The basic unit was the Battery of which there were three principal types: Heavy - 240 men, 4 twelve pdr guns 4 twenty pdr howitzers and 4 six pdr guns Light - 160 men, 8 six pdr guns and 4 ten pdr howitzers Horse - 160 men, 6 six )drs and 6 ten pdr howitzers. The batteries were divided into companies, probably by the groups of like type of weapon within the battery. Also, the Russian artillery used drums to pass orders and each company had its quota of drummers. In the foot artillery, the batteries were combined to form Brigades, each usually consisting of one heavy and two light batteries. It was common for each infantry division to have an artillery brigade attached to it when in the field. The horse batteries were doled out singly roughly one to each cavalry division. In all there were 44 heavy, 58 light, 22 horse and 29 depot batteries of the Line plus the 8 batteries of the Guard. So far no information has been uncovered concerning the makeup of the depot batteries or in what manner the siege train was manned and organized. GENERAL NOTES Some confusion exists concerning the shell and ball weights used to describe these weapons. This is not surprising considering the physical evidence available, the translation of documents and the elapse of time. Also, the use of projectile weight is an imprecise reference and should always be taken with a pinch of "Windage". These notes and drawings have been carefully checked for accuracy against the source material, and the descriptions used were obtained from technically reliable references. However, neither my brother nor myself could be described as more than amateur military researchers and we would welcome further enlightenments on this subject. THE UNICORN HOWITZER Sometimes referred to as "Licorne". This weapon originated in 1757. It derived its name from the decorative dolphins or lifting handles, and cascable which were shaped in the form of leaping unicorns for the handles and a unicorns' head for the cascable. These features appear in both early and later models but seen to have been omitted from the general issue of the "System 1805". Such expensive decorations were probably confined to special barrels at this time. Originally the bore was "stepped" with a powder chamber of smaller diameter than the bore and a distinctly flared muzzle. By Napoleonic times, the bore had become parallel with no flare at the muzzle but tapered to a cone- shaped powder chamber. The vent, or touch hole was originally of the usual vertical type located on the breech reinforce, however it was later moved to the top face of the breech and angled into the powder chamber. The outside opening is shaped to provide a priming cup which feature became common on all Russian artillery. Fixed, or made up, ammunition appears in a very early illustration of this weapon and consisted of both shell and cannister. These "Unicorns" were fairly accurate at long range and must have been really deadly at short range. TRUNIONS (on all Weapons) Trunion positioning seems to vary with the period of manufacture being found both below and on the barrel longitudinal centre. All of the drawings, except for the scrap view of the decorative Unicorn barrel, depict the trunions one diameter below centre. The shape of the trunions also varies. An illustration depicting Russian guns (and gunner) in the 1830's shows them originating in square section at the barrel and changing to round, at the bearing point. CASCABLES (all Weapons) In the drawings these are shown to be flattened on their upper and lower surfaces. This appears to be a peculiarity of the source material, as actual barrels show them to be full round and acorn shaped. I must discuss this with Pete next time I see him. More Russian Artillery Guns and Howitzers of the System of 1805 Introduction and Historical Background Field Artillery Organization 1811-1813 Odds and Ends Illustrations: Russian Artillery (monstrously slow: 690K) Back to Table of Contents -- Wargamer's Newsletter # 153 To Wargamer's Newsletter List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1974 by Donald Featherstone. 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