The French "Canon obusier de campagne de 12 cm, modèle 1853", also known as the "Canon de l’Empereur", was a type of canon-obusier (shell cannon) or gun-howitzer developed in 1853 by the French army. It could fire ball, shell, canister or grapeshot which allowed it to replace all the earlier French cannons. It was of a cast bronze smoothbore design and could double as a howitzer. It was light enough to be pulled by a team of horses. At the same time it had enough firepower to destroy fortifications at a distance of a half-mile (805 meters). When it entered the service of Emperor Napoléon III it was named after him.