THE AMUSETTE

and its use during the Revolutionary Wars

By Geert van Uythoven

Note: Being fascinated by this weapon and its use during the Revolutionary Wars and maybe even later, I would be interested if someone would find more information about the use of the amusette in combat in the field.

Short history

The amusette has been invented by Marechal de Saxe. He had laid down the following: "Every heavy-armed century is to be furnished with an arm of my own invention, which I call an amusette. They carry more then four thousand paces with extreme velocity. The field-pieces used by the Germans and Swedes with their battalions will scarcely carry a fourth of that distance. This is also much more accurate; two man can carry it anywhere. It fires a half-pound lead ball and carries one hundred pounds with it. Going through foot paths in mountains, the rails are drawn back and two soldiers can carry the piece very easily. This arm can be used on a thousand occasions in war. [source: ‘Roots of Strategy – Saxe’] "

During the revolutionary wars, the model was slightly altered. It still is a small cannon, which could be moved and served by two or three men. From this cannon, a ½ pound or 1 pound (lead) bullet was fired. Range was up to a distance of 2,000 paces. Rate of fire was 3 shots in a minute. The amusettes operated together with the light infantry.

The Brabant Revolution (1789-1790)

The Brabant revolution (1789-90), was a short-lived revolt of the Belgian provinces of the Austrian Netherlands against Habsburg rule. Centred in the province of Brabant, the revolution was precipitated by the comprehensive reforms of the Holy Roman emperor Joseph II (reigned 1765-90); these violated various medieval charters of provincial and local liberties, including Brabant's Joyeuse Entrée, which was abrogated by the emperor in 1789. The revolutionaries were at first successful in driving the Austrian forces out of the provinces. The revolutionary vanguard, which consisted of two groups--the conservative Statists, led by Henri van der Noot, and the progressive Vonckists, led by Jean-François Vonck--issued a republican declaration of independence on Jan. 11, 1790. The Vonckists were dissatisfied with the constitution, which called for a loose confederation similar to that of the Dutch Republic; they were soon outlawed by the more popular Statists. The Brabant Revolution, which was largely a middle-class affair, was crushed by Austrian forces at the end of the year, but it inspired the Belgian quest for independence in succeeding decades.

A national army of volunteers had been raised, which took the field against the Austrians. After a victory at Turnhout over the Austrians, conservatives and progressives came into conflict. The conservative Statists in the end gained the upper hand and made a triumphant entry into Brussels. This "Brabant Revolution", so called because most of its leaders came from Brabant, had widespread support in the towns. The peasants, on the other hand, had little in common with the middle-class revolutionaries and generally supported the Austrians. Thus, when Leopold II, successor to Joseph II, decided to re-establish imperial authority in 1790, he encountered no opposition from the mass of the people. On Dec. 2, 1790, imperial troops reoccupied Brussels. The discontented Statists now looked to revolutionary France for support, but enthusiasm waned when it became clear that a French military victory was the prelude to annexation. On Oct. 1, 1795, the French National Convention voted to annex the southern Netherlands and the principality of Liège, where a revolution against the prince-bishop had prepared the country for assimilation into the French Republic. Thenceforth, the territory of Liège was amalgamated with the Belgian provinces.

The national army lacked many things, including cannon. In addition, fire power of the inexperienced volunteers was weak. To remedy this, light artillery, called the ‘amusette Liégeoise’, was created. Although very rudimentary at from its looks, nevertheless it was an innovative concept. I was not able to find information of how many were in use, and of these were really used in battle.

A. Rifled gun-barrel, with a length of 4 paces;

B. Wooden shield, reinforced with iron plates on the outside, and a hole to put the gun-barrel through;

C. Iron half-circles, for elevation of the amusette;

D. Wooden legs, to position the amusette level on unequal terrain;

E. Iron rammer, for loading the amusette;

F. Cylindrical rifled bullet, weighing five ounces, packed in greased fabric;

G. Spare gun-barrel.

The amusette in action

If the amusettes were used in battle, these were seldom mentioned in after action reports and other battle descriptions. Which by the way is the case of many of the artillery actions in general. Until now, I came across only a few descriptions were amusettes were used. In any case the light infantry units of Hessen-Cassel were provided with amusettes during at least the early years of the French Revolution, of which proof can be found in a number of accounts.

Capture of Frankfurt, 2 December 1792

Disposition of the capture of Frankfurt, to be executed by the Hessian contingent of the combined Hessian-Prussian army: “The light troops divide themselves with their amusettes to the left and right inside the gardens, and will try to clear the walls with precise shots”. [Hoyer, 1 Bd., 5. Stück, p.34]

Willems / Tournay, 10 May 1794

On this day, the French attacked York’s defences on a broad front, but the Allies were prepared. At a certain moment, York noticed that the left flank of then enemy was uncovered, and he immediately ordered General Major-General William Harcourt, and Major-General David Dundas, to attack this open flank with sixteen British and two Austrian Hussar squadrons. Unfortunately, the terrain on which the Allied cavalry would begin the attack consisted of a field planted with carrots, The terrain was so worse that the cavalry was completely disordered, while many horses stumbled and fell, and had to retreat before reaching the French. When attacking again on another part of the terrain they were met by determined French infantry which by now had formed steady squares. The dragoons and hussars, not accompanied by horse artillery, could make no impression on the French, until a few amusettes were brought forward and opened fire. This created some gaps, which were quickly exploited by the Allied cavalry, breaking the squares and routing the French. [von D., mainly p.221]

Hessian amusette

Boxtel, 14 & 15 September 1794

The combat of Boxtel, on 14 &15 September 1794, was fought between the Anglo-Allied army commanded by the Duke of York, and the French army under Pichegru. On the 14th, the Allied outposts behind the Dommel river were attacked by the French. The ‘Campagne-Journal’ of General Düring says the following: "General von Hammerstein in the meanwhile, ordered me through his adjutant, [First] Lieutenant von Scheither, to return the horse artillery [two 6-pdr cannon] and the supporting forces, consisting of the Irwine’s Hussars and the Hompesch Chasseurs à Pied. The General [van Düring himself!] answered [von Hammerstein] that this was impossible, and proved that he was not able to maintain his post [Boxtel] without them. In spite of this, he received this reply: ‘As necessary as the General [von Düring] believes it is, to leave the horse artillery in Boxtel, it is General von Hammerstein impossible to do without them. As General von Hammerstein without doubt will make the best use of these guns, he will take full responsibility if a cannon, after having defended itself long enough, would be captured [by the enemy], and will know how to make use of his heavy guns at St. Michiels-Gestel. However, if he [General von Düring] would like to have outpost-cannon [‘Vorposten-Canonen’], the General [von Hammerstein] offers to send him 2 amusettes. However, these must only be send forward in case of an attack, and not deployed earlier. Lieutenant Ritter will gave the order to them [the Amusettes] to leave at darkness.’ [Von Porbeck, pp. 455-456]"

As no mention is made in the documents I have about these amusettes afterwards, it is possible they never had a chance to arrive before the French attack materialised. However, the use of an amusette is mentioned during other events: "About an hour later then at Boxtel, the enemy started his attack near St. Oedenrode, Wolfswinkel, and Breugel. He arrived on the plain in front of St. Oedenrode with a superior cavalry force, and an infantry column on the road from Beest, which strength could not be ascertained because of the intersected and patched terrain. Our outposts were immediately pushed back to the main pickets, and the enemy attacked with two columns. They could not make much progress, because of the resistance offered by the pickets, which were reinforced with an amusette under Ensign Tindorf, and directed by the Jäger-Captain Ochs from Hessen-Kassel who directed the troops outstandingly; and by the flanking batteries positioned on the other side of the stream, consisting of the battalion-cannon of the grenadiers, commanded by the Ensign Brückmann. [Von Porbeck, pp. 471-472]"

And somewhat further: "At the same time, the enemy with numerous cavalry threw our pickets at Breugel and Wolfswinkel back across both bridges there. He tried to take these [bridges], but was prevented in doing this by the heavy and effective fire of the Hanoverian jäger and the Loyal Emigrées, supported by an amusette. [Von Porbeck, p. 472] ", and "Around evening, from the tower in Breugel it was clearly discovered that the enemy marched behind Son [village] with 4 squadrons, 2 battalions and 3 cannon, from which they fired several cannon shots at Breugel [village] during the night. Finally, the enemy infantry tried to capture the bridge several times, but this was prevented by the amusette which was positioned here, and fired with the utmost effect. [Von Porbeck, p. 473] "

And more : "[15 September] The bridge at Nijnsel however was already to strong in enemy hands, and even our strongest attack was not able to dispel them. This caused the brave Major von Drieberg to lead in person a hundred grenadiers under Captain von Behr, and a hundred Loyal Émigrés, to attack the enemy with the bayonet and to become master of the plain near the bridge. Because of the outstanding dispositions of the major, and the exemplary bravery of Captain von Behr and Ensign Ahrens, as well as the Artillery-Ensign Tindorf, who acted with both amusettes with much energy and aggressiveness, without doubt this goal would have been reached. If not at the same time the enemy managed to force the right flank of St. Oedenrode (…) [Von Porbeck, pp. 477-478] "

Denmark 1796

In 1796, at least the Danes still had amusettes in their service. During autumn of that year, the Danes undertook experiments with the 1-pounder amusette, comparing it with 3-pdr and a 6-pdr cannon. First, for eight minutes long, there was fired on an approaching target. The amusette was able to do 48 shots, of which 21 were a hit. So this equals to eight primed shots in a minute. Further, it became clear that two amusettes had the same effect as one 3-pdr or 6-pdr cannon, but was a lot cheaper in maintaining these, and in costs of ammunition. And because of the lesser weight of the ammunition, much more rounds could be taken in the field.

Main sources used:

- Anon.: "Versuche über die Wirkung der schweren und leichten Kanonen bei einerlei Entfernung, nebst einigen Betrachtungen über diesen Gegenstand", in ‘Neue Bellona’ 1. Band, 1. Stück (Leipzig 1801)

- D., von, “Geschichte des Feldzugs der verbundenen Armeen in Flandern, im Jahre 1794”, in ‘Neues Militairisches Journal’ (Hannover 1798-1801)

- Hoyer, “Neues Militairisches Magazin”, various copies (Leipzig 1799-1804)

- [Quotes:] Porbeck, H.P.R. von, "Kritische Geschichte der Operationen welche die Englisch-combinierte Armee zur Vertheidigung von Holland in den Jahren 1794 und 1795 ausgeführt hat" 1. Theil (Braunschweig 1802)

- Porbeck, H.P.R. von, "Relation des Gefechts bey Boxtel an der Dommel, am 14ten und 15ten September 1794", in ‘Neue Bellona’, 2. Band, 3. Stück (Leipzig 1802)

- Sabron, F.H.A., "De oorlog van 1794-95 op het grondgebied van de Republiek der Vereenigde Nederlanden", deel 1 (Breda 1892)