Monster Mortar

Monster mortar
Monster mortar employed during the siege of Antwerp Citadel in 1832
Type	Heavy mortar
Place of origin	Belgium
Service history
In service	1832
Used by	Belgium
Wars	Siege of Antwerp (1832)
Production history
Designer	Henri-Joseph Paixhans
Designed	1832
Manufacturer	Royal cannon foundry of Liège
No. built	2
Specifications
Weight	7,750 kg (17,090 lb) (without carriage)
Barrel length	22 feet (6.7 m)
Caliber	24 inches (610 mm)
Barrels	1
Feed system	Muzzle loading
Filling	powder
Filling weight	max. 14 kg (31 lb)

The Monster Mortar (French: Mortier Monstre) was one of the largest mortars ever developed. Also called Leopold or Liege mortar, the 24 inches (610 mm) caliber mortar was conceived by the French artillery officer Henri-Joseph Paixhans. The mortar was manufactured under the direction of the Belgian Minister of War Baron Louis Evain and cast at the Belgian royal foundry in Liège, Belgium in 1832. It saw action at the Battle of Antwerp in December 1832.

The Belgian Revolution that began in August 1830 led to the secession of the southern provinces from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands and established an independent Kingdom of Belgium. The Dutch king William I intended to suppress the Belgian Revolution in August 1831 by invading Belgium on 2 August 1831. Over the course of the next few days Belgian forces were defeated several times in battle and Dutch troops advanced deep into Belgian territory until, on 8 August, the Belgian government appealed to France for support. Following the French army's Ten Days' Campaign of the French Armée du Nord under Marshal Étienne Gérard, the Dutch troops started to withdraw. The King of the Netherlands ordered the Dutch General David Hendrik Chassé to hold, with 4500 men, the Citadel of Antwerp at all costs. From the citadel, Chassé bombarded the city of Antwerp, setting fire to hundreds of homes and causing many casualties among the civilian population. These events led to the second intervention by the French Armée du Nord of Marshal Gérard. On 15 November 1832, the French Armée du Nord and its siege specialist François Haxo began to lay the Dutch troops under siege, quickly occupying the Fort Montebello situated to the east of the citadel and to the south of the city from which they started firing at the citadel.