author
Ralph Willett Adye
1764–1804
Best known for a compact artillery handbook that stayed useful well beyond his lifetime, this British army officer wrote for working soldiers rather than armchair readers. His surviving reputation rests on a practical guide to guns, ammunition, and field service during the Napoleonic era.
1 Audiobook
The bombardier, and pocket gunner
by Ralph Willett Adye
About the author
Ralph Willett Adye was a British army officer and military writer, born in 1764 and dead by 1804. Contemporary catalog and reference sources consistently connect him with The Bombardier, and Pocket Gunner, a compact manual for artillery officers that was first published in the late 1790s and continued into later editions.
He appears in biographical reference sources as the eldest son of Major Stephen Payne Adye of the Royal Artillery. His book was aimed especially at junior officers and organized as a practical reference work, bringing together artillery terms, tables, ammunition details, and other information meant for real service use rather than theory alone.
Although not much personal detail is easy to confirm from widely available sources, Adye's work clearly outlasted him. Early nineteenth-century editions and later bibliographic notices show that The Bombardier, and Pocket Gunner became a recognized handbook of artillery practice, which is why his name is still remembered today.