Artillery Battery
By Ed McDonald
Wayne Praeder
Mike Bianchi-Rossi
Soldier figure drawings by E. Schweig
Below is a typical battery of the Union armies. On paper batteries were to contain six guns, twelve limber, six caissons, a battery wagon, a travelling forge, 110 horses, 150 men, and five officers. The battery was divided equally into two or three parts referred to as half batteries and sections, respecavely. A captain usually commanded a battery with his lieutenants commanding the sections. Confederate batteries usually consisted of four guns with a proportionate reduction in equipment and personnel. Horse artillery or "flying" artillery was organized the same with an additional twelve horses per piece to mount all gunners, and two extra cannoneers to hold the horses. The battery is deployed for action along an 82-yard front to a depth of 30 yards: A) Guns with crew; B) Limber chests with teams (each limber and each caisson for 12-pounders carried 25 solid shot, 20 spherical case, and 5 canisters); C) Caissons with teams; D) Captain commanding. In case the battery was being pressed by an overwhelming force, the gunners would tie a rope to the limber and attach it to the gun. As the team pulled the gun away, its crew would fire it, recoil moving the gun to the rear. Other withdrawing tactics were to retire two sections while being covered by the third.
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ACW: Infantry ACW: Infantry Tactics (Examples) ACW: Cavalry ACW: Artillery ACW: Engineers ACW: Entrenchments ACW: Grand Tactics ACW: Tactics: Auerstadt 1806 vs. New Market 1864 ACW: Conclusion and Bibliography Back to Conflict Number 7 Table of Contents Back to Conflict List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1974 by Dana Lombardy 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 |