Engineering the Revolution About the Author Ken Alder is professor of history and the Milton H. Wilson Professor in the Humanities at Northwestern University. He is also the author of the books The Measure of All Things: The Seven-Year Odyssey and Hidden Error That Transformed the World (Free Press, 2002), which has been translated into twelve languages, and The Lie Detectors: The History of an American Obsession (Free Press, 2007; Bison Books, 2009). Engineering the Revolution a r m s a n d e n l i g h t e n m e n t i n f r a n c e , 1 7 6 3 – 1 8 1 5 Ken Alder THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS CHICAGO & LONDON The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637 The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London © 1997 by Ken Alder All rights reserved. First published in 1997 by Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey University of Chicago Press paperback edition 2010 Printed in the United States of America 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 1 2 3 4 5 ISBN: 978-0-226-01264-3 (paper) ISBN: 0-226-01264-6 (paper) Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Alder, Ken. Engineering the Revolution : arms and Enlightenment in France, 1763–1815 / Ken Alder. — University of Chicago Press paperback ed. p. cm. Originally published: Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, 1997. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-0-226-01264-3 (alk. paper) ISBN-10: 0-226-01264-6 (alk. paper) 1. France—History—Revolution, 1789–1799—Influence. 2. France—Politics and government—1789–1815. 3. Artillery— Technological innovations—France—History—18th century. 4. Military engineers—Political activity—France—History—18th century. 5. Enlightenment—France—Influence. 6. Technology and civilization—Political aspects—France. 7. France—History, Mili- tary—1789–1815. I. Title. DC151.A58 2010 944.04—dc22 2009043759 The paper used in this publication meets the minimum require- ments of the American National Standard for Information Sciences— Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48- 1992. For Bronwyn CONTENTS List of Illustrations ix Preface xi Acknowledgments xv INTRODUCTION A Revolution of Engineers? 3 PART ONE Engineering Design: Capital into Coercion, 1763-1793 CHAPTER ONE The Last Argument of the King 23 CHAPTER Two A Social Epistemology of Enlightenment Engineering 56 CHAPTER THREE Design and Deployment 87 PART Two Engineering Production: Coercion into Capital, 1763-1793 CHAPTER FOUR The Tools of Practical Reason 12 7 CHAPTER FIVE The Saint-Etienne Armory: Musket-Making and the End of the Ancien Regime 163 CHAPTER SIX Inventing Interchangeability: Mechanical Ideals, Political Realities 221 PART THREE Engineering Society: Technocracy and Revolution, 1794-1815 CHAPTER SEVEN The Machine in the Revolution 253 CHAPTER EIGHT Terror, Technocracy, Thermidor 292 viii CONTENTS CHAPTER NINE Technological Amnesia and the Entrepreneurial Order 319 CONCLUSION 344 Abbreviations 353 Notes 355 Bibliography 421 Index 457 ILLUSTRATIONS MAPS 1.1: The Major Armories of France, 1763-1815 24 5.1: Distribution of Military Locksmiths in the Saint-Etienne 178 Region, 1782 5.2: Distribution of Military Locksmiths in the Saint-Etienne 179 Region, 1799 FIGURES 1.1: Artillery Cannon, Valliere System 26 1.2: Artillery Cannon and Carriage, Gribeauval System 27 1.3: Jean-Baptiste Vaquette de Gribeauval 37 1.4: Vertical Cannon-Reaming Machine 41 1.5: Maritz's Horizontal Cannon-Boring Machine 42 3.l: Aiming Cannon Using the Point-Blank Method 94 4.l: Coining Press, 1750s 137 4.2: Artillery Carriage, Gribeauval System 144 4.3: Go, No-Go Gauges for Cannonballs 151 5.1: Gunlock for Musket, Saint-Etienne M1777 170 5.2: Military Musket and Gunlock 171 5.3: Firearms Production, Private Industry, Saint-Etienne, 1783-90 172 5.4: Firearms Production, Manufacture Royale de Saint-Etienne, 173 1765-93 5.5: Technical Drawings for the Modified MI777 Musket, 196 Year IX [1802-3] 5.6: Gauges for M1777 Musket 198 5.7-5.9: Javelle's Three Machines for Turning Musket Barrels 204-5 6.1: The Bayonet Ring and Its Gauge, Manufacture Royale de 228 Klingenthal, 17 80s-1 790s 6.2: Drop Press, Atelier de Perfectionnement, 1794-96 242 6.3: Coining Press, Atelier de Perfectionnement, 1794-96 243 6.4: Drill and Fixture for Lock Plate, Atelier de Perfectionnement, 244 1794-96 7.1: Placard for Arms Workshop, with Graffiti, Manufacture of Paris, 254 February 1794 7.2: Claude-Antoine Prieur, Known as Prieur de la C6te-d'Or 256