La Hitte system#Change in meaning of gun designations

The La Hitte system was developed through the collaborative work of Lieutenant-colonel Treuille de Beaulieu ("Directeur de l'atelier de précision") who had developed the principle and General de La Hitte ("Président du Comité d'Artillerie") who had implemented it:[https://books.google.com/books?id=quoEAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA499&dq=Treuille+de+Beaulieu+La+Hitte#PPA499,M1 The Edinburgh Review - Page 499 1864]

{{Blockquote|It would be unjust to omit on this occasion the name of General La Hitte, who at once took upon himself the responsibility of the new principles, and has continued with the utmost ability to carry them into execution. It is mainly to his firm adherence to these principles, and to the general uniformity of the system he established, that the success of the new arm is to be attributed|Lieutenant-colonel Treuille de Beaulieu, Report of the London International Exhibition, 1862.[https://books.google.com/books?id=quoEAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA499&dq=Treuille+de+Beaulieu+La+Hitte#PPA499,M1 The Edinburgh Review - Page 499 1864]}}

{{multiple image| align = right | direction = horizontal | header = | header_align = left/right/center | footer = Left image: Rifled mountain cannon "Canon de montagne de 4 modèle 1859 Le Pétulant". Caliber: {{convert|86|mm|abbr=on}}. Length: {{convert|0.82|m|abbr=on}}. Weight: {{convert|101|kg|abbr=on}} ({{convert|208|kg|abbr=on}} with carriage). Ammunition: {{convert|4|kg|abbr=on}} shell.
Right image: Hexagonal rifling of Le Pétulant (detail).| footer_align = left | image1 =Canon de montagne de 4 modele 1859 Le Petulant.jpg| width1 = 244 | caption1 = | image2 =Hexagonal rifling of Le Petulant.jpg| width2 = 150 | caption2 = }}

The new rifled guns were used from 1859 during the Franco-Austrian War in Italy.[https://books.google.com/books?id=D33p3os9YkUC&pg=PA37&lpg=PA37 French Army 1870-71 Franco-Prussian War (1) by Stephen Shann p.37] These guns were a considerable improvement over the previous smooth-bore guns which had been in use. They were able to shoot at {{convert|3000|m|abbr=on}} either regular shells, ball-loaded shells or grapeshot. They appear to have been the first examples of rifled cannons used on a battlefield.The Long Arm of Lee by Jennings Cropper Wise, Gary W. Gallagher p.30 [https://books.google.com/books?id=woBn5ywlKR8C&pg=PA30&lpg=PA30]

The system was muzzle-loading, and the shells could only be detonated at one of two set distances. The shells, based on the 1847 invention of Captain Tamisier, were oval-shaped, and had small protrusions to follow the grooves of the bore. Previous guns, such as the Canon obusier de 12, were rifled to accommodate the system."Napoleon went so far, however, in 1858, as to order his SB guns rifled, under the bastard system known as the "Lahitte System," which continued in general use in France until 1870" in The Long Arm of Lee by Jennings Cropper Wise, Gary W. Gallagher p.30 [https://books.google.com/books?id=woBn5ywlKR8C&pg=PA30&lpg=PA30] The system included newly-rifled siege guns of {{convert|12|cm|abbr=on}}, {{convert|16|cm|abbr=on}} and {{convert|24|cm|abbr=on}} bore, new field guns of {{convert|8.6|cm|abbr=on}} and {{convert|12|cm|abbr=on}} bore, new siege guns of {{convert|12|cm|abbr=on}} and {{convert|24|cm|abbr=on}} bore, and a mountain gun of {{convert|8.6|cm|abbr=on}} bore.

With the introduction of rifling and elongated shells replacing the old roundshot, guns could fire projectiles of nearly twice the previous weight possible for a given bore (calibre). The rifling gave a far greater range for a given propellant charge, hence a minimal increase in gunpowder was needed for the heavier shells. While the La Hitte guns retained the traditional 4 designation, the number now approximated to kg rather than the livre (French pound) as previously. Hence the Canon de campagne de 4 La Hitte fired a shell weighing nearly {{convert|4|kg|abbr=on}}.

The La Hitte system was superseded in 1870 with the work of Jean-Baptiste Verchère de Reffye and the development of breech-loading rifled guns.

Image:Canon de campagne raye 1858.jpg|Rifled muzzle-loading gun "Canon de campagne de 4 rayé modèle 1858, L' Aubry". Caliber: {{convert|86|mm|abbr=on}}. Length: {{convert|1.43|m|abbr=on}}. Weight: {{convert|327|kg|abbr=on}}. Ammunition: {{convert|37|kg|abbr=on}} shell. Bronze, cast in Toulouse in 1859, re-tubed with steel.

Image:Canon de montagne de 4 modele 1859.jpg|Rifled mountain cannon "Canon de montagne de 4 rayé modèle 1859". Caliber: {{convert|86|mm|abbr=on}}. Length: {{convert|0.82|m|abbr=on}}. Weight: {{convert|102|kg|abbr=on}}. Ammunition: {{convert|4|kg|abbr=on}} shell. Captured in Marrakech (Morocco) in 1912.

Image:Canon de 12 La Hitte Modele 1859.jpg|Canon de 12 La Hitte, Modele 1859, cast in 1869 at Bourges, bronze. Caliber: {{convert|121|mm|abbr=on}}, rifled. Length: {{convert|229|cm|abbr=on}}. Weight: {{convert|878|kg|abbr=on}}. Ammunition: shells.

Image:Canon_de_24_L_Aubepine_1867_Bourges.jpg|Canon de 24, L'Aubépine, 1867, Bourges.

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