Artilleryman

“ As far as comfort and satisfaction can be obtained from the study of an unsuccessful war, they can be got by the Royal Artilleryman in tracing the services of his Corps during the great war in America. ”

“ Artilleryman. A man who manages, or assists in managing, large guns in firing.
Artillery-park. The camp of one or more field batteries; the inclosure where, during a siege, the general camp of foot artillery, and depots of guns, materiel, etc., are collected.
Artillery, Royal Regiment of. Is the collective name for the whole of the artillery belonging to the British army. There was no regular regiment or corps of artillery soldiers in the British army till the time of Queen Anne, when the present royal regiment was formed. ”

“ Fell out to work at 7, pioneers helping us. Ordnance train came up from town this morning and deposited their stores inside of the fort, filling our magazines with artillery ammunition; 90 boxes of three inch rifle; 40 12-pounder guns; 150 boxes of infantry ammunition, guns, sabres and other stores piled up inside the works covered with tarpaulins. A sergeant and seven men with them as guards, to guard our guns also, which lightens our duty greatly. ”

“ Alba Sweet, veteran, ordered to Kingston to take charge of a section of artillery. His men to be detailed from infantry, he to drill and organize, the position of a lieutenant. A good boy and a true soldier, best drill master in the Battery. D. L. C. a recruit, detailed as clerk to headquarters, which caused a little surprise among some of the old soldiers, but he was a brother Mason.
Etowah Bridge, Sunday, Aug. 7. Very heavy rains last night, river raised two feet this morning in a very few hours. Company inspection at 7 A. M. Took sick man's team to graze. Wrote letters in the afternoon. ”

“ The equipment of the artillery of the guard is probably the completest in the world;—each gun of the horse artillery is followed by three tumbrils of ammunition, and the artillerymen being all mounted and armed, a battery of horse artillery is fitted to act in a double capacity. One of these batteries, of 12 pieces, on the march, with all its accompaniments, takes up fully half-a-mile of road.
The regiments of infantry are of various strength; all are composed of the finest men, in point of strength and military appearance, but they appeared to us rather inadequately officered. ”

“ Generally the call will be made upon the artillery for this purpose, since they can cover the required distances far more rapidly than infantry. Now, as artillery is powerless when limbered up and always very vulnerable on the flanks of the long lines, a strong cavalry escort will have to be assigned to them which, trotting forward to screen the march, will either come in contact with the enemy’s cavalry advancing with a similar object, or themselves find an opportunity to catch the enemy’s guns at a disadvantage. ”

“ An infantry regiment that was moving at once was short of men. The artillery brigade would fill it up.
By that time we had developed that organization spirit that is just as essential as it is delicate to breed. To take fifty or sixty men from each battery seemed a destruction of the greater part of all that we had worked to achieve. Men who had trained during seven months in the ways of artillery as a rule resented being transplanted all at once into a branch of the service to which they were strangers. Nor did their officer's care to see them go. ”

“ It smothers the enemy with a curtain of fire, so that the infantry can move forward without ruinous losses. Coöperation with the infantry is essential. If the infantry is defeated the artillery covers its withdrawal; if the infantry is successful the artillery moves forward and assists in reaping the full reward of victory by firing on the fleeing enemy. The present European War has greatly increased the prestige and importance of this arm of the service. The amount of artillery on the Western front and the amount of ammunition consumed daily is appalling. ”

“ Object of study of artillery Except in small engagements in detachment warfare the infantry will have the assistance of friendly artillery and will be opposed not only by infantry but by artillery fire. Some knowledge of artillery, its use, the effects it can produce and how best to utilize the aid afforded by our own and to meet the opposition of the enemy’s, is therefore necessary for the infantry officer and also for the men in ranks. ”

“ Both in attack and defence the most intimate co-operation between the artillery and infantry must be aimed at, if the latter are to derive the full advantage of the support of the former. In the preliminary stages of the attack the advance of the infantry will draw the fire of the defence and thus find a target for the artillery, whilst the fire of the latter, combined with that of other covering bodies, will enable the firing line to approach in extended order towards the enemy’s position without undue loss. ”

“ The first consideration in selecting a position for the artillery is that it shall be able to open fire on an enemy at long range, and thus compel his infantry to assume an extended formation at the greatest possible distance. ”

“ If the infantry has been severely taxed by marching or fighting, a large part of the outpost may be temporarily formed of cavalry.
Artillery is useful to outposts when its fire can sweep defiles or large open spaces and when it commands positions that might be occupied by hostile artillery. The guns are carefully concealed or protected and are usually withdrawn at night.
Machine guns are useful to command approaches and check sudden advances of the enemy.
The field trains of troops on outpost duty generally join their organizations; if an engagement is probable, they may be held in rear. ”

“ Battle fronts are too short for the artillery to occupy space in the line, even if this were a good place for it which it is not; it must fire over the infantry. All our men must [Pg 87] be made to understand the effect of this artillery fire on the effectiveness of the hostile infantry, how much more effective this latter would be without the fire of our artillery, and the importance of having this artillery fire kept up to the last possible moment. ”

“ Artillery in the field should be concealed from the enemy till the very moment it is to open; the guns may be masked by being a little retired, or by being covered with troops, particularly by cavalry. ”

“ Our guns and gunners, officers and men, may be equalled, but cannot be excelled, by any artillery in the world. Throughout the day no hesitation—a bold and intrepid advance; and thus it is that our loss is comparatively small, though I deeply regret to say severe. The enemy fought with much resolution; they maintained frequent rencounters with our cavalry hand to hand. In one charge of infantry upon her Majesty's 16th lancers, they threw away their muskets, and came on with their swords and targets against the lance." [20] ”

“ One of the most curious facts of the war was the general lack of communication between attacking infantry and artillery. True, the infantryman in the front line is not always in the best position to direct artillery fire, but, on the other hand, he is frequently the only man who knows anything at all. We learned, to our cost, the excellence of the German control of artillery fire, and though our artillery observation officers performed the most gallant feats, our method never seemed as good as that of the enemy. ”

“ You want this artillery to support the attack in the best way it can. The 1st Battalion of the 2d Infantry should take up such formation and movement as will best provide protection for the left of your whole line. The whole of the 2d Infantry, of course, excepting the first battalion, will advance by 452. It will then take a cut across country and then by the road which goes by 546 and 548. The 2d Infantry will attack the enemy’s right flank. The cavalry should cover the left of your own troops and make strong reconnaissance of the country to the north and also to the west. ”

“ These Lancers are followed by the Hussars, wearing tightly fitting tunics and trousers; and after that, thundering over the ground, the Artillery—an Artillery equal to that of any in Europe. The gun carriages and limbers are painted yellow with black wheels, and the men are riding on long jaunting cars, their uniform consisting of brown tunics with red cuffs and facings, light blue trousers, long grey cloaks, and felt hats with one brim turned up and fastened by a black and yellow tuft. Their belts are white, and they carry a short infantry sword. ”

“ It must be left to the imagination to conceive the complexity of the task of keeping this enormous mass of Artillery regularly supplied with its ammunition, of multifarious types and in adequate quantities of each, of allocating to each Brigade and even to each Battery its appropriate task in the general plan, and of advancing the whole organization over half-ruined roads and broken bridges, in order to keep up with the Infantry as the battle moved forward from day to day. ”

“ The artillery assigned to a field army should be of such mobility, power, variety and number as to insure the success of its purpose and to enable this success to be gained with the minimum of casualties. The latter point must receive careful consideration in studies of organization, for without adequate artillery preparation and support the successes of the most gallant infantry can in a series of actions become little more than pyrrhic victories. ”

“ My brigade was on the left of the Guards. On the face of the slope immediately in front of the Light Division, the enemy had made a large redoubt protected on each side by artillery on the heights above and on either side, covered on flanks and front by a direct as well as an enfilading fire. This artillery was supported by numerous large masses of troops near their guns, and also by other [86] large masses in rear on the inward slopes of the heights. ”

“ The artillery holds the first rank in the army; it is better paid, its recruits are more carefully selected, and its period of enlistment is limited to twelve years. The gunners are distinguished from other soldiers by their excellent spirit. In battle they display judicious activity, a perfect coup d’œil, and stoical bravery.
The English got the start of the French in the formation of the artillery-train: the first trials of it were made in 1793, under the auspices of the Duke of Richmond, then Master-general of the Ordnance. ”

“ With less constant and loyal co-operation on the part of both field, heavy, and siege batteries, the great bravery and determination of the infantry could scarcely have availed to hold up the enemy's advance. The infantry are the first to admit the inestimable value of the artillery support so readily given them on all occasions. ”

“ Hence it is equally commodious for each brigade of artillery to plant itself at the head of the troops, in the place marked for it, in such a manner, that the whole disposition being understood, and well executed, the line of battle may be quickly formed in an open country, and in the presence of any enemy, without risquing a surprise; by which method the artillery will always be in a condition to act as soon as the troops, provided it march in brigades. ”

“ In the offensive the division artillery must play its part in the complex schemes of artillery preparation by cutting wire, destroying machine gun nests, gassing areas, concentrating on infantry positions and taking the principal part in the deep barrage that should precede the infantry attack. ”

“ The train of artillery is, or should be, divided into brigades, to which belong not only the officers of the regiments of artillery, but even the civil-list, such as comptrollers, commissaries of stores, clerks of stores, artificers of all denominations, conductors, store-keepers, waggon-masters, drivers, &c. The increase of artillery clearly demonstrates its great utility; for in the year 1500, an army of 50,000 men had only 40 pieces of cannon in the field; and in the year 1517, the same number of troops brought 200 pieces into the field, including mortars and howitzers. ”

“ In a more restricted sense, artillery has come to mean all firearms not carried and used by hand, and also the personnel and organization by which the power of such weapons is wielded. It is, however, not usual to class machine guns (q.v.) as artillery. The present article deals with the development and contemporary state of the artillery arm in land warfare, in respect of its organization, personnel and special or “formal” employment. For the matériel—the guns, their carriages and their ammunition—see Ordnance and Ammunition. ”

“ I wanted to see them all once more very much, indeed, but I did not care to have any of their sharpshooters discover me first. There were batteries upon batteries, the horses of which were down on the hill to the rear, in care of their riders. The artillerymen were, of course, around their guns, but most of them were hunting places not too much exposed. I did not see the line at first; you know the artillery is always behind, or to the rear of a line of battle, supported by infantry. ”

“ The service of artillery is that of batteries, and an organization of batteries into a corps of artillery would be more consistent with the nature of their duties. A large part of the troops now called artillery are, and have been, on duty as infantry, the distinction between the two arms being merely nominal. ”

“ All the foot artillerymen are armed with a short straight sword; all who serve on horseback carry cavalry sabres. The guns are horsed by country-bred horses—compact, strong brutes, not particularly attractive to the eye, but useful, and well able to stand any climate. If the French Artillery were placed on the war establishment, it would number 60,000 strong, with 49,000 horses and nearly 1200 guns. The Commissariat troops and the indispensable Engineers, in their blue tunics, come next, and while they pass before us we may offer a few words on the army in general. ”