigned the guns (cannons, mortars, etc.) but also all the ancillary equipment - such as the indispensable field forge - which he improved to a degree and equally standardised. The four-wheeled field forge shown here is the biggest of two main models, the smaller forges having only two wheels.  Between the two front wheels is a box containing the necessary tools to work metal with. An anvil is also carried to be used placed on the ground near the forge. The chest in the rear contains coal for the hearth. To keep the fire going (on the furnace, between the front toolbox and the fire plate, where the anvil is transported when not in use), the blacksmith or his aid would activate the pair of bellows by pulling the chain attached to the horizontal lever. The list of metallic things needed...

  This simple but sturdy cart belongs to the artillery parc of the Imperial Guard. It's multipurpose and can transport many things such as barrels of powder, ammunitions, luggage, crates, spare parts or even cannons and mortars. And if some permissive officer allows it, the cart can even double as a very practical means to vehicle  a party of officers and ladies to the countryside for a picnic !

  Modelled on veteran infantry units, the company of Veteran Cannoneers of the Imperial Guard existed between 1812 and 1814. Unlike their colleagues from the "regular" foot artillery of the Guard who wore shakos or later for the Old Guard bearskins, the veterans wore bicornes. A typical role for the veterans, deemed unfit to serve in front-line duty, would be to help in the rear by manning arsenals and artillery parks, guarding, maintaining or repairing artillery weapons and materiel (you can see here veterans handling a slink cart , for example). Although I've included here an artilleryman with a wooden peg and a crutch (and another one with an eye patch), veterans were different from invalids; the latter not able to serve anymore and being cared for by the state. But even among active-duty military personnel you would find soldiers missing a limb and still refusing to abandon front-line service, although they were mainly officers.

  Two Veteran Cannoneers of the Imperial Guard and an artillery workman are seen here operating a sling cart (or  triqueballe in French). This two-extra-large-wheeled device's function is to pick up cannon tubes  from the ground   and transport them along relatively short distances if the cart is pulled by men or even longer ones if it's hitched to horses.  The present model operates by means of a large screw ending with a hook to grab a rope or chain attached around a cannon barrel. By turning the wheel on top of the sling cart the screw is raised and the barrel leaves the ground. As the illustrations below show, different systems were employed to achieve the same goal, from a simpler lever to even more basic sling carts whose shaft was used as a lever to get the load off the ground.   A French 18th century sling cart (or triqueballe ) on the left (from the 1745 book  Mémoires d'Artillerie, recueillis par M. Surirey de Saint Rémy, Lieutenan...

  This heavy-duty cart built to transport gun tubes is inspired by a late 18th century model from the French historical and mountainous province of Roussillon, near the border with Spain. Below are drawings of the original cart from the book Mémoires d'Artillerie, recueillis par M. Surirey de Saint Rémy, Lieutenant du Grand-Maître de l'Artillerie de France (1745). Here's how the vehicle is described in the book: "This cart is very good and very practical for carrying heavy loads in curves and in mountains, because it steers like a coach, and it turns in a very small space: we spent two years and more to make it perfect. We'll tell you the flaws that used to happen at the beginning. Everything depends on the axle cap, because if it's not installed properly, when going downslope the front train digs into the ground, and when going upslope it points towards the sky; which was very impractical and caused us a lot of trouble: but now, whether this cart goes up or d...