Licorne
Encyclopedia
Licorne was an 18th and 19th century Russian
cannon
, a type of muzzle-loading
howitzer
, devised in 1757 by M.W. Danilov and S.A. Martynov and accepted by artillery commander, general Peter Ivanovich Shuvalov
.
The licorne was a hybrid between the howitzers and guns of the era (a gun-howitzer), with a longer barrel
than contemporary howitzers, giving projectile
s a flatter trajectory
, but longer range. Similar to the howitzers, they had a powder chamber of smaller diameter than the gun caliber
, but whereas a howitzer's chamber was cylindrical, a licorne's was conical, with its base diameter the same as the gun bore. The conical chamber was easier to load and facilitated the placement of the projectile perfectly in the center of the barrel. Licornes were able to fire both the solid shot
used for cannons and howitzer shells
, as well as grapeshot
and canister
.
The initial design was a neat compromise between cannon, howitzer and mortar. The length of the barrel was 9 or 10 calibres, and the weight of the propellant charge to that of the missile was set at 1:5, the mean between the heaviest charge for a cannon (half the weight of the shot) and the lightest charge for a mortar (one tenth of the weight of the bomb). As introduced into Russian service in 1758, licornes were of 8-pounder type, then 10-, 20-, 40-, and 80-pounders were produced; the Russian measurement system at the time however was in poods
, thus the unicorns in this list were actually quarter-pood, half-pood, 1-pood, and 2-pood. The 8-pounder required two horses to move it, while the heavier unicorns required three, five, six, and twelve horses respectively. Shuvalov's Secret Howitzer Corps was equipped with 38 unicorns out of the roughly 200 cannon it had in 1758; the Corps was renamed with this occasion as the Bombardier Corps. A further 105 unicorns were introduced the next year as replacement for medium artillery in other army units, including the cavalry. In the same year two half-pood licornes (and four secret howitzer
s) were loaned for a demonstration to the Austrians, but they found the range too short, and the carriages too heavy. Official tests were arranged in Russia in 1760, but these failed to show an appreciable advantage of the licorne over older designs. Nevertheless, the Senate was successfully pressured by Shuvalov to declare the licorne an improvement, albeit not a satisfactory one. The number of licornes in service rose to 280 in that year, compared with 603 cannons, 169 howitzers, and 117 mortars; most of them (224) were in the field artillery. Major-General
Aleksandr Glebov
, who assumed command of the artillery of the field army in 1760, soon issued instructions to use the new guns to support attacks with indirect fire, shooting over their own attacking troops, aiming to disrupt the deployment of enemy reserves.
The 2-pood licorne was abandoned as impractically heavy in 1762, right after Shuvalov's death. After 1805, the Russian army used 2-, 10- and 18-pounder licornes. A light foot artillery company consisted of four 10-pounder licornes, four light and four medium 6-pounder guns; a heavy artillery company had four light and four heavy 12-pounder guns and four 18- and two 2-pounder licornes. Six light 6-pounder guns and six 10-pounder licornes made a company of horse artillery
. Licornes were usually deployed on the flanks of the batteries. This arrangement is now usually called the "System of 1805", and was largely devised by Aleksey Arakcheyev
, after the lessons learned at the Battle of Austerlitz, where Russian artillery had performed poorly. (In the System of 1805, the 2-pounder Licorne is sometimes referred to as a 3-pounder, and the 18-pounder as a 20-pounder). The 2-pounder was no longer in service by the war of 1812
, but the other two models soldiered on until the Crimean War
, when many were captured by the British as prizes. They had greater accuracy than the competing 6 inch French howitzer.
Licornes were also used by Congress Poland
's artillery units.
The name comes from unicorn
-shaped handles on the barrel of the guns.
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
cannon
Cannon
A cannon is any piece of artillery that uses gunpowder or other usually explosive-based propellents to launch a projectile. Cannon vary in caliber, range, mobility, rate of fire, angle of fire, and firepower; different forms of cannon combine and balance these attributes in varying degrees,...
, a type of muzzle-loading
Muzzleloader
A muzzleloader is any firearm into which the projectile and usually the propellant charge is loaded from the muzzle of the gun . This is distinct from the more popular modern designs of breech-loading firearms...
howitzer
Howitzer
A howitzer is a type of artillery piece characterized by a relatively short barrel and the use of comparatively small propellant charges to propel projectiles at relatively high trajectories, with a steep angle of descent...
, devised in 1757 by M.W. Danilov and S.A. Martynov and accepted by artillery commander, general Peter Ivanovich Shuvalov
Peter Ivanovich Shuvalov
Count Pyotr Ivanovich Shuvalov was a Russian statesman and Field Marshal who, together with his brother Aleksandr Shuvalov, paved the way for the elevation of the Shuvalov family to the highest offices of the Russian Empire...
.
The licorne was a hybrid between the howitzers and guns of the era (a gun-howitzer), with a longer barrel
Gun barrel
A gun barrel is the tube, usually metal, through which a controlled explosion or rapid expansion of gases are released in order to propel a projectile out of the end at a high velocity....
than contemporary howitzers, giving projectile
Projectile
A projectile is any object projected into space by the exertion of a force. Although a thrown baseball is technically a projectile too, the term more commonly refers to a weapon....
s a flatter trajectory
Trajectory
A trajectory is the path that a moving object follows through space as a function of time. The object might be a projectile or a satellite, for example. It thus includes the meaning of orbit—the path of a planet, an asteroid or a comet as it travels around a central mass...
, but longer range. Similar to the howitzers, they had a powder chamber of smaller diameter than the gun caliber
Caliber
In guns including firearms, caliber or calibre is the approximate internal diameter of the barrel in relation to the diameter of the projectile used in it....
, but whereas a howitzer's chamber was cylindrical, a licorne's was conical, with its base diameter the same as the gun bore. The conical chamber was easier to load and facilitated the placement of the projectile perfectly in the center of the barrel. Licornes were able to fire both the solid shot
Round shot
Round shot is a solid projectile without explosive charge, fired from a cannon. As the name implies, round shot is spherical; its diameter is slightly less than the bore of the gun it is fired from.Round shot was made in early times from dressed stone, but by the 17th century, from iron...
used for cannons and howitzer shells
Shell (projectile)
A shell is a payload-carrying projectile, which, as opposed to shot, contains an explosive or other filling, though modern usage sometimes includes large solid projectiles properly termed shot . Solid shot may contain a pyrotechnic compound if a tracer or spotting charge is used...
, as well as grapeshot
Grapeshot
In artillery, a grapeshot is a type of shot that is not a one solid element, but a mass of small metal balls or slugs packed tightly into a canvas bag. It was used both in land and naval warfare. When assembled, the balls resembled a cluster of grapes, hence the name...
and canister
Canister shot
Canister shot is a kind of anti-personnel ammunition used in cannons. It was similar to the naval grapeshot, but fired smaller and more numerous balls, which did not have to punch through the wooden hull of a ship...
.
The initial design was a neat compromise between cannon, howitzer and mortar. The length of the barrel was 9 or 10 calibres, and the weight of the propellant charge to that of the missile was set at 1:5, the mean between the heaviest charge for a cannon (half the weight of the shot) and the lightest charge for a mortar (one tenth of the weight of the bomb). As introduced into Russian service in 1758, licornes were of 8-pounder type, then 10-, 20-, 40-, and 80-pounders were produced; the Russian measurement system at the time however was in poods
Pood
Pood , is a unit of mass equal to 40 funt . It is approximately 16.38 kilograms . It was used in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. Pood was first mentioned in a number of documents of the 12th century....
, thus the unicorns in this list were actually quarter-pood, half-pood, 1-pood, and 2-pood. The 8-pounder required two horses to move it, while the heavier unicorns required three, five, six, and twelve horses respectively. Shuvalov's Secret Howitzer Corps was equipped with 38 unicorns out of the roughly 200 cannon it had in 1758; the Corps was renamed with this occasion as the Bombardier Corps. A further 105 unicorns were introduced the next year as replacement for medium artillery in other army units, including the cavalry. In the same year two half-pood licornes (and four secret howitzer
Secret howitzer
95 mm howitzer M1753, called secret howitzer or Shuvalov's secret howitzer - 18th century Russian cannon, a type of muzzle-loading howitzer, devised and introduced into service by artillery commander, General Peter Ivanovich Shuvalov....
s) were loaned for a demonstration to the Austrians, but they found the range too short, and the carriages too heavy. Official tests were arranged in Russia in 1760, but these failed to show an appreciable advantage of the licorne over older designs. Nevertheless, the Senate was successfully pressured by Shuvalov to declare the licorne an improvement, albeit not a satisfactory one. The number of licornes in service rose to 280 in that year, compared with 603 cannons, 169 howitzers, and 117 mortars; most of them (224) were in the field artillery. Major-General
Aleksandr Glebov
Aleksandr Glebov
Aleksandr Yuryevich Glebov is a Russian professional football player currently playing for FC Saturn-2 Moscow Oblast.-External links:*...
, who assumed command of the artillery of the field army in 1760, soon issued instructions to use the new guns to support attacks with indirect fire, shooting over their own attacking troops, aiming to disrupt the deployment of enemy reserves.
The 2-pood licorne was abandoned as impractically heavy in 1762, right after Shuvalov's death. After 1805, the Russian army used 2-, 10- and 18-pounder licornes. A light foot artillery company consisted of four 10-pounder licornes, four light and four medium 6-pounder guns; a heavy artillery company had four light and four heavy 12-pounder guns and four 18- and two 2-pounder licornes. Six light 6-pounder guns and six 10-pounder licornes made a company of horse artillery
Horse artillery
Horse artillery was a type of light, fast-moving and fast-firing artillery which provided highly mobile fire support to European and American armies from the 17th to the early 20th century...
. Licornes were usually deployed on the flanks of the batteries. This arrangement is now usually called the "System of 1805", and was largely devised by Aleksey Arakcheyev
Aleksey Arakcheyev
Count Alexey Andreyevich Arakcheyev or Arakcheev was a Russian general and statesman under the reign of Alexander I.He served under Paul I and Alexander I as army leader and artillery inspector respectively. He had a violent temper, but was otherwise a competent artillerist, and is known for his...
, after the lessons learned at the Battle of Austerlitz, where Russian artillery had performed poorly. (In the System of 1805, the 2-pounder Licorne is sometimes referred to as a 3-pounder, and the 18-pounder as a 20-pounder). The 2-pounder was no longer in service by the war of 1812
French invasion of Russia
The French invasion of Russia of 1812 was a turning point in the Napoleonic Wars. It reduced the French and allied invasion forces to a tiny fraction of their initial strength and triggered a major shift in European politics as it dramatically weakened French hegemony in Europe...
, but the other two models soldiered on until the Crimean War
Crimean War
The Crimean War was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...
, when many were captured by the British as prizes. They had greater accuracy than the competing 6 inch French howitzer.
Licornes were also used by Congress Poland
Congress Poland
The Kingdom of Poland , informally known as Congress Poland , created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna, was a personal union of the Russian parcel of Poland with the Russian Empire...
's artillery units.
The name comes from unicorn
Unicorn
The unicorn is a legendary animal from European folklore that resembles a white horse with a large, pointed, spiraling horn projecting from its forehead, and sometimes a goat's beard...
-shaped handles on the barrel of the guns.
See also
- Secret howitzerSecret howitzer95 mm howitzer M1753, called secret howitzer or Shuvalov's secret howitzer - 18th century Russian cannon, a type of muzzle-loading howitzer, devised and introduced into service by artillery commander, General Peter Ivanovich Shuvalov....
, another introduction of Shuvalov - Canon obusier de 12Canon obusier de 12The Canon obusier de 12 , also known as the "Canon de l’Empereur" was a type of canon-obusier developed by France in 1853...
, "Napoleon"