The Regiment of Light Artillery was authorized by Congress in April 1808 to consist of ten companies. The term battery was not used at that time to describe a company-sized artillery unit. Instead, a battery described one or more collocated guns. Only one company, that commanded by George Peter, was equipped as a field battery. Any others raised were equipped as infantry. Captain Peter’s company lost its horses the following year as an economy measure. With impending war, the companies of Light Artillery were equipped as horse artillery (everyone mounted), field artillery (horses used to pull guns only), and as infantry. In the organization of June 1812, each company had the following positions: 1 captain 1 first lieutenant 1 second lieutenant 4 sergeants 4 corporals 2 musicians (buglers) 8 artificers (skilled craftsmen) 12 drivers 58 privates Total: 87 With new tables of organization in March 1813, each company received a third lieutenant and another sergeant. There are many pictures of Light Artillery uniforms so what follows is some information drawn from the regulations. Uniform Details 1812 Blue coat with short tails. Collar, cuff, and turnbacks the same blue as the coat. Collars were trimmed with yellow lace. Yellow buttons. The light artillery felt cap was not perfectly cylindrical but slightly wider at the top than bottom. The cap plate was immense, covering nearly the full height of the cap. Plumes, attached at the left top, were white tipped red. Buglers were in reverse colors, red coat with yellow lace. Officers wore gold bullion epaulettes to distinguish their rank while sergeants and corporals wore yellow worsted epaulettes. Blue pantaloons in the field, white on parade. Officers wore hussar boots. Unofficially, officers often carried black sabretaches. 1814 The uniform of the light artillery remained largely unchanged until early 1814 when the leather tombstone shako was issued to replace the felt cap. The large plume was replaced with a short green worsted “pom-pom”, worn at the left top above the black cockade. Yellow braid was worn on the shako identical in style to the infantry white braid. In a bizarre act, the new brass shako plate was virtually identical in size and outline to the British infantry plate issued with the Belgic shako. The crown was replaced with an eagle and the “GR” replaced with “LA”. Also, overalls were to be white and there is evidence that some companies wore black gaiters as well. Long gaiters would be worn on the outside while short gaiters worn under the overalls. To complicate matters, six hundred sets of gray tailess coats and gray overalls were issued to the various companies so you have a choice of colors to paint your gun crews. When the Light Artillery fought as infantry, they carried infantry equipment, suspended by white or black cross belts. Scattered hough the regiment had a commander, Colonel Moses Porter, the companies never fought as a regiment but instead were scattered among the various major commands. Thus, the light artillery was represented on many battlefields: Queenston Heights, Fort George, Stony Creek, Beaver Dams, Sackett’s Harbor, Crysler’s Field, La Colle Mill, Plattsburgh. As you can see, the Light Artillery served exclusively in the Northern Army and later the 9th Military District. The Light Artillery lasted until disbanded in the general reorganization of 1821. Back to Table of Contents -- War of 1812 #1 Back to War of 1812 List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 2001 by Rich Barbuto. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com