Field ArTillery - US Army Center Of Military History

eOrganizing The arm
At the outbreak of the Mexican War, Congress had authorized an increase in
the strength of the Army. On 13 May 1846, it raised the number of privates in each
artillery company from forty-two to any number that was needed up to a maximum
of one hundred; however, when a situation dictated that the excess strength was
no longer necessary, the number was to be reduced to sixty-four. 76 The four field
batteries were each to have six cannon (four 6-pounders and two 12-pounder howitzers
or six guns of the same caliber) and associated equipment. In June, however,
Taylor decided to reorganize the field batteries with four cannon rather than six in
order to increase the number of light units, and throughout most of the war, the field
batteries each operated with four field pieces. 77
On the same day that Congress increased the strength of the Regular Army, it
called for up to 50,000 volunteers for twelve months, appropriated ten million dollars
for the war effort, and made provisions for calling up the militia for six-month
periods. There was no authorized increase in the number of Regular Army units,
however. At this juncture, the Army consisted of eight infantry regiments, two
dragoon regiments, and four artillery regiments with approximately 5,300 officers
and men, which was about 40 percent understrength. 78
On 11 February 1847, Congress authorized the Regiment of Voltigeurs and Foot
Riflemen, which included a battery of mountain howitzers and rockets manned by
Ordnance Department troops. This battery was not linked with the riflemen tactically,
nor were the rockets and howitzers used in a mutually supporting role. The
battery employed both Congreve rockets and models improved from the Congreve
by William Hale. The advent of rifled cannon, which were superior in range and
accuracy, rendered the rockets obsolete soon after war. 79
Finally, on 3 March 1847, Congress added three companies to each artillery
regiment. One of these companies was to be organized as light artillery, making
a total of eight light batteries in the Regular Army. Of the newly authorized light
batteries, one had already been serving as such since July 1846 and one was not
organized in time to fight in the war. 80
76 Callan, comp., Military Laws, p. 369.
77 Benét, Collection of Annual Reports, 2:99, 101, 103, 158; Lester R. Dillon, Jr., American
Artillery in the Mexican War, 1846–1847 (Austin, Tex.: Presidial Press, 1975), pp. 22, 23.
78 Callan, comp., Military Laws, pp. 367–68; Ganoe, History, p. 196.
79 Callan, comp., Military Laws, pp. 379–82; Benét, Collection of Annual Reports, 2:148, 156; WD
GO 4, 12 Feb 1847. Half the Regiment of Voltigeurs and Foot Riflemen was to be mounted, the other
half on foot. Each horseman was paired with a foot soldier who was to get up behind him for rapid
movement. The regiment was never used in this manner, and the Voltiguers and Foot Riflemen became
a regiment of foot riflemen, armed with the same rifle as the mounted riflemen. See John K. Mahon and
Romana Danysh, Infantry (Washington, D.C.: Office of the Chief of Military History, United States
Army, 1972), p. 17. The British had introduced the Congreve rocket (named for an Englishman who
had made numerous improve ments in rockets in the early eighteenth century) to American troops at
the battle of Lundy’s Lane in 1814. The rocket was supposed to fill the gap between the musket and
the 12-pounder field gun. For additional information, see Frank H. Winter, The First Golden Age of
Rocketry (Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1990).
80 Callan, comp., Military Laws, pp. 383–87; WD GO 9, 10 Mar 1847; WD GO 16, 15 Apr
1847; Army of Occupation SO 102, 12 Jul 1846, in Messages of the President on the Mexican War,
p. 531.
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