Field ArTillery - US Army Center Of Military History

24 The OrganizaTiOnal hisTOry Of field arTillery
the few required muster days, however, limited the use of militia artillery to the firing
of salutes and participation in parades.
Mobile artillery for use in the field had been neglected after the Revolutionary
War, but Napoleon’s successes with field artillery captured the attention of senior
Army leaders. During Thomas Jeffer son’s administration, Secretary of War Dearborn
publicly commented on articles written in Europe that argued for the clear
advantages of mobility in field artillery and the ways of obtaining it. 21
The foremost artillerist of the eighteenth century had been Jean-Baptiste
Vaquette de Gribeauval, who had reorganized the French artillery after serving with
the outstanding Austrian artillery against Frederick the Great during the Seven Years
War. Although he began to innovate while working with the French in 1765, he
did not fully implement his novel ideas until after he became Inspector General of
Artillery in 1776. Creating distinct materiel for field, siege and garrison, and coast
artillery, Gribeauval lightened the cannon, standardized a relatively small number of
calibers, mounted the cannoneers, and replaced civilian drivers with soldiers, making
artillery a more valuable asset in the field. He also introduced interchangeable parts
in carriage manufacturing and militarized transport. For siege and garrison artillery,
he adopted 12- and 16-pounder guns, an 8-inch howitzer, and 8-, 10-, and 12-inch
mortars; for coastal fortifications, used a platform with rear wheels for traversing
a track, which greatly simplified the task of aiming the weapon at a moving target;
and for field artillery, reduced the types of guns to the 4-pounder, 8-pounder, and
12-pounder and introduced the 6-inch mortar. Gribeauval’s innovations came too late
to affect American artillery during the Revolutionary War, but they had a profound
effect on Army leaders during the early nineteenth century. 22
Adopting the Gribeauval system would have facilitated maneuvers and the
servicing of artillery in the field. Secretary Dearborn recognized the advantages of
the Gribeau val carriages, but he could not bring himself to adopt an entire European
system at once, mainly because of the expense. He did introduce several changes
in carriage design, however, but missed the more important feature of interchangeable
parts. 23
In 1808, when war with England seemed imminent, President Jefferson recommended
that Congress increase the strength of the Army. In response, Congress
authorized five additional infantry regiments and one regiment each of riflemen,
light dragoons, and light artillery for use in the field. 24
The Regiment of Light Artillery was authorized ten mounted companies
equipped with light field guns, but men and equipment were scarce. The Army had
reported that there were enough cannon, but none was properly mounted for field
21 Birkhimer, Historical Sketch, pp. 33–34, 228–29.
22 Ian V. Hogg and John H. Batchelor, Armies of the American Revolution (Englewood Cliffs,
N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1975), pp. 138–39; Peterson, Round Shot, pp. 51, 54; Manucy, Artillery, p. 11;
O[liver] F. G. Hogg, Artillery (Hamden, Conn.: Archon Books, 1970), p. 103.
23 Birkhimer, Historical Sketch, pp. 228–31.
24 American State Papers, Class 5, Military Affairs, 1:222–23; Callan, comp., Military Laws, pp.
200–03. Light artillery in this instance means field artillery in which the guns are horse-drawn and
the men are mounted. The terms horse artillery and flying artillery were also used.