Does anyone know anything about these?
"ROEBUCK'S light iron field artillery. An improvement in field artillery, invented by John Roebuck, Esq. of Edinburgh, in December, 1803, was recommended by Lieutenant General Vyse of the staff in North Britain, to the attention of the Earl of Moira, then commander in chief for Scotland, who approved of it so much, that his Lordship in a letter to Lt-Col Smith, commanding the royal artillery at Edinburgh, says "I wish further, that you would lay before the Board my desire to have six of the iron six-pounders on Mr. Roebuck's plan. My reasons in wishing to have these guns are, that in furnishing them to volunteer artillery in distant parts, we give considerable additional defence to the country, with the risk of very unimportant loss; at the same time that these guns, with their ammunition carts, can be carried through roads that would be embarrassing for other artillery."
link
I confess I've never heard of any Roebuck gun although from the link it's a galloper gun suitable for hilly country. However, this Roebuck was Scottish and several people called Roebuck seem to have held shares in the Carron company that invented the carronade – seems a coincidence.
gracesguide.co.uk/Carron_Co
A John Roebuck was a co-founder of Carron.
Also a John Roebuck was on the Board of Ordnance and had some role in bringing shrapnel shot into use, so if it is the same man, he wasn't some crank and his 6-pounder would have had some merits.
PDF link
Anyone know any more about these? Were they ever made?
goes to sea with the Terrain Mat.
