The French artillery officer Saint­Rémy and his work on guncasting for the Ottoman army in Istanbul (1785­1787)

Year 2003, Volume: 5 Issue: 1, 33 - 50, 01.12.2003

Mustafa Kaçar

Abstract

Until the rise of modern technology of firearms in the nineteenth century,
the Ottomans  either produced the necessary arms, ammunition and munitions 
within the Empire or imported them from Europe. Within this framework, the 
Ottomans  employed foreign experts in war industry as well as in other fields.
This paper, aims to shed light upon the employment of foreign experts by the 
Ottomans in order to transfer know­how in the field of guncasting at the end of
the eighteenth century and to analyse the relations between Ottoman and French 
technicians.

The tightening of Franco­Turc relations  and mutual cooperation in the
years 1783­1788, resulted in arrival of numerous French experts to Istanbul ­­ officially or secretly  –  with the aim of serving in the Ottoman army. One of
these experts was the artillery captain Charles Alexandre Louis Rouxel de Saint­ 
Rémy (1746­1800). He arrived in Istanbul in 1785  together with ten cannon 
founders upon the demand of the Grand Vizier Halil Hamid Pasha and the order
of the French government.

In 1786  he persuaded Admiral Gazi Hasan Paşa to apply the French 
method of guncasting instead of traditional techniques and got the permission to 
build a new furnace in the Hasköy foundry. However, the furnace did not 
function successfully. Later on, the Sublime Porte asked him to cast 12 bronze
mortars  accordingly to the standards set  in the French ordinance of 1769. He
designed these mortars in their natural size. One mortar was cast as a model, but 
the chief bombardier did not find it suitable and asked St. Rémy to modify its
dimensions. This led to a disagreement between these two technical experts.

Following the agreement set between France and Russia on January 11, 1787, Catherine II asked the French Government  to call back all the French 
experts working in the Ottoman lands. Thus, St. Rémy left  Istanbul together
with other French technicians.

In the last quarter of the eighteenth century, as a result of fluctuations in 
the political balance between the Ottoman and French states, a group of French 
officers and engineers came to Istanbul and were employed in the army where
they gave technical aid. Whether they were sent by the French government, as 
in the example of St. Rémy or invited by the Ottoman State, the European 
experts introduced many innovations  to the Ottoman world in the fields  of
military training, the casting of guns  and bombs, cannonry, navigation, ship 
building, fortification and cartography

Keywords

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Osmanlı Ordusunda Görevli Fransız Subayı Saint Rémy'nin İstanbul'daki Top Döküm Çalışmaları (1785-1786)

Abstract

Until the rise of modern technology of firearms in the nineteenth century, the Ottomans  either produced the necessary arms, ammunition and munitions  within the Empire or imported them from Europe. Within this framework, the  Ottomans  employed foreign experts in war industry as well as in other fields. This paper, aims to shed light upon the employment of foreign experts by the  Ottomans in order to transfer know­how in the field of guncasting at the end of the eighteenth century and to analyse the relations between Ottoman and French  technicians.

The tightening of Franco­Turc relations  and mutual cooperation in the years 1783­1788, resulted in arrival of numerous French experts to Istanbul ­­ officially or secretly  –  with the aim of serving in the Ottoman army. One of these experts was the artillery captain Charles Alexandre Louis Rouxel de Saint­  Rémy (1746­1800). He arrived in Istanbul in 1785  together with ten cannon  founders upon the demand of the Grand Vizier Halil Hamid Pasha and the order of the French government.

In 1786  he persuaded Admiral Gazi Hasan Paşa to apply the French  method of guncasting instead of traditional techniques and got the permission to  build a new furnace in the Hasköy foundry. However, the furnace did not  function successfully. Later on, the Sublime Porte asked him to cast 12 bronze mortars  accordingly to the standards set  in the French ordinance of 1769. He designed these mortars in their natural size. One mortar was cast as a model, but  the chief bombardier did not find it suitable and asked St. Rémy to modify its dimensions. This led to a disagreement between these two technical experts.

Following the agreement set between France and Russia on January 11, 1787, Catherine II asked the French Government  to call back all the French  experts working in the Ottoman lands. Thus, St. Rémy left  Istanbul together with other French technicians.

In the last quarter of the eighteenth century, as a result of fluctuations in  the political balance between the Ottoman and French states, a group of French  officers and engineers came to Istanbul and were employed in the army where they gave technical aid. Whether they were sent by the French government, as  in the example of St. Rémy or invited by the Ottoman State, the European  experts introduced many innovations  to the Ottoman world in the fields  of military training, the casting of guns  and bombs, cannonry, navigation, ship  building, fortification and cartography

Keywords

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References

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