Artillery Insignia

Civil War uniforms were anything but .uniform", and there are exceptions to any general rule describing them. Even so, the artillery branch of the service, both Union and Confederate usually bore some mark distinguishing itself from the other branches. Red was the color for the artillery, corresponding to the use of light blue for the infantry and yellow for the cavalry. Although enlisted artillerymen sometimes wore the ubiquitous sack coat, they were frequently issued the waist-length shell jacket, trimmed with red worsted tape. Slouch hats might be furnished with red hat cords. Kepis and forage caps, at least in the Confederate artillery service, often had a red band around the base, or were entirely of red cloth.

Non-commissioned officers' chevrons and trouser stripes were red, as was the background of the officers' shoulder straps. However, red is a flashy color and was often adopted to add dash to uniforms of soldiers having no connection with the artillery service. The tombeaux on Zouave uniforms, for example, were typically red, and Zouave non-coms might even use red chevrons to mark their rank. While most artillerymen wore red, not all red was worn by artillerymen. Crossed cannons were the badges of the artillery service, worn by men on both sides of the conflict.

Enlisted men were issued crossed cannons in stamped brass to wear on their hats, to which were typically added a brass number designating the artillery regiment and a letter designating the battery. Officers wore an embroidered version of the design. Crossed cannons were also featured on some privately designed insignia; artillerymen in the Washington Light Artillery (Confederate) had medals with crossed cannons encircled by their name and motto, "Tr us'.

Flags

Much has been written of the emotional attachment of the infantryman for his regimental colors as the physical symbol of his unit.

For the artillerymen, the flags were important, but the guns were more often considered the embodiment of the battery, even being given names in some cases. In battle, the artillery flag marked the position of the battery's commander. For Union batteries, this flag usually took the form of a guidon, a small version of the stars and stripes with a forked tail. Confederate batteries were issued a smaller version of the familiar battle flag. Regular artillery units in the Federal service had large rectangular yellow flags with crossed cannons. For more illustrations, see the Echoes of Glory series.

Drill

In Hardtack and Coffee, John Billings of the 10th Massachusetts Battery describes even the most jaded infantrymen turning out to watch the drill of a battery of field artillery. With a dozen six-horse teams operating at close quarters and breakneck speed, and fifty cannoneers pelting after them to unlimber the guns and take their posts, a batery's evolutions were a spectacle that could not be rivaled even by the gaudiest of cavalry reviews. The horse drill is described in detail in Artillery for the United States Land Service.

After the guns were unlimbered and the cannoneers at their posts, firing drill commenced:

The process begins with the gunner's command for the type of ammunition and the range; Number 6 assisted by Numbers 7 and 8, at the limber chest, calls out the elevation and cuts the fuses. At the command 'Load", Number 1 steps to the muzzle with the rammer held parallel to the bore. Number 5 is given a round of ammunition by Number 6 or 7, and delivers the round to Number 2, who inserts it in the bore, where Number 1 rams it home.

While this is taking place, Number 3 covers the vent with his thumb, wearing a protective leather thumbstall. The Gunner then sights the piece, operating the elevating screw to set the range, and directing Number 3, now on the handspike, in setting the aim. After sighting and loading, at the command 'Ready", Number 3 pricks the charge with a vent pick, and Number 4 hooks the lanyard to a friction primer and inserts the primer In the vent. At the command *Fire", Number 4 pulls the lanyard and the piece is discharged. The cannon Is then run back into position; Number I sponges the piece and the process can begin again.

A battery of well-trained cannoneers could fire two or even three rounds a minute, especially under combat conditions when they skipped sponging. Especially under combat conditions, a gun crew might need to operate a piece with fewer than a full complement of cannoneers, and in theory a cannon could continue in service with only two men. The following table, taken from the 1864 Instruction for Field Artillery, shows which cannoneers would perform which duties under these circumstances.

Crewing of Artillery Pieces Positions Filled by Number of Crew Available
Numbers Retained	Positions Filled
	Gunner	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
Gunner, 1	G, 3, 4	1,2,5	-
Gunner, 1, 2	G, 3,4	1	2,5	-
Gunner, 1, 2, 3	G	1	2,5	3,4	-
Gunner, 1, 2, 3, 4	G	1	2	3,4	5	-
Gunner, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5	G	1	2	3	4	5,6	-
Gunner, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6	G	1	2	3	4	5	6,/TD>	-
Gunner, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7	G	1	2	3	4	5	6	7

The Library

John Gibbon, The Artillerist's Manual, 2nd ed., 1863
U.S. Army Ordnance Dept.(Alfred Mordecai), Artillery for the United States Land Service, 1849
M. C. Switlik, The More Complete Cannoneer, 3rd ed., 1990
John Davis Billings, Hardtack and Coffee, 1888
The Time-Life Echoes of Glory series (1991):
Arms and Eguipment of the Union
Arms and Eaulpment of the Confederacy
James Morgan, "Mounted But Not Mounted: The Confusing Terminology of Artillery", Camp
Chase Gazette, March 1996

Organization And Drill In the American Civil War