| Canon de 4 Gribeauval | |
|---|---|
 The Canon de 4 Gribeauval, was the lightest gun among the Canon de 8 Gribeauval (center) and the Canon de 12 Gribeauval (left). | |
| Place of origin | France |
| Service history | |
| Used by | France |
| Wars | American Revolutionary War French Revolutionary Wars Napoleonic Wars |
| Production history | |
| Designer | Jean Baptiste Vaquette de Gribeauval |
| Designed | 1765 |
| Specifications | |
| Mass | 637 lb (289 kg) |
| Barrel length | 5 ft 3 in (160 cm) |
| Crew | 8 men, 3–4 horses |
| Caliber | 84 mm (3.3 in) |
| Barrels | 1 |
| Carriage | 1,454 lb (660 kg) |
| Rate of fire | 2–3 rounds per minute |
| Effective firing range |
|
| Maximum firing range | 1,200 m (1,312 yd) |
The Canon de 4 Gribeauval or 4-pounder was a French cannon and part of the artillery system developed by Jean Baptiste Vaquette de Gribeauval. The Old French pound (French: livre) was 1.079 English pounds, making the weight of shot about 4.3 English pounds. In the Gribeauval era, the 4-pounder was the lightest weight cannon of the French field artillery; the others were the medium Canon de 8 Gribeauval and the heavy Canon de 12 Gribeauval. The Gribeauval system was introduced in 1765 and the guns were first employed during the American Revolutionary War. The most large-scale use of Gribeauval guns occurred during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. At first a pair of 4-pounders were assigned to each infantry battalion and were often called battalion pieces. Later, Emperor Napoleon took the guns away from the infantry units and began to replace the 4-pounder with the 6-pounder, using captured guns as well as newly cast French cannons. However, as the French infantry declined in quality after 1809, the 4-pounders were reintroduced in order to provide direct support for formations of foot soldiers. All Gribeauval cannons were capable of firing canister shot at close-range and round shot at long-range targets. The Gribeauval system supplanted the older Vallière system, was partly replaced by the Year XI system in 1803 and completely superseded by the Valée system in 1829.