Field ArTillery - US Army Center Of Military History

a Time Of grOwTh
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of accessible literature. 28 Although the
new journal was only semiofficial, the
articles were considered authoritative
and reliable. As a consequence, the
magazine became the “spokes man” for
the branch.
Prior to World War I, disturbances
along the Mexican border provided
some practical testing of doctrinal and
organizational changes. From 1911
through 1916, Mexico held the attention
of the Army. Groups of rebels
operating along the border further aggravated
political unrest there. To deal
with the rebels, the Army in March
1911 concentrated a so-called maneuver
division at San Antonio, Texas,
consisting of three infantry brigades
(each with three regiments), one field
artillery brigade of two regiments, one
cavalry regiment, an engineer battalion,
four ambulance companies, four field
hospitals, and two signal companies. 29
Captain Moore
Cognizant of the problems with the
ad hoc unit and of the need for creating
permanent tactical divisional organizations, the Army War College undertook a
study and published its results in 1912 as The Organization of the Land Forces of
the United States. Also known as the Stimson Plan after Secretary of War Stimson,
with whom the General Staff had consulted, it called for a divisional structure similar
to that published in the 1910 Field Service Regulations. Each division was to have
two regiments, with a combined total of forty-eight guns and sixteen howitzers. In
one regiment, two battalions were each to have three batteries of four 3-inch guns
and one battalion with two batteries of 3.8-inch howitzers. The other regiment was
to have two battalions, each with three batteries of 3-inch guns, and one battalion
of 4.7-inch howitzers. With the allocation of such weapons as the 4.7-inch howitzer
down to the division level, it became apparent that the old concept of siege artillery
as specialized weapons had given way to one in which they became part of
the usual field artillery armament. The siege train of former days had disappeared
with the amalgamation of siege and field pieces. These organizations, along with
those programmed for the cavalry division and field army, would have provided an
28 U.S. Field Artillery Association, History and Constitution (Washington, D.C.: n.p., 1942), p. 13;
William J. Snow, “Sketch of the Origin of the Field Artillery Association,” pts. 1 and 2, Field Artillery
Journal, July-August 1932, pp. 411–20, and September-October 1932, pp. 528–38.
29 WD GO 35, 13 Mar 1911. See also John B. Wilson, Maneuver and Firepower (Washington, D.C.:
Center of Military History, United States Army, 1998), ch. 2, which covers the genesis of divisions.