The Prussian artillery had been a neglected branch of the army since the time of Frederick the Great who had underestimated its importance. Prussian Artillery. Gunners and Horses Cannons and Howitzers Powder The deliberate steadiness of the Germans adapts them especially for the artillery service. So this is quite surprising that the Prussian artillery had been a neglected branch of the army since the time of Frederick the Great who had underestimated its importance. Promotions and advancement in the artillery were not as good as in cavalry and infantry. It was in contrast to the French artillery, considered as th best in the World in that times. (Napoleon was a gunner.) The Prussian gunners however were suffciently trained and the horses were good. The gunner was able to operate every kind of cannon and howitzer. The horse artillery was first employed by Frederick the Great to solve a problem which had existed over a century earlier: provide cavalry with the fire support it needed to deal with infantry without sacrificing their speed, mobility and shock. The Prussian field artillery during the Napoleonic wars consisted of 3pdr, 6pdr and 12pdr cannons, 7pdr and 10pdr howitzers, and 10pdr mortars. Many Prussian cannons were old pieces. All guns, limbers and wagons were painted in medium-blue, and their metal parts were painted black. The heavy guns became famous as the "Growlers" after a comment made by Frederick the Great during the battle of Leuthen. Powder. The used gunpowder that consisted of 6 parts saltpeter, 1 part sulphur, 1 part coal, provided that all parts are as pure as possible. English gunpowder was considered superior. The quality of French powder was poorer than English. Cannons and Crews. The 6pdr cannon was served by 1 sergeant and 8 gunners. The 12pdr cannon was served by 1 sergeant and 12 gunners. "The 6pdr cannon was made of bronze; the 12pdrs had either bronze or iron barrels. Most of the equipment and designs dated from the end of the 18th Century." (Hofschroer - "Prussian Staff and Specialist Troops 1791-1815" p 19) The gunners fired over open sights, setting the range by elevating the barrel of the cannon. The 6pdr cannon could fire a maximum of 1.5 rounds per minute. Howitzers and Crews. The 7pdr howitzer was served by 1 sergeant ('feuewerker') and 11 gunners. The 10pdr howitzer had 1 addiional man in reserve and a further 2 served the additional ammunition wagon. Total of 14 men. The howitzers could fire a maximum of 2 rounds in 3 minutes. The howitzers threw grenades at high trajectories whereas the cannons typically fired ricochet rounds at 0 or few more degrees elevation. In general terms the artillery had the following tasks: - to support the other troops by engaging the enemy artillery and drawing their fire on itself, and by firing on advancing enemy columns - to prepare the battle for other troops by covering their deployment - artillery in connection with cavalry could be set up to undertake movements around an area, or operations against the enemy`s flank , or to halt an enemy advance in the event of a defeat, or a pursuit after a victory. Horses. The 6pdr cannon required 6 horses, while the heavier 12pdr 8 horses. All caissons were drawn by 4 horses. The horses of a gun team were of the same colour for one simple reason: it could easily be identified from the distance. Due to losses during campaign it was not possible. On 29th May 1813, the first gun of the horse battery of the Guard (No. 5) was drawn by grey and white horses. In Feb 1814 the King allowed to use Danish horses to form the horse battery of Lützow's corps. The horse harness was Prussian, but there were also items of Russian and British origin. For example in 1815 the 18th and 19th Horse Batteries replaced the used Russian harness with new British. Gun Horses Crew 6pdr 6 8 + 1 NCO 12pdr 8 12 + 1 NCO Howitzer 15 ? 12 + 1 NCO

Strength and Organization The basic tactical unit in artillery was battery (approx. 8 guns). Each battery was didvided into 2 half-batteries. Until 1806 batteries were judged by the speed of unlimbering and the smartness of appearance rather than the speed or/and accuracy of fire. The number of guns available for field service totalled: 24 'bombardement pieces" 84 normal 12pdrs 120 heavy 6pdrs 320 light 6pdrs 16 10pdr mortars 76 10pdr howitzers 34 7pdr howitzers Much of Prussia's cannons and howitzers were lost in the campaign of 1806. In 1808 the Convention of Paris set the number of Prussian gunners and engineers at 6,000 men. Three artillery brigades were formed (1. Prussian, 2. Brandenburg, 3. Silesian) each of 3 horse and 12 foot companies. To each brigade was also allocated 1 artisan and 1 train company. In autumn 1812 the virtually bankrupt Prussia had a total of 1.659 pieces available ! Additional pieces were obtained in 1813. The regulations issued in July 1812 simplified the drill and improvement was made by eliminating the regimental light artillery. In 1812 the Prussians had: 6 heavy batteries (1 battery used captured French pieces) 30 foot batteries (4 batteries used guns from Britain) 11 horse batteries (1 battery used guns from Britain) Prussia made a massive effort to increase its field firepower. In 1813-1815 the number of batteries increased. In May 1815 the Berg horse artillery became horse battery No. 20 (Brandenburgische Artillerie-Brigade) and the No. 1 and No. 2 horse batteries of the Russo-German Legion became horse batteries No. 18 & 19 respectively (Schlesische Artillerie-Brigade). In 1815 the problem was not so much procuring the ordnance for the campaign, but in finding trained men to use them and horses to pull them. "The war cabinet had decreed that the army required 76 batteries, 20 more than had been available the previous year. ... The Prussian Commander of Artillery, Prince August of Prussia, even wanted to go as far as drafting in semi-invalids to make up numbers. The King overruled him, although a number of the least infirm were allowed to join the Laboratory Clumns tasked with the manufacture of ammunition. Artillery recruitment was, however, opened up to volunteers from the infantry or cavalry, which provided uniformed manpower but not trained gunners." (Adkin - "The Waterloo Companion" p 301) Guard Artillery. The two guard companies were the first horse and the first foot companies of the "Brandenburgische Artillerie-Brigade". In the beginning of 1813 they formed Guard Horse Battery No. 4 ("Reitende (Garde-) Batterie Nr. 4") and Guard Foot Battery No. 4 ("6pfündige (Garde-) Fuß-Batterie Nr. 4") soon renamed to Guard Foot Battery No. 6 ("6pfündige Fuß-Batterie Nr. 6"). Battery. In 1815 foot battery (6 cannons and 2 howitzers) consisted of: The horse battery had an additional 16-20 soldiers. . . . . . . . . . . 4-5 officers (and 1 surgeon) . . . . . . . . . . 14 NCOs (corporals) . . . . . . . . . . 20 bombardiers (senior gunners) . . . . . . . . . . 2 drummers . . . . . . . . . . 96 gunners

Uniforms and Weapons. Foot gunner's uniform was similar to that of the infantryman. He wore a "Prussian blue" coat with red turnbacks, yellow buttons and black facings. The breeches were white (for parade) or gray (for campaign). The leather cross-belts and cartridge box were black. On the cartridge box was a grenade badge (the Guard had a brass Guard Star). The collars were black piped poppy-red along the front and lower edge until 1815. The foot gunners carried the infantry backpacks and bread bags. The horse gunners wore largely the same uniform, but with typical cavalry distinctions with regard to the legwear and boots. Cavalry overalls were worn with hussar boots. From 1809 the horse artillery was also permitted to wear the longer 'Litevka' coat. Horse leather equipment was black. In April 1815 half of the gunners of 13th Horse Battery received British uniforms of horse artillery. But when few months after Waterloo this battery appeared on parade wearing these outfits, the Prussian king exploded. He ordered to take the British outfits off immediately. The train drivers wore dark blue coatees with light blue cuffs and collars, red shoulder straps and white buttons. In 1808-1815 the foot gunner was supplied with the same artillery sword as carried by the horse gunners. It was only a temporary measure, it was intended to replace these with the normal infantry sidearm once supplies became available. The foot gunners were also armed with infantry muskets but didn't take them on campaign. NCOs carried carbines (but not on campaign). Different coloured sword knots were used to designate the batteries.

Tactics. The most dominant points on the battlefield were to be occupied with the heaviest field pieces. Their fire was concentrated on enemy columns and their deployment, beginning at long ranges. From such a position the enemy can be kept under fire for the time of his approach, and be held up while crossing obstacles. Such positions must be defended hard, down to the use of canister. The lighter pieces were to support the infantry and/or cavalry. In battle the intervals between guns was approx. 12-20 paces apart. The Reglament of 1812 hardly mentioned moving and deploying several batteries at once, and this was considered one of its weaknesses. When several batteries were deployed in line they were required to maintain an interval of 50 paces between each battery. The ammunition wagons were drawn up in two lines, first stood 20 paces to the rear of the guns. The second line stood 10 paces to the rear of the first line of the wagons. To move distances of less than 100 paces, the gunners preferred to tow the cannons with the prolonge rather than limber up. General von Clausewitz was not too happy with the tactical use of Prussian artillery. He wrote: "We keep too much artillery in reserve, and we replace a battery whenever it has used up all its powder and shot; as a consequence, many batteries try to get rid of their ammunition quickly."

Ammunition The ammunition was carried in limbers and caissons. The Prussian limbers and caissons was bigger than French limbers and caissons. The Prussian battery had only 4 but larger caissons, and 2 rack wagons, while the French battery had 12-18 smaller caissons. In battle the limbers were not far away from the cannons/howitzers so the ammunition was readily available to the battery. The Prussian caissons were deployed up to 50 m behind the limbers. (Organizationally some caissons were within the batteries and others were in the munitions 'park columns'.) Additionally the boxes with ammunition could be off-loaded from the limber and carried to the guns. The spare wheels and carriages were carried in so-called rack wagons. The 6pdr foot battery (6 6pdr cannons and 2 howitzers) had 2 cannon caissons, 2 howitzer caissons and 2 rack wagons. The 12pdr foot battery had 6 cannon caissons, 4 howitzer caissons and 2 rack wagons. The horse battery had 4 cannon caissons, 2 howitzer caissons and 2 rack wagons. The guns supplied by Great Britain arrived with sufficient ammunition, but I don't know if there was sufficient ammunition for the captured French pieces. In 1815 the ammunition wagons - at least for the 18th and 19th Horse Battery - were French. ~ Ammunition ~ Gun in trail chest in limber in caisson FOOT ARTILLERY 6pdr cannon 9 cannonballs 3 canister 45 cannonballs 25 canister 143 cannonballs 45 canister 12pdr cannon no trail chest 12 cannonballs 9 canister 70 cannonballs 25 canister 7pdr howitzer 6 shells 4 canister 14 shells 6 canister 60 shells 20 canister 2 illuminating projectiles 3 incendiary shells 10pdr howitzer no trail chest 4 shells 1 canister 36 shells 8 canister 2 illuminating projectiles 2 incendiary shells HORSE ARTILLERY 6pdr cannon 9 cannonballs 3 canister 45 cannonballs 15 canister 90 cannonballs 25 canister 7pdr howitzer 6 shells 4 canister 14 shells 6 canister 60 shells 20 canister 2 illuminating projectiles 3 incendiary shells

. "Frederick the Great's Engineer Corps had been weak in both training and performance. He attempted to rectify this by increasing its pay and prestige, and a formal structure was established. In 1788 an Engineers' Academy was opened." Hofschroer - "Prussian Staff ..." p 18 Engineers. The engineers carried swords with a saw blade, only the sergent-major and ensign had ordinary sabers. Smoothbore carabines with bayonets, and small cartridge pouches for 15 cartridges. In addition they carried hatchets, pickaxes, axes, comapass saws and spades. The engineers formed an independent corps. Commander of the Ingenieur-Corps until 1813 was General-Major von Scharnhorst, from 1813-1815 was General-Major von Rauch. The were three companies of pioneers for fortresses (Festungs-Pionier-Kompanien). In 1812 a fourth company was formed. In wartime from these companies were to be formed field companies. Each field company consisted of: . . . . . . . . . . 2 officers, 1 surgeon . . . . . . . . . . 1 sergeant-major . . . . . . . . . . 1 armourer . . . . . . . . . . 6 NCOs . . . . . . . . . . 12 privates first class . . . . . . . . . . 1 bugler . . . . . . . . . . 40 sappers and 20 miners. These men should be replaced in the fortress companies by recruits or reservists. By August 1813 there were 7 field and 6 fortress companies of pioneers. In October 1813 in the Elbe province from 800 miners was formed the Mansfelder Pionier Batallion (4 companies). The companies acted independently and were assigned to different army corps. In early 1815 there were 9 field and 8 fortress companies of pioneers. There were also 4 field companies of Mansfelder Pionier Batallion. In April General Rauch, Chief-of-Engineers for the Army, stipulated that every army corps would take the field with 2 pioneer companies. This was however unrealistic target and the army corps ended up with just one company each. There were no senior engineer or pioneer officers at army headquarters, only one engineer, Kapitan Vigny, serving as a staff officer plus a small topographical section. All the engineer-officers (Ingenieur-Offiziere) were on the same rank list, but organised in 3 "brigades". These officers were either attached to the field or fortress pioneer companies. Each of the pre-1813 brigades also had an engineer-officer attached for teaching purposes. The Guard Pioneer Detachment (Garde-Pionier-Abtheilung) was formed in 1816, not before. Note: the regimental pioneers belonged to their respective (infantry) regiments and had nothing to do with the engineers.

Sources and Links.

Hofschroer - "Prussian Staff and Specialist Troops 1791-1815"
Craig - "The Germans"
Duffy - "Frederick the Great"
Adkin - "The Waterloo Companion"
Petre - "Napoleon’s Conquest of Prussia 1806"
Simms - "The Struggle for Mastery in Germany"
Oliver Schmidt
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