Artillery - EB 1911

Artillery - EB 1911 Editor A.W.J Graham Kerr & picture editor C.H blackwood RESEARCH guide II. 2020 EncyclopÆdia BRITANNICA 1911 The Fortress Study Group is a registered charity (No.288790) founded in 1975. It is an international group whose aim is to advance the education of the public in all aspects of fortification and their armaments, especially works constructed to mount or resist artillery. Acknowledgements Each of these Research Guides come from a collection of Encyclopædia Britannica dated 1911, that I had inherited from my fathers library although somewhat out- dated today, the historical value is still of interest. They are a stand-alone booklets, available to members through the website for downloading. Hard copies are available at a cost for printing and postage and packing. We have been able to do this as a team and my thanks goes to Charles Blackwood who has edited the maps, diagrams and some photographs. A number of photographs have been used from other sources all of which are copyrighted to their author. The editor apologises in advance for any mistakes or inadvertent breach of copyright, with thanks to Wikipedia, Wikisource and Google Earth, where we have used them. This publication ©AWJGK·FSG·2020 Contents ARTILLERY Historical Sketch page 3 Organization page 19 Tactical Work page 22 Bibliography page 38 References page 40 Other Research Guides page 42 Cover picture: Two 17th C siege cannon at Koenigstein Castle, Germany. CHB . 2 ARTILLERY Artillery, a term originally applied to all engines for discharging missiles, and in this sense used in English in the early 17th century. 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 Ammunition page 47. Artillery, as distinct from ordnance, is usually classified in accordance with the func- tions it has to perform. The simplest division is that into mobile and immobile artillery, the former being concerned with the handling of all weapons so mounted as to be capable of more or less easy movement from place to place, the latter with that of weapons which are installed in fixed positions. Mobile artillery is subdivided, again chiefly in respect of its employment, into horse and field batteries, heavy field or position artillery, field howitzers, mountain artillery and siege trains, adapted to every kind of terrain in which field troops may be employed, and work they may have to do. Immobile artillery is used in fixed positions of all kinds, and above all in permanent fortifications; it cannot, therefore, be classified as above, inasmuch as the raison d’être, and consequently the armament of one fort or battery may be totally distinct from that of another. “Fortress,” “Garrison” and “Foot” artillery are the usual names for this branch. The dividing line, indeed, in the case of the heavier weapons, varies with circumstances; guns of position may re- main on their ground while elaborate fortifications grow up around them, or the deficiencies of a field army in artillery may be made good from the matériel, more frequently still from the personnel, of the fortress artillery. Thus, it may happen that mobile artillery becomes immobile and vice versa. But under normal circumstances the principle of classification indicated is maintained in all organized military forces. Historical Sketch 1. Early Artillery.—Mechanical appliances for throwing projectiles were produced early in the history of organized warfare, and “engines invented by cunning men to shoot arrows and great stones” are mentioned in the Old Testament. These were continually improved, and, under the various names of catapulta, balista, onager, trébuchet, &c., were employed throughout the ancient and medieval periods of warfare. The machines finally produced were very powerful, and, even when a pro- pelling agent so strong as gunpowder was discovered and applied, the supersession of the older weapons was not affected suddenly nor without considerable opposi- tion. The date of the first employment of cannon cannot be established with any certainty, but there is good evidence to show that the Germans used guns at the 3 siege of Cividale in Italy (1331). The terms of a commission given (1414) by Henry V. to his magister operationum, ingeniarum, et gunnarum ac aliarum ordinationum, one Nicholas Merbury, show that the organization of artillery establishments was grafted upon that which was already in existence for the service of the old- fashioned machines. Previously to this it is recorded that of some 340 men forming the ordnance establishment of Edward III. in 1344 only 12 were artillerymen and gunners. Two years later, at Creçy, it is said, the English brought guns into the open field for the first time. At the siege of Harfleur (1415) the ordnance establishment included 25 “master gunners” and 50 “servitour gunners.” The “gunner” appears to have been the captain of the gun, with general charge of the guns and stores, and the special duty of laying and firing the piece in action. 2. The Beginnings of Field Artillery.—It is clear, from such evidence as we possess, that the chief and almost the only use of guns at this time was to batter the walls of fortifications, and it is not until later in the 15th century that their employment in the field became general. The introduction of field artillery may be attributed to John Žižka, and it was in his Hussite wars (1419-1424) that the Wagenburg, a term of more general application, but taken here as denoting a cart or vehicle armed with several small guns, came into prominence. This device allowed a relatively high manoeuvring power to be attained, and it is found occasionally in European wars two centuries later, as for instance at Wimpfen in 1622 and Cropredy Bridge in 1644. In an act of attainder passed by the Lancastrian party against the Yorkists (1459), it is stated that the latter were “traiterously ranged in bataill ... their cartes with gonnes set before their batailles” (Rot. Parl. 38 Henry VI., v. 348). In the Lon- don fighting of 1460, small guns were used to clear the streets, heavy ordnance to batter the walls of the Tower. The battle of Lose Coat Field (1469) was decided almost entirely by Edward IV.’s field guns, while at Blackheath (1497) “some cornets of horse, and bandes of foot, and good store of artillery wheeling about” were sent to “put themselves beyond” the rebel camp (Bacon, Henry VII.). The greatest exam- ple of artillery work in the 15th century was the siege of Constantinople in 1453, at which the Turks used a large force of artillery, and in particular some monster pieces, some of which survived to engage a British squadron in 1807, when a stone shot weighing some 700 lb cut the mainmast of Admiral (Sir) J. T. Duckworth’s flagship in two, and another killed and wounded sixty men. For siege purposes the new weap- on was indeed highly effective, and the castles of rebellious barons were easily knocked to pieces by the prince who owned, or succeeded in borrowing, a few pieces of ordnance (cf. Carlyle, Frederick the Great, book iii. chap. i.). 3. The 16th Century.—In the Italian wars waged by Charles VIII., Louis XII. and Fran- cis I. of France, artillery played a most conspicuous part, both in siege and field warfare. Indeed, cannon did excellent service in the field beforehand firearms attained any considerable importance. At Ravenna (1512) and Marignan (1515) field artillery 4 did great execution, and at the latter battle “the French artillery played a new and distinguished part, not only by protecting the centre of the army from the charges of the Swiss phalanxes, and causing them excessive loss, but also by rapidly taking up such positions from time to time ... as enabled the guns to play upon the flanks of the attacking columns” (Chesney, Observations on Firearms, 1852). In this con- nexion it must, however, be observed that, when the arquebus and other small arms became really efficient (about 1525), less is heard of this small and handy field artillery, which had hitherto been the only means of breaking up the heavy masses of the hostile pikemen. We have seen that artillery was not ignored in England; but, in view of the splendid and unique efficiency of the archers, there was no great opportunity of developing the new arm. In the time of Henry VIII., the ordnance in use in the field consisted in the main of heavy culverins and other guns of position, and of lighter field pieces, termed sakers, falcons, &c. It is to be noticed that already the lightest pieces had disappeared, the smallest of the above being a 2- pounder. In the earlier days of field artillery, the artillery train was a miscellaneous congeries of pontoon, supply, baggage and tool wagons, heavy ordnance and light guns in carts. With the development of infantry fire the use of the last-named weapons died out, and it is largely due to this fact that “artillery” came to imply cumbrous and immobile guns of position. Little is, therefore, heard of smart manoeuvring, such as that at Marignan, during the latter part of the 16th century. The guns now usually come into action in advance of the troops, but, from their want of mobility, could neither accompany a farther advance nor protect a retreat, and they were generally captured and recaptured with every changing phase of the fight.

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