De Bange 90 mm cannon
type of Field gun
The de Bange 90 mm cannon (Mle 1877) was a type of field artillery piece developed in France by Colonel Charles Ragon de Bange in 1877, and adopted by the French Army that same year. It superseded the earlier Reffye cannon (1870/73) and the Lahitolle 95 mm cannon (1875).
Characteristics
The cannon was breech loading and used the original mushroom-shaped obturator system developed by de Bange, allowing to properly seal the breech during each firing. The cannon lacked a recoil system, meaning that the entire carriage moved backward when fired. Before firing again, the cannon had to be moved back into position and re-aimed, which greatly slowed the effective rate of fire. This would remain a problem with all artillery pieces until the development of the Canon de 75 in 1897.
Replacement
The de Bange 90 mm was used during World War I, although it was obsolete by then, as there were important stockpiles of ammunition and French industry fell short of producing enough modern cannons for the war. It was superseded by the Canon de 75.
British service
A number of these weapons were issued to some third-line British Territorial Force batteries at the start of World War I, for training and home defence duties, because of a shortage of more modern field guns. They were replaced in these units by Ordnance BLC 15 pounder guns, when second-line units were re-equipped with Ordnance QF 18 pounders.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “De Bange 90 mm cannon” is type of Field gun. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Bange, cannon and type, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “type of Field gun” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 18, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q2936491. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1877, 1870, 1875 and 1897.
A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “De Bange 90 mm cannon”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow De Bange 90 mm cannon primary sources, De Bange 90 mm cannon archive and Bange research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “De Bange 90 mm cannon”?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “De Bange 90 mm cannon” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.