Congreve Rocket - Age of Revolution

On October 8, 1806, British forces lay siege to the French port of Boulogne using Congreve rockets invented by Sir William Congreve An excerpt from the article:

"Although Congreve was the son of the Comptroller at the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, he still had to self-fund his experiments. He was also a friend of the Prince of Wales, however, and the Prince was an enthusiastic supporter of rocket development.

The first successful tests took place in 1804. By 1806 Congreve had developed 32-pounders that would travel 3000 yards.

The Navy was the first to take up the rockets, although an attack on Boulogne in 1805 under Sir Sidney Smith was not successful. When they were used against the same town a year later, however, they inflicted considerable damage. The following year they helped to reduce Copenhagen to ashes, 300 rockets being launched in the attack.

The Army was initially less impressed by the new weapon, but in 1813 2nd Captain Richard Bogue was appointed commanding officer of the 1st rocket brigade which was attached to the Army of North Germany at the Battle of Leipzig (18 October 1813). In September of the same year the Duke of Wellington had reluctantly accepted rockets into the Peninsular Army, although he continued to remain doubtful about their effectiveness.

At the Battle of Waterloo Captain Whinyates commanded the rocket brigade, but as a sign of his reservations Wellington insisted that in addition to 800 rockets Whinyates should also have five 6-pounder guns. Only 52 light rockets were fired during the battle and to little effect, whereas the five light 6-pdrs expended 560 rounds in support of the defence of La Haie Sainte."