"Confused, foot and horse artillery and how they are crewed." Topic

I've always thought the guys who towed the guns etc were the same guys who manned and fired them…

But this is not the case then as the artillery train is a separate entity with its own crew and staff, or did they double up as spare crew members even though they would of worn a different uniform.

So did the horse artillery guys just ride along side, and how about the foot artillery, how were the crews transported.

Can someone give this dummy an outline how the artillery system basically worked….please.

There were variations between the different armies. One thing was uniform though, the drivers of the guns and caissons, did not man the guns.

Britain. There was a separate Corps of Drivers who were attached to a company of field (foot) or troop of horse artillery to form a battery. (Guns were issued for each campaign.) The field gunners marched beside their guns and the horse artillery all rode horses.

France. Again, a separate corps of drivers (Train d'Atillerie) attached to companies of artillery to provide mobility. They had their own officers, trumpeters etc. The Artillerie a Pied (foot) and the Artillerie a Cheval (horse) marched and rode like their British counterparts.

Russia. The drivers were a full part of the artillery but were not intended to man the guns. Foot and horse moved in the same way as the previously mentioned nations.

Austia. There was a separate corps of drivers (Fuhrwesen) who not only drove guns but also supply wagons. The foot artillery marched as before, but there was no 'horse artillery' as such. There were 'cavalry batteries' but the gunners rode on special wagons known as 'Wurst (sausage) Wagons'. They had a padded seat along their length which the gunners rode astride.

Most other nations were variations on the above e.g. the Bavarians were like the Austrians. You need to check each army to be sure of the system.

Thankyou very much sir… that clears up my confusion. :-)

But not mine. Who was in command of the battery and did that individual also control the drivers?

The battery commander was the senior artillery officer. The officers and NCOs of the drivers, even if a separate corps, answered to him.

The battery commander was the senior artillery officer. The officers and NCOs of the drivers, even if a separate corps, answered to him.

Artilleryman, would you be able to help me with the rank of the battery/company commander in the French army? Would he for example be a colonel or chef de batallion? Despite having a number of books on Napoleonic artillery this point has always eluded me, though one would have thought it would be a fairly basic detail.

In the French Army (and indeed in most armies of the period) the battery commander was a captain (with a captain 'en second' as his 2I/C). Hope that helps.

Many thanks Artilleryman, my battery commander will now have a single epaulette on the left shoulder: v useful information.

Incidentally, given the battery commander was in charge of horse teams, drivers and ammunition caissons, as well as cannon and gunners, this seems like a lot of responsibility for an officer of quite junior rank. How many batteries might a chef de bataillon or colonel have commanded?

Within the battery, the commander would have a number of specialist officers and NCOs to help. Also, captains were not necessarily the younger officers we are used to today. Many were long-term veterans.

In France the regiments varied in the number of companies they had but about twenty for the foot and six for the horse were normal. In peacetime the foot regiments were divided into battalions but these were administrative rather than tactical. On campaign more senior officers above captain tended to be 'on the staff' of divisions and corps so that the number of batteries they 'commanded' would vary. As an example in 1809, Gen de Bde Hanique commanded the artillery (and pontooniers who were part of the artillery) in Davout's 3rd Corps with a staff of gunner officers. There were about 16 batteries from various regiments with captains and chefs de bataillon at the divisional level.

A belated thank you Artilleryman; much appreciated. Informative and useful as usual.