The grand battery massed the guns of several French artillery batteries into one large temporary battery concentrating fire on a single point in the enemy line, trading accuracy for volume of fire, rate of fire and the shock of concentrated bombardment. Napoleon used it increasingly in his later campaigns as the quality of French artillery crews and horses declined, ordering a massed bombardment against the Pratzen Heights at Austerlitz in 1805, while a 112 gun grand battery halted an Austrian counterattack at Wagram in 1809. The tactic's most famous failure came at Waterloo in 1815, where the opening barrage failed to break Wellington's center because he had deployed most of his forces behind the reverse slope of the ridge. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Facts
Core ClaimConcentrate the fire of many guns on one point in the enemy line to break it open before the infantry assault, substituting mass and rate of fire for individual gun accuracy. 1 Origin Year1805 marks Austerlitz, the tactic's first major documented use under Napoleon; it was used more frequently in his post 1808 campaigns as artillery crew quality declined. Classification
Domain (Land, Sea, Air, Cyber) Connections
Associated With
Napoleon massed artillery fire against the Pratzen Heights at Austerlitz in 1805.
Source Wikipedia: Grand battery
The Grand Battery opening barrage at Waterloo in 1815 failed to break Wellington's reverse-slope-sheltered center.
Source Wikipedia: Grand battery
Source Wikipedia: Grand battery
Developed By
Napoleon employed and expanded the grand battery tactic in his later campaigns.
Source Wikipedia: Grand battery
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Grand battery
WikipediaNapoleonic wars section, Waterloo paragraph
In 1815 at Waterloo, the famous opening barrage of the Grande Batterie failed to break the center of Wellington's Anglo-allied army due to his deployment of most of his forces behind the reverse slopes of the rolling hillside and the fact that the ground was still wet and muddy, preventing the usual effects of the bouncing cannonballs.
Introduction section
It involved massing batteries into a single large, temporary battery, and concentrating the firepower of their guns at a single point in the enemy's lines which could lead to a split in the line.
- Developed By: Napoleon Bonaparte
- Associated With: Grande Armee
- Associated With: Battle of Austerlitz
- Associated With: Battle of Waterloo
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