siege or position purposes, while the field guns appear to have been the 2, 4, 6, and 8 pounders, falcons, falconets, and sakers. No permanent artillery trains existed at this time ; the personnel was obtained by withdrawing gunners from garrisons, and supplementing them with men hired for the occasion, and the cattle required for transport were also hired. The artillery train on service included the ammunition waggons, pontoons, and a large proportion of artificers, besides the men actually required to serve the gun, corresponding nearly to the artillery park of the present day, and had its position assigned in camp and on the march. " On the march the train was preceded by an advanced guard of light cavalry to protect it. The first portion of this troop carried hatchets and saws; the second, instruments and implements for the construction of ma chines ; the third, sledge-hammers, iron wedges, and pick axes ; finally, the last were provided with pioneers imple ments. After these came carriages loaded with guns, capstans, levers, and other like machines ; these were followed by the light pieces,- by- the heavy siege guns, by ammunition waggons, by pontoons and the necessary men for them, by the artillery artificers, and, lastly, by the
baggage."[1]
The 16th century was not marked by any great advance in artillery science, though the number of guns which accompanied an army had increased considerably as many as 1GOO gunners, cannoneers, armourers, and clerks of the ordnance, being attached to Lord Mount] oy s army in Ireland in 1599. . The artillery tactics were simple ; the guns usually deployed in advance of the troops. and fired a few rounds, but from their, want of mobility could neither accompany an advance nor .protect a retreat, and were generally captured on the first advance of the enemy. Greater progress, .however, was made in the attack and defence of fortresses by artillery. . Vertical fire was used to a considerable extent, and seems to have been conducted by artificers while the. " cannoneers" served the guns. In England but little advance was made even in the 17th century, and the commencement of. the Great Rebellion found the artillery of England in a very feeble and backward state. Two books by artillerymen of those days[2] give us much, information on its condition, and a very complete account of the "Field Artillery of the Great Rebellion " is furnished by Captain H. W. L. Hirne, R.A.[3] The guns chiefly used were the light pieces known as "minion," "saker," and demi-culverin," i.e., 3-pounder, 5-pounder, and 9-pounder respectively. The heavier pieces being used in sieges and garrisons, and ranging from the "whole culverin," or 1 5-pounder, to the " Canon Royall," or 63-pounder. The carriages were cumbrous. " They were formed of two large cheeks or brackets, whose general outline was much the same as the brackets of our own bracket-trails, connected together by four transoms." , The transport of the ammunition was in carts or wheelbarrows, or on men s backs. The gunners walked beside the gun, and, as in later times, their pace was a measure of the mobility of the field artillery. Cartridges, when used, were made of paper or canvas, but an iron ladle was preferred. The following words of command show the gun-drill of those days:—
| A table should appear at this position in the text. See Help:Table for formatting instructions. |
1. Put back your piece.
2. Order your piece to load.
3. Search your piece.
4. Sponge yoiu piece.
5. Fill your ladle.
6. Put in your powder.
7. Empty your ladle.
8. Put up your powder.
9. Thrust home your wad.
10. Regard your shot.
11. Put home your shot gently.
12. Thrust home your last wad
with three strokes.
13. Gauge your piece.
As to the draught, twenty-three horses were required for a cannon on good ground, fifteen or seventeen for the demi-cannon, and nine for a culverin. The proportion of guns to men was 1 per 1000. The artillery general was a greater man in those days than in more modern times, as we find that " the generall of the artillery hath alwayes a part of the charge, and when the chief generall is absent, he is to command all the army." The " gentlemen of the artillery " seern to answer to our present majors, and the duties of the " gunners " were much the same as those now performed by lieutenants. In the Scotch invasion of 1G40, leather guns were used with effect against the English in the passage of the Scots over the river Tyne. When Charles I. took the field in 1642, the earl of Peterborough, as parliamentary general of artillery, had a large train under his orders, but such was its want of mobility, that he was obliged to leave his guns behind him for a time. It came up, however, at last, and was used at the battle of Edgehill, 23d October 1642. In 1643, at Braddoch Doun, an instance occurred of the use of field artillery first masked by cavalry ; and at Roundway Lord Wilrnot handled his guns so well that he prepared the way for his cavalry, and finally was able to seize the enemy s guns and turn them against him. At other affairs, however, the artillery seems to have been comparatively useless, and the presence of twenty-five guns on the Royalist side at Marston Moor was neutralised by Cromwell s flank attack; and in no battles of this war did the artillery assume the importance it had already attained on the Continent.
history of this arm in Europe. Henry IV. of France was among the first to recognise its coming importance, and occupied himself diligently with improving it. His minister, Sully, was named master-general, and during the last ten years of his reign (1600-1610), he may be said to have created an artillery. More than 400 guns were turned out, including a number of field-pieces. Maurice of Nassau also helped to develop the use of this arm. But it was under the great Swedish warrior Gustavus Adolphus that Gu artillery first began to take its true position on the battle- Acl field. Recognising the necessity for the mobility of field artillery, he introduced "Kalter" guns, "consisting of a thin cylinder of beaten copper screwed into a brass breech, whose chamber was strengthened by four bands of iron, the tube itself being covered with layers of mastic, over which cords were rolled firmly round its whole length and equalised by a layer of plaster, a coating of leather, boiled and varnished, completing the piece."[4] This primitive field artillery was drawn and served by two men, and was first used in his Polish war. The guns could naturally bear but a small charge; the great point gained was mobi lity, all guns heavier than 12-pounders being separated from field artillery. In his German campaigns he used iron 4-pounder guns, weighing about 5|- cwt., and drawn by two horses. Rapidity of fire was obtained by the use of car tridges instead of the old method of ladling the powder. Gustavus attached two of these guns to each regiment, and placed them under the orders of the colonel. Gustavus Adolphus may therefore be said to be the father of the battalion system of guns, a system whichhad its advantages in those days of imperfect organisation, but, like many other things, was carried down to a late date when the necessity for the system had entirely disappeared. But he also appreciated the value of concentration of fire, and frequently massed his guns in strong batteries at the centre and flanks. He appears to have been fully alive to the necessity of having both a heavy and light artillery, and it
was his practice to retire his heavy guns, protecting a- ↑ Owen's Modern Artillery.
- ↑ The Gunner, by Robert Norton, one of His Majesty's gunners and engineers, 1628; The Gunner's Glasse, by William Eldred, master-gunner of Dover Castle, 1646.
- ↑ Proceedings of the Royal Artillery Institution, vol. vi.
- ↑ Chesney's Observations on Fire-Arms, 1852.
