Bernard Lens

The Granadiers Exercise of the Granade 1735
 

In its simplest form the grenade is a container filled with gunpowder and ignited by a fuse. [...] Its introduction into European armies dates from the late16th entury, but although the grenade was used occasionally during the English Civil War, it did not receive official acceptance in the British Army until 1677 [...].

Grenadiers were used frequently during the Wars of the League of Augsburg during the last decade of the 17th Century when campaigns consisted largely of siege operations which were most suitable for the employment of Grenadiers. However, their heyday as grenade throwers was soon over. Even in the War of the Spanish Succession (1702-13), when siege operations were still common, grenades seldom seem to have been used. On the other hand the Grenadier Company remained, its role gradually changing. By the middle of the 18th Century it had become an elite company [...].

Grenade throwing drill was included in military manuals long after its use on the battlefield declined and Lens' book is one of the last attempts to re-arouse interest in it.

From the explanatory text accompanying the reprint

Total Evaluation
Contents
Science
Maps
Illustrations
Remarks	The evaluation of contents and science deals with the accompanying text only!

Published by National Army Museum, [London] 1967
24 pages with 2 color illustrations (cover) and 19 b/w illustrations, out of print
The publication may be ordered directly from the publisher.

Text and Illustration © 1967 National Army Museum
Webdesign and Evaluation © 2005 Michael-Andreas Tänzer