Editing Congreve rocket (section)

===Napoleonic Wars===
[[File:Congreve rocket img 2950.jpg|thumb|Tip of an early Congreve rocket of the Napoleonic Wars, on display at Paris Naval Museum]]
[[File:Plate 11. The Throwing of Rockets from Men of War Boats.jpg|thumb|"Use of rockets from boats" – An illustration from William Congreve's book]]

The main user of Congreve rockets during the [[Napoleonic Wars]] was the [[Royal Navy]], and men from the Royal Marine Artillery became experts in their use. The navy converted [[HMS Galgo (1801)|HMS ''Galgo'']] and [[HMS Erebus (1807)|''Erebus'']] into rocket ships. The army became involved and was represented by various rocket detachments that changed into the two Rocket Troops, Royal Horse Artillery, on 1 January 1814.

In the autumn of 1805,{{Contradictory inline|page=Raid on Boulogne|date=November 2020}} the government decided upon an attack [[Raid on Boulogne|on Boulogne]] for the first test. [[Sidney Smith (Royal Navy officer)|William Sidney Smith]] was chosen to lead the expedition, accompanied by Congreve. Strong winds and rough seas hampered the operations on both the 20th and 21st, and the attack was not successful.

In April 1806, Rear Admiral Sidney Smith took rockets on a little-known mission to the Mediterranean to aid Sicily and the Kingdom of Naples in their struggle against the French. It was perhaps at Gaeta, near Naples, that Congreve's rockets had their first successful debut in battle. The second Boulogne rocket expedition, however, is more famous and is usually considered the first successful attempt.

On 8–9 October 1806, Commodore [[Edward Owen (Royal Navy officer)|Edward Owen]] attacked the French flotilla at [[Boulogne-sur-Mer|Boulogne]]. Captain William Jackson aboard [[HMS Musquito (1804)|HMS ''Musquito'']] directed the boats firing 32 pound Congreve rockets. As night drew in on the channel, 24 cutters fitted with rocket frames formed a line and fired some 2,000 rockets at Boulogne. The barrage took only 30 minutes. Apparently the attack set a number of fires, but otherwise had limited effect. Still, it was enough to lead the British to employ rockets on a number of further occasions.

In 1807, [[Battle of Copenhagen (1807)|Copenhagen]] was bombarded by more than 14,000 missiles in the form of metal balls, explosive and incendiary bombs from cannons and mortars, and about 300 Congreve rockets. The rockets contributed to the conflagration of the city.<ref>Rolf Scheen, ''Flådens ran: tabet af den dansk-norske flåde 1807'' (Copenhagen 2007)</ref><ref>Congreve accompanied the expedition with 16 civil employees of the Ordnance Department</ref>

The lighter, six-pounder battlefield rockets had been sent on the second Egyptian campaign in 1807, a further field trial which proved to be unsuccessful.

Congreve accompanied [[Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald|Lord Cochrane]] in the fire-ship, rocket, and shell [[Battle of Basque Roads|attack on the French Fleet in Aix and Basque roads]] on 11 April 1809.

The [[Walcheren Campaign]] in 1809 saw the deployment of {{HMS|Galgo|1801|6}}, a merchant sloop converted to a warship and then converted to fire Congreve rockets from 21 "rocket scuttles"' installed in her broadside. This rocket ship was deployed at the naval bombardment of Flushing, where they wrought such havoc that ''‘General Monnet, the French commandant, made a formal protest to Lord Chatham’'' against their use.<ref>Richard Glover ''Peninsular Preparations'', p. 70</ref>  Congreve was also present at this engagement and commanded five land frames.

In 1810, [[Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington|Wellington]] agreed to a field trial of Congreve's new 12-pounder rocket carrying case shot. It was not successful and was withdrawn.
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:The Rocket Brigade at Leipzig.jpeg|thumb|left|400px|The Rocket Brigade at Leipzig, 18 October 1813.<br /> Artist: David Rowlands]] -->

In May 1813, a detachment which had been training with rockets at Woolwich under Second Captain [[Richard Bogue]] RHA was inspected by a committee of Royal Artillery officers who recommended that it be tried in combat. On 7 June 1813, Bogue's unit was designated the "Rocket Brigade". At the same time as being granted its new title, The Rocket Brigade was ordered to be augmented and to proceed on active service, with orders to join the Army of the North commanded by [[Charles XIV John|Bernadotte, the Crown Prince of Sweden]]. Using the modified 12-pounder at low trajectory from ground firing-troughs, the brigade saw action at the [[Battle of the Gohrde|Battle of Gohrde]] and at the [[Battle of Leipzig]] on 18 October 1813,<ref name=":0">{{cite book|last=Brett-James|first=Antony|title=Europe against Napoleon|year=1970|isbn=0333112733|pages=185–189|publisher=Macmillan |lccn=79-125309}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=The Rocket Brigade at Leipzig 1813 – The Decisive Psychological Weapon?|url=http://www.theobservationpost.com/blog/?p=618|access-date=2015-07-06|work=The Observation Post| date=2 November 2013 }}</ref> where it was successfully employed to attack the French stronghold of Paunsdorf, occupied by five French and Saxon battalions.<ref name=":0" /> Captain Bogue was however killed by a sharpshooter in the subsequent cavalry charge, and the village of Paunsdorf was eventually retaken by the French [[Imperial Guard (Napoleon I)|Imperial Guard]].<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite book|last=Dalberg-Acton|first=John|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x7A8AAAAIAAJ&q=Paunsdorf+%22Old+Guard%22&pg=PA539|title=The Cambridge Modern History|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|year=1906|volume=IX|location=Cambridge|pages=539|language=en}}</ref> In the continuing campaign, the Rocket Brigade was also used in the sieges of Frederiksfort and Glückstadt, which surrendered on 13 December 1813 and 5 January 1814, respectively.  On 1 January 1814, the unit assumed the title of the "2nd Rocket Troop RHA" and on 18 January it received orders to join the force under the orders of Sir Thomas Graham in Holland.

In September 1813, Wellington agreed, with much reservation, that rockets could be sent out to join the army in Spain. On 3 October 1813, another Royal Artillery detachment embarked from Woolwich, trained in firing rockets. This group was called the "Rocket Company" and consisted of almost sixty men under Captain Lane. On 1 January 1814, together with another detachment under Captain Eliot, it assumed the title of the "1st Rocket Troop RHA". Captain Lane's rockets were very successfully deployed at the [[Battle of Garris|crossing of the Adour]] on 23 February 1814 and in the final battle in the Peninsular War at the [[Battle of Toulouse (1814)|Battle of Toulouse]] on 10 April 1814. Later that year, they were sent to be part of the disastrous expedition against the American Army at New Orleans, in Louisiana.

By the time of the [[Battle of Waterloo|Waterloo campaign]] on 30 April 1815, the command of the 2nd Rocket Troop was formally taken over by Captain Whinyates. Wellington remained averse to rockets, so Whinyates took just 800 rockets into the field, as well as five 6-pounder guns; it would appear that the rockets replaced the usual howitzer in the structure of the troop.<ref name="Ley E 1958"/>