Grand Battery (Grande Batterie, meaning big or great battery) was a French artillery tactic of the Napoleonic wars. It involved massing all avalable batteries into a single large, temporary one, and concentrating the firepower of their guns at a single point in the enemy's lines. Historically, artillery refers to any engine used for the discharge of projectiles during war. ... Combatants Allies: • United Kingdom, • Prussia, • Austria, • Russia France Casualties Full list Full list The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars fought during Napoleon Bonapartes rule over France. ... In military science, a battery is a group of artillery cannons or rockets, so grouped in order to facilitate battlefield communication and the organization of barrages. ...

Substituting volume of fire for accuracy, rate of fire and rapid movement, it was rarely used in the wars' early years. But as the quality of artillery crews and their horses declined, it was employed more frequently during later (post 1808 ) campaigns. 1808 was a leap year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ...

The Grand Battery was often concentrated against the enemy's center. An early example of this is at Austerlitz in 1805, when Napoleon ordered a "roar of thunder" before the main assault upon the Pratzen Heights, which split the coalition's lines in half. Other notable uses of the tactic include; Wargram in 1809, where it successfully halted an Austrian counterattack. At Borodino in 1812, it was again used to break a counterattack, but it failed to break the strong Russian positions and earthworks in the center along the Rayevski Redoubt. At the Battle of Lützen (1813), it did succeed in breaking the Russo-Prussian center, ahead of the main assault by the Imperial guard. Finally, 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 judicious deployment of most of his forces behind the reverse slopes of the rolling hillside. Combatants First French Empire Russia, Austrian Empire Commanders Napoleon I Alexander I Strength 67,000 73,000 Casualties 1,305 dead, 6,940 wounded, 573 captured (about 9,000 total), and 1 standard lost 15,000 dead or wounded, 12,000 captured (about 27,000 total); 180 guns and 50... 1805 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... The Battle of Wagram, around the isle of Lobau on the Danube and on the plain of the Marchfeld around the town of Deutsch-Wagram, 15 km north-east of Vienna, Austria, took place on July 5 and 6, 1809 and resulted in the decisive victory of French forces under... 1809 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... Combatants First French Empire Russian Empire Commanders Napoleon Bonaparte Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov Strength 134,000 155,000 Casualties 30,000 45,000 {{{notes}}} The Battle of Borodino (Russian: Бородино) (September 7, 1812, or August 26 in the Julian calendar then used in Russia), also called the Battle of the Moskva, was... 1812 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... This Battle of Lützen happened as Napoleons army was on the way home from its Russian disaster. ... The Imperial Guard (French:Garde Impériale) was originally a small group of elite soldiers of the French Army under the direct command of Napoleon I, but grew considerably over time. ... The Battle of New Orleans 1815 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... Combatants France Anglo-Allied/Prussian/ Dutch Commanders Napoléon Bonaparte Duke of Wellington Gebhard von Blücher Strength 72,000 67,000 Anglo-Dutch 60,000 Prussian (48,000 engaged by about 18:00) Casualties 25,000 22,000 Map of the Waterloo campaign The Battle of Waterloo, fought on... Reverse slope defence is the tactic of placing ones forces on the slope of a hill furthest away from the enemy. ...

Nearly half a century later, in 1863 on the third day of the Battle of Gettysburg, Robert E. Lee, formed a Grand Battery of his own in a desparate attempt to weaken the Union center in advance of Pickett's Charge. But the artillery overshot most of their targets and had to cease fire due to a lack of ammunition. 1863 (MDCCCLXIII) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar). ... Combatants United States of America Confederate States of America Commanders George G. Meade Robert E. Lee Strength 83,289 75,054 Casualties 23,049 (3,155 killed, 14,529 wounded, 5,365 captured/missing) 28,000 (3,500 killed, 18,000 wounded, 6,500 captured/missing) The Battle of Gettysburg... For the author of Inherit the Wind and other works, see Robert Edwin Lee. ... Picketts Charge was a disastrous infantry assault ordered by Confederate General Robert E. Lee on July 3, 1863, the last day of the Battle of Gettysburg. ...