Discussion Artillery Battery TO&E

Zack

First Sergeant
Joined
Aug 20, 2017
Location
Los Angeles, California
I'm using a term that post-dates the Civil War, but I've been trying to draw up a list of all of the soldiers, cannons, wagons, and animals that would be in an artillery battery.

Obviously the short answer to everything is "it depends on which side and at what point in the war" but for my purposes I'm looking at a generic Union battery that's lucky enough to have the correct allotment of men and officers.

I've included the current mock-up below, but have a few specific questions:

How many wagons were attached to a battery? I read somewhere 3 wagons plus 1 battery wagon. How many drivers/teamsters were included? were all the wagons excluding the battery wagon pulled my mules?

Amongst the chief of section, how many were 1st Lieutenants and how many 2nd?

Was the caisson considered separate from an artillery platoon? Digging through the manual it always says just "one gun and limber."

Who was mounted?

How many men were attached to the caissons? The list I have right now only includes the drivers and the Chief of the Line of Caissons. Were any soldiers permanently attached to the caissons alongside the chief (like the number 6 and number 7 man on a limber with the corporal?) Would it be the spare men?

Anything else that looks incorrect below.

Here is what I have so far:

6x Platoon = 13 men, 1 gun, and 1 limber
-Chief of the Piece – Sergeant; Mounted
-Gunner - Corporal
-Number 1 Man – Private
-Number 2 Man – Private
-Number 3 Man – Private
-Number 4 Man – Private
-Number 5 Man – Private
-Number 6 Man – Private
-Number 7 Man – Private
-Number 8 Man / Chief of Caisson – Corporal
-Limber Driver – Private
-Limber Driver – Private
-Limber Driver – Private
-6 Horses

Chief of Section x3 = 1st​ or 2nd​ Lieutenant; Mounted
-Each Section is 2 Platoons

Chief of the Line of Caissons = 2nd​ Lieutenant; Mounted
-There are 6 caissons and 6 limbers
-18x Caisson Driver – Private
-36x Horses

Battery Commander = Captain; Mounted

2x Buglers or Trumpeters – Privates; mounted

1x Guidon; mounted

1x Sergeant-Major / First Sergeant à Orderly Sergeant

1x Quartermaster-Sergeant
-1x Battery Wagon and 1x Limber
--6 horses
--3x Drivers
-3 Wagons
--3x Teamsters
--12x Mules

1 Battery Forge + Limber
-3x Limber Driver - Private
-2-3x Artificers and Farriers
-6x Horses

10 Spare Men
 
I spent some time addressing that issue. I wrote it out in an article where I tried to bring together a lot of the basics of CW field artillery. If you PM me with an email address I'll send you a PDF should you be interested. You're close.
 
Looks like you got a good start, but there are a lot of variables. This may help answer a few of your questions.
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I spent some time addressing that issue. I wrote it out in an article where I tried to bring together a lot of the basics of CW field artillery. If you PM me with an email address I'll send you a PDF should you be interested. You're close.
Take him up on it, it's an excellent article.
 
I spent some time addressing that issue. I wrote it out in an article where I tried to bring together a lot of the basics of CW field artillery. If you PM me with an email address I'll send you a PDF should you be interested. You're close.
Dumb user question - if one wants to PM you is that the "start a conversation" link?
 
from the field artillery manual:


Organization of a 6-pdr Mounted Battery for War

Captain: 1
Lieutenants: 4 - Commanding Sections and Caissons
Staff Sergeants: 2 - First Sargent and Quartermaster Sargent
Sergeants: 6 - Chiefs of Pieces
Corporals: 12 - Gunners and Chiefs of Caissons
Artificers: 6
Buglers: 2
Drivers: 52
Cannoneers: 70

Total of 5 Officers, 150 men.

A 12-pdr Battery ( per regulation) would have 6 additional caissons - 18 drivers.

it is not possible to determine how many men would be assigned per caisson, other than 3 drivers and a Corporal. - for the 6-pdr battery, there would be 6 chiefs of Caissons, but for a 12-pdr, would each be in charge of 1 or 2 caissons? and how many men were assigned to a caisson other than the drivers? Looking at the instructions for servicing the piece from the caisson it appears that the cannoneers are the ones that do the work. This would imply that the caissons would only have the 3 drivers and a Corporal. Also, in the section regarding marches, it states “The detachments should be told off into two parties, one for the piece, the other for the caisson, in order to give their assistance in holding on, or when-ever it may be required on the march”.


also noted:“in batteries of horse artillery, two men and twelve horses per piece (one horse spare) are required in addition to the members listed in the table”

regarding Horses:

12-pdr Mounted Battery

Draught Horses
Guns: 36
Caissons:72
Battery Wagon: 6
Traveling Forge: 6
Spare: 10

Saddle Horses:
Sergeants: 8
Artificers: 6
Buglers: 2
Spare: 2

Total Horses: 149

Notice something missing? No horses for the Officers for a mounted battery. Did the Officers have to provide their own horses or were they expected to march with the men? Also, it is noted in the section regarding marches:“Artificers should always be carried on a march, as their duties commence when that of the other men may be said to end, and, if fatigued with marching they cannot be expected to work with alacrity or efficiency, however willing”

For Horse artillery, an additional 77 horses are required for a total of 226.
 
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