Gribeauval system The Gribeauval system ( French : " système Gribeauval " ) was an artillery system introduced by Lieutenant General Jean Baptiste Vaquette de Gribeauval during the 18th century . This system revolutionized French cannon , with a new production system that allowed lighter , more uniform guns without sacrificing range . The Gribeauval system superseded the de Vallière system . These guns contributed to French military victories during the Napoleonic Wars ; the Gribeauval system was " arguably the best artillery system in Europe at that time " . Development . The Gribeauval system was introduced through royal order on 15 October 1765 . Although much of the work is not directly attributable to Gribeauval ( see Honoré Blanc ) , the systems of organization and uniformity in ordnance have been called " le système Gribeauval " . Technology . Gribeauval ' s primary improvement came in the production of large artillery pieces . Prior to his improvements , guns were cast in a single piece by pouring molten iron or bronze around a clay cylinder . After the metal cooled , the clay was removed , leaving the gun ' s bore . However , this made guns with imperfect cores , which prevented the use of tight - fitting cannon balls ; because rounds did not fit tightly , much of the explosive power of the gunpowder was lost . Gribeauval created a new system of production , initially developed by Jean Maritz , casting guns as a single , solid block , and then drilling the bore on a large machine : the entire barrel of the gun rotated against a massive drill bit , and the cutting head was advanced by means of weights and cogs . The resulting guns had tighter manufacturing tolerance between the bore and ball and allowed thinner barrels to be made without sacrificing range . Because the projectile fit the gun much more tightly , the barrel could be shorter without reducing accuracy ; the shorter , thinner , barrel reduced weight . Gribeauval also designed improved carriages which allowed highly mobile fieldpieces . Organization and usage . Gribeauval field artillery , he developed comparatively light cannon : The 1 - pdr Rostaing gun and the Swedish 4 - pdr Battalion Gun s were retained from the previous system . For siege and garrison artillery he retained the same proportions as the earlier Valliere System of 1732 but with the removal of the decoration and simplified the dolphins . Gribeauval also designed a range of mortars : Only the Gribeauval Siege guns were first used for major operations in the American Revolutionary War , in General Rochambeau ' s French expeditionary corps , from 1780 to late 1782 , and especially at Yorktown in 1781 . The Rochambeau ' s French Infantry were equipped with Regimental Swedish 4 - pdrs and not , as many think , Gribeauval 4 - pdrs . It was used extensively during the wars following the French Revolution and in the early Napoleonic wars supplemented by large numbers of captured ordnance including Austrian , Hanoverian , Piedmont and Prussian . From 1805 , the Year XI system started to replace the captured ordnance . Gradually the Gribeauval 4 - pdr and 8 - pdr was replaced by the Year XI 6 - pdr and the Gribeauval 6 - pouce ( 6 . 4 - inch ) Howitzer was replaced by the Year XI 24 - pdr howitzer . In 1808 , due to financial considerations , the obsolete Gribeauval carriages were cannibalised to create new carriages for the Year XI gun tubes . Improvements and obsolescence . The Gribeauval system was replaced by Napoleon I in 1803 by the Year XI system . This took many years and only after the 1809 campaign was the Gribeauval system entirely superseded . Only the Gribeauval 12 - pdr was retained in the new system . From 1808 , the metalwork , axles and wheels from the Gribeauval 8 - pdr were used to make carriages for the Year XI 6 - pdr . Due to the abundance of Spanish Gribeauval Ordnance , artillery of the Gribeuaval System was still occasionally used by the French . In 1812 , the Gribeauval 4 - pdrs were used as the Regimental Artillery for the Young Guard in the Invasion of Russia . Under the Bourbon Restoration in 1815 , the Gribeauval System was officially reinstated but the Year XI ordnance was still in use . Between 1825 to 1831 , Sylvain Charles Valée made further technical improvements to the Gribeauval system . The " Valée system " was used at the Capture of Algiers ( 1830 ) , the Fall of Constantine ( 1837 ) , and in the Crimean War ( 1853 – 1856 ) . A new generation of shell - firing canon obusier s emerged with the invention of the naval shell - gun by Paixhans in 1823 , and the introduction of the canon obusier de 12 in 1853 by the French Army ; this rendered the Gribeauval system obsolete .