However, because the various guns required greater or fewer numbers of men to actually operate them, the number of men that were assigned to a specific battery were different that which is shown above. When a battery required fewer men the excess was transfered to a battery or organization that required more men.
The organization of a 6pdr foot battery was:
- 5 Officers
13 Unteroffiziere
20 Bombardiers
2 Spielleute
101 Men
1 Surgeon
2 Artisans
8 Train soldiers
7 Train servants
162 Total
A horse battery had:
- 5 Officers
13 Unteroffizier
20 Bombardiers
2 Spielleute
112 Men
1 Surgeon
2 Artisans
8 Train soldiers
7 Train servants
172 Total
A 12pdr foot battery had:
- 5 Officers
13 Unteroffizier
20 Bombardiers
2 Spielleute
164 Men
1 Surgeon
2 Artisians
8 Train soldiers
7 Train servants
222 Total
A 7pdr howitzer battery had:
- 5 Officers
13 Unteroffizier
20 Bombardiers
2 Spielleute
132 Men
1 Surgeon
2 Artisians
8 Train soldiers
6 Officers & Train servants
188 Total
6 Officer's mounts
112 Draft horses
4 Nags
2 Pack horses
124 Total horses
A park column had:
- 2 Officers
4 Unteroffizier
5 Bombardiers
1 Spielman
32 Men
1 Surgeon
3 Servants
2 Artisians
84 Train soldiers
135 Total
2 Officer's mounts
168 Draft horses
4 Nags
1 Pack horses
175 Total horses
A laboratory column had:
- 1 Officer
6 Unteroffizier
3 Bombardiers
18 Gunners
1 Servant
29 Total
A "handwerkskolonne" or artisan column had:
- 1 Officer
2 Unteroffizier
14 Handwerker (artisian)
1 Train surgeon
22 Train soldiers
1 Officer's batman
41 Total
1 Officer's mount
44 Draft horses 2 Nags
175 Total horses (4)
Theoretically every battery was to have six guns and two howitzers, but this did vary. The 6pdr Foot Batteries and the Horse Batteries had 6-6pdrs and 2 7pdr howitzers. The 12pdr Foot Batteries had 6-12pdrs and 2 10pdr howitzers. The 6pdr guns were drawn by 6 horses and the 12pdr guns were drawn by 8 horses. A horse company had 132 horses. The 5 officers, 8 Unteroffiziere, 64 bombardiers and 2 trumpeters were mounted. In addition, there were 10 reserve mounts. The 6pdr foot companies had 48 horses assigned to the guns, 8 horses with the caissons and 4 reserve horses. (5)
A horse battery had 4 munition caissons, 2 bomb caissons and 2 rack wagons. It had 92 draft horses, 109 mounts, 2 pack horses and 5 additional horse as replacements. (6) There are indications that the batteries were augmented by a field forge when on campaign.
Each 6pdr limber was provided with 45 round shot and 15 cannister rounds. The cannister consisted of 10 with 6 Loth (ounce) shot and 5 with 2 Loth (ounce) shot. The 7pdr howitzers had 14 bombs and 6 cannister rounds. The caissons had 120 round shot and 30 cannister rounds. The bomb wagon had 49 bombs, 16 cannister, 3 fire and 2 illumination rounds. (7)
The 12pdr limber did not have a munition case. Each 12pdr caisson was provided with 70 round shot and 25 cannister. The cannister consisted of 15 with 12 Loth (ounce) balls and 10 with 3 Loth (ounce) balls. Each cannister round had either 41 12 loth shot or 174 3 Loth shot. (8)
The Prussian Brigade (1st Brigade), under Oberst von Oppen, was posted in Konigsberg. The Brandenburg Brigade (2nd Brigade), under Oberst Decker, was posted in Berlin, and the Silesian Brigade, under Major von Scholer, was posted in Breslau.
In order to fill out the ranks of these new units the fortress garrisons were stripped of qualified artillerists and drafts were drawn from the infantry and artillery. By late 1809 a total of 45 foot and horse artillery companies (Stammcompagnien) were raised.
A total of 6,000 artillerists were allowed by the Treaty of Tilsit. In the event of war this would permit 21 companies- (9 horse, 9 6pdr foot and 2 12pdr foot) to be available immediately. Those companies not raised as artillery companies were to be assigned to the munition columns, to serve as fortress garrisons or as handwerk companies.
The Guard Horse Artillery Company and the Guard Foot Artillery Companies were assigned to the Brandenburg Brigade. These two companies were formed with officers and men who had served with great distinction during the 1806 campaign.
As with the infantry and cavalry, the artillery also organized a krumper system of provisional companies to permit a rapid expansion of the Prussian artillery forces. Minister of War von Scharnhorst made arrangements for 28 provisional companies to be formed with reserves when required. (9)
Prussia was required, by treaty with France, to provide forces to assist in the invasion of Russia. The artillery contingent for this force consisted of three horse artillery batteries, four 6pdr foot and 1/2 12pdr foot batteries. The horse batteries were equipped with new equipment that had never been used before.
The batteries sent into Russia were:
- Horse Battery No. 1 (von Zinken) of the Prussian Brigade. It participated in the 1813-1815 campaigns. In 1815 it was redesignated as the 21st Horse Battery.
Horse Battery No. 2 (von Rentzell) of the Prussian Brigade. It participated in the 1813-1815 campaigns. In 1815 it was redesignated as the 22nd Horse Battery (von Borowski).
Horse Battery No. 3 (von Graumann) of the Prussian Brigade. It participated in the 1813-1814 campaigns as Battery No. 3 (Fischer). It did not participate in the 1815 campaign.
12pdr Battery No.3 (half battery)(von Roszynsky) of the Silesian Brigade. It participated in the 1813-1815 campaigns as 12pdr Foot Battery No. 3 (von Roszynsky, von Schlemmer, Schessler).
6pdr Battery No. 3 (Wegner) from the Prussian Brigade. It participated in the 1813-1815 campaigns as Battery No. 3 (Ziegler, von Reauder).
6pdr Battery No. 2 (Michaely), from the Prussian Brigade. It participated in the 1813-1815 campaigns as Battery No. 2 (Wegner, Lange, Schmidt).
6pdr Battery No. 1 (Heut) from the Prussian Brigade. It participated in the 1813-1815 campaigns as Battery No. 38. In 1815 it became Battery No. 38.
6pdr Battery No. 4 (Ludwig) from the Brandenburg Brigade. It participated in the 1813 campaign (Ludwig, Kambly, Beith) and in the 1814 and 1815 campaigns.
In addition, a 3pdr battery under the command of Unteroffizier Stassehl was activated and assigned to the East Prussian Jager Battalion. This small battery remained assigned to that battalion until the 1813 Armistice.
The Prussian Auxiliary Corps serving with the Grande Armee in Russia also had four park column companies drawn from the Prussian Brigade. In addition, there were two other batteries assigned to the main body of the Grande Armee. One of these was Battery Schmidt, the 7th Stamm-Compagnie of the Prussian Brigade. The second was Battery Falkenstein, 5th Stamm-Compagnie, of the Prussian Brigade. Both were 6pdr foot batteries.
The artillery assigned to the Prussian Auxiliary Corps was under the overall command of Major von Schmidt. The 4 1/2 foot batteries were commanded by major von Fiebig I and the 3 horse batteries were commanded by Major von Fiebig II.
The Prussian batteries escaped the loss of equipment and personnel that destroyed much of the French artillery. With the outbreak of the 1813 campaign and the transfer of Prussian allegiance, the krumper companies began forming. By the 1813 armistice Prussia had mobilized 34 1/2 batteries with a total of 276 guns.
By August this number had risen to 45 batteries consisting of:
- 12 Horse Batteries - each with 6-6pdr cannons & 2 howitzers
6 12pdr Batteries - half had 8-12pdrs and half had 6-12pdrs and 2 howtizers
26 6pdr Batteries - half had 8-6pdrs and half had 6-6pdrs and 2 howitzers.
1 7pdr Howitzer - with 8-7pdr howitzers
This provided the Prussians with a total of 360 guns in the field. This was augmented during the fall and winter campaigns by 1 12pdr battery and 7-6pdr batteries, bringing the total to 54 field batteries. The 3pdr foot battery, formerly assigned to the East Prussian Jager Battalion is included in this figure.
In addition, there were 14 park or munition companies.
Prussian Artillery Part I: 1806-1815
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