Field ArTillery - US Army Center Of Military History

72 The OrganizaTiOnal hisTOry Of field arTillery
The Coehorns—Cold Harbor [Virginia] by A. R. Waud
infantry and cavalry require the aid of artillery for specific purposes: to destroy walls, earthworks,
and other means of cover; to set fire to or render untenable farm buildings, villages,
woods, and other lodgments, etc. Its presence alone, if known to be powerful, often prevents
an enemy from resorting to such defenses. Thus set free for its primary objectives, the artillery
is used in the open field to commence battles, to prepare the way and aid in attacks, to
protect the movement of our own troops, and to hinder those of the enemy, to pursue and
prevent the enemy from rallying, or to cover our own retreat. 61
In repelling attacks, the artillery opened fire at long range with rifle shell, with
the smoothbores joining in with solid shot as the enemy came near. At about 200
yards, the smoothbores changed to canister. Despite concerted efforts toward aggressive
tactics, however, the main value of field artillery in the Civil War lay in
the defense.
Gettysburg was the last battle of the Civil War in which field artillery fire was
paramount. Its defensive power was clearly demonstrated once more in the role
played by the Union artillery against the charge of Maj. Gen. George E. Pickett’s
troops. By the end of 1863, the tide of war had changed in the eastern theater,
with both sides making more use of field fortifications to cover themselves from
the murderous fire of the infantry rifle. The struggle became a war of attrition.
Entrenchments, which had been used constantly in the western theater, became
standard in the East. The Army of Northern Virginia had used field fortifications
at Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville and had stepped up their use as declining
manpower forced the South more and more on the defensive. The infantry rifle had
driven soldiers to cover, strengthening the defense, and direct fire artillery had little
61 Hunt, “Experience in Artillery,” p. 161.