Spanish Bronze Cannon

Ref: HLMP2/014

General History

The close association of the Spanish and French ruling houses since 1700 gave a strong French influence to Spanish ordnance. Foundries for casting bronze cannon were formed at Seville (Est. 1662 by Juan Gerardo) and Barcelona. The cast and forged iron [shot, shell and bombs] ammunition was made at Fargadelos and near Oviedo whilst gunpowder was manufactured in Murcia, Granada, near Alcázar de San Juan in La Mancha, Manresa plus 170 powder mills in Catalonia and Aragon.

Although Iron was generally used due to the fact that is was cheaper, Bronze was stronger, withstood the shock of discharge better, and lasted longer at sea. Bronze also was easier to cast, could be re-cast, and could be easily embellished with decoration. Because of this last quality, along with their hefty price tag, bronze guns also served as status symbols.

The Royal Ordinance of 1743 like that of France in 1732, there would be five calibres of cannon (4, 8,12- 16 and 24-pdr) and two mortars (12-pouce and 14-pouce). The Royal Ordinance of 1743 also specified the calibre would be defined in French Livre de Paris.

The Royal Ordinance of the 19^th October 1756 instructed the forming of four arsenals in Barcelona, Zaragoza, Seville and at La Coruña. The Saragossa Arsenal, however, lasted only a short time.

The Spanish like the French were dissatisfied with the performance of their field artillery in Seven Years War. The Spanish Artillery attempted to keep pace with developments in ordnance. In 1766, Jean Maritz II (1711-1790) was sent by King Louis XVI of France at the request of Carlos III of Spain to improve the foundries at Seville and Barcelona. The horizontal boring machines in Seville were installed in 1768 just 3km from the foundry and were driven by the waters of the River Guadaira. This permitted the bronze gun barrel to be cast solid and then bored out but the external surfaces had to hand finished. In 1779, the Maritz simultaneous horizontal boring and finishing machines were installed. This permitted the bronze gun barrel to be bored out from solid and finished at the same time so reducing the completion time significantly, probably by half.

Maritz II was rewarded with the rank and pension of Marechal de Camp. In 1769, he returned to France where he was involved with Gribeauval in the reorganisation of the French artillery system. By 1780, the Seville and Barcelona Foundries were producing over 500 bronze and iron guns per year to the modern Gribeauval style designs.

The Spanish Gribeauval gun tubes were without raised decoration and plain dolphins. This made production of gun tubes faster and simpler to cast let alone accurately bored. After 1768, the relief on the barrels and the markings were engraved on the surface. The base ring would have where it was cast and the date. The cipher of the king would be on the breech [Carlos III (1759-1788), Carlos IV (1788-1807) or Ferdinand VII (1813-33)]. The left trunnion would have the weight. The gun name in a scroll was on the chase. The Seville Foundry ceased to have the name of the founder from the 1760’s.

The Spanish gun tubes retained the 17^th Century bulbous multi-ringed muzzles, sculpturally ornament dolphins and individual names upon the scroll just behind the muzzle. Spanish cannon had the royal coat of arms in relief on the first reinforce and ornate dolphins. The base ring would have where it was cast, the date and possibly the gun founder. The left trunnion would have a peso [P = weight] followed by the weight in quintal [qq or QQ)] or libras [lb or lbs.] The gun name in a scroll was on the chase.

Erosion effects on the bronze cannon.

The Spanish Cannon at Grand Battery has suffered quite considerably from the abrasive effects of the rocks and tides after lying on the sea-bed for almost 200 years before it was lifted from the seabed during dredging works as part of the land reclamation of what is now Varyl Begg Estate in the late 1960’s. This was the area from where a number of floating batteries had dropped anchor during the failed Grand Attack, which took place in September 1782.

The Spanish gun was first relocated at Waterport Casemates, in what used to be gardens and now part of Gaucho’s restaurant exterior. It remained there until the turn of the century when it was transferred to the South entrance of Ocean Village. The cannon was later re-located again placed at the entrance of Grand Battery House when the former Parcel post building became the Royal Gibraltar Regiment Officer’s Mess.

From the information above we can deduce the following information as regards to this bronze cannon:

The cannon measures 325cm from muzzle to base-ring with a bore diameter of 148mm defining it as a 24-pdr canon. The right trunnion bears the No. 320 whilst the left trunnion records the figures 63 S H 552. On the base ring only the number 13 is clearly visible, the rest of the inscription having been erased as a result of the constant abrasions.

On the first reinforce of the barrel the central motif of King Carlos III can still be barely observed. This would indicate that the antiquity of the gun ranges from between 1759 to 1783, the year of the attack of the floating batteries. We can deduce that this cannon was originally aboard one of the ten floating batteries due to the location of the find and the years the piece would have been founded. No other Spanish warship was sunk in the area directly in front of Montagu Bastion, except the floating batteries placed in a line that stretched from North Bastion to King’s Bastion.

From a document entitled REAL CIFRA DE CARLOS III PARA LOS CAÑONES DE A 8 we get the following information which is exactly the motif which would appear on the first reinforce of the cannon:

The central motif is occupied by the abbreviation of King Carlos III’s initials, represented by intertwined R. and C., framed by an oval decorated with stylized acanthus and divided diametrically by two circular decorative motifs in the shape of a rosette, with helical gallons, all of this resting on a floral motif that serves as a base.

The tips or starts of the letters are decorated with fleshy and moving acanthus leaves, reminiscent of the rockery, still in force at this time.

The same decoration as the oval is presented by the lines of the R. joining at its high point through several lobed acanthus leaves with the beginning of the C. in quite simple ways, reinforcing the dynamism with this union.

Outside the oval, the ordinal of the monarch, of great simplicity and in Roman characters.

Underneath, and as a pedestal, there are palm branches and laurel, the latter quite stylized, a symbol of victory and immortality, their stems intertwined by means of an open band or ribbon, which already announces Neoclassicism.

The motif is topped by the crown of the kings of Spain, formed by a circle in which pearls and precious stones alternate, topped off by highly mobile raised celery leaves. Four headbands decorated with pearls start from this circle, joining at the top under a globe or world ball, which, in turn, is topped by a Greek cross enhanced with floral arms, symbol of the Catholic king.