Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 02.djvu/118

ARTILLERY. The English artillery at this time was considerably inferior, in mobility, at least. The largest gun used by them during this period was a demi-cannon, weighing about 6000 pounds, exclusive of the carriage. The famous laboratory at Woolwich, England, was established in 1672. In the War of the Spanish Succession, the proportion was four guns to every 1000 men of other arms. The guns were used with great effect and skill. The mobility of the artillery increased in all the armies except the English, and it is in this respect that Marlborough differed most radically from Gustavus Adolphus, as the former never attempted to improve the materiel which the latter so efficiently used.

It is remarkable that Frederick the Great should have neglected his artillery as he did in the early battles of his career. It was not until later that its true value as a weapon was learned by him: and like most military lessons, it was learned by costly experience. The defect of Frederick's artillery was its immobility. The following from Decker will illustrate its inferiority and Frederick's methods of handling it on the field of battle: "The direction of two pieces was intrusted to a corporal, to whom all initiative was forbidden. The commander of the battalion alone had the right to control the guns; but he was too much occupied with his men to think of the cannon. The consequence was that the two pieces marched quietly behind the battalion: but upon arriving within 500 paces of the enemy they unlimbered and continued to advance, dragged by the men. It is very doubtful whether the corporal had any particular instructions for the fight. We only know that he had orders not to fire grape until within 350 paces, and always to keep himself 50 paces in front of the battalion: a very convenient measure, doubtless, but one which did not take into consideration that artillery is effective only in position, and not while marching. Worst of all, when the battalion was beaten, the loss of the pieces was almost inevitable, for want of time to limber up." After the battles of Rossbach, Leuthen. and Hochkirch, Frederick, appreciating at last the valuable service rendered by his artillery during these three important battles, improved and increased the number of guns to five for every 1000 men of other arms. He also created a horse-artillery system of ten light 6-pounders, which was able to accompany his cavalry. His field-artillery was also improved as his infantry decreased in number, and consisted of 3-, 6-, and 12-pounder guns and 7-, 10-, and 25-pounder howitzers. The Austrian artillery opposed to Frederick's was much superior. The tactics of this period consisted in massing the guns, but the fire itself was not concentrated, the range of the guns being so inferior that it was impossible to concentrate the fire of separated batteries on the same distant object. The general result of these wars, so far as artillery is concerned, was the formation and organization of position gun batteries, which were assigned to brigades of infantry, the formation of howitzer batteries, and the creation of horse artillery.

(Commencing 1765). Gribeauval, sometimes called the 'father of modern artillery,' was ordered to reconstruct the French system of artillery in 1765. He separated the artillery into the four classes now generally recognized by artillerists — namely, field, siege, garrison, and sea-coast, and provided for each a distinct materiel. He at once recognized the advantage of decreasing the number of calibres for each kind of service. The guns for field batteries were limited to 3 calibres (4-, 8-, and 12-pounders) and 6-inch howitzers. By decreasing the length and weight of the pieces, omitting ornamentation and strengthening the carriage, decreasing the windage and the charge, he greatly improved the mobility of the system. Uniformity, lightness, and strength were the ends aimed at. Improvements in sights and elevating apparatus greatly increased the accuracy and rapidity of fire. The organization was also improved. Two field-guns were assigned to each battalion of infantry, and the men for the service of these pieces were drawn from the company of artillery assigned to each infantry brigade. In addition to this there were eight pieces assigned to the centre and each wing of the army. Each eight pieces constituted a 'division,' manned by a company of artillery assigned to each. Gribeauval was the first to develop the use of the prolonge, the rope used to unite the trail with the limber, when retiring firing. Horses were hitched in pairs instead of in file. A new ammunition wagon was provided. In Gribeauval's system, however, drivers were still hired, as formerly, and the dispersion of the guns among battalions was a serious defect. Horse artillery was established in the French Army in 1791, and in the British Army in 1793. Gribeauval's improvements in garrison and sea-coast carriages resulted in a type, similar in essential principles, to those used in England and America up to the middle of the Nineteenth Century.

Napoleon created a divisional artillery by withdrawing the guns from the battalions, forming them into batteries, and assigning the batteries to infantry divisions. This added to their efficiency and relieved the infantry battalion of an impediment. He made many important improvements, both in organization, administration, and the tactical employment of artillery in the field. He reduced the calibres for the field-batteries to 6-pounder guns and 24-pounder howitzers, and to 4-pounders for the horse-batteries. He used military drivers for horse-batteries, and did away with the general custom previous to this advance of hiring teamsters by contract. They now formed a part of the military organization. Napoleon always held in reserve a large number of guns for use at the decisive moment of the battle, and effectually employed the modern system of concentration of fire from separated masses of guns. His artillery played a most important part at Friedland, Wagram, Borodino. Lützen, and Waterloo. As Napoleon lost his infantry he increased the number of guns per 1000 men. At Austerlitz the proportion was 2½ guns, at Wagram, nearly 4, to each 1000 men of other arms. A study of his campaigns is of the utmost importance, as it gives, perhaps as no other series of campaigns, a detailed account of the possibilities of field-artillery. With but slight variations, his battle tactics are to-day taught in all the text-books on the subject.

Just before the English wars on the Continent, which began in 1793, the British artillery consisted of a train composed of