Model of an Artillery Train

A MODEL OF AN ARTILLERY TRAIN INCORPORATING A MUZZLE LOADING CANNON

PROBABLY ENGLAND CIRCA 1825

Length 45” ( 114.5cm) Width 10” ( 25.5 cm) Height 8 ½” (21 cm)

Consisting of three separate carriages. The first two with positions for soldiers and steel ammunition storage trunks followed by the gun carriage at the rear. All are professionally constructed with carefully selected timber and steel, much of which is finely engraved.

These detailed models were designed to be used for the training of Artillery personnel. In this case the training lessons were likely to have been undertaken at Woolwich. The object of these lessons was to ensure that when the soldiers arrived on the battle-field they were totally familiar with the handling and operation of these weapons.

Although the inventor of the artillery train was the Frenchman, Gribauval, this train is likely to be English as the French generally constructed the trains with graduated positions for interchangeable sizes of canon. Prior to Gribauval’s brilliant invention, the canon and the ammunition were transported separately and did not necessarily arrive on the battlefield at the same time.