Heavy Artillery vs. Light Artillery Regiments

HeftyLefty04

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Apr 2, 2019
I have only recently started delving into research of artillery during the war, so please forgive the rookie question. What was the dividing line between the classifications of "light artillery" and "heavy artillery" in the organization of artillery regiments? Were 3, 6, and 12 pound guns considered to be "light" and all larger guns/Howitzers considered to be "heavy?" Obviously mortars and the like would be considered heavy artillery, but I am confused as to the classifications for the specific smoothbores/rifles used.
 
Usually the cut-off for field guns later in the War was 20#ers as anything above that was too heavy to move easily and these heavier guns were considered siege guns and part of what was called a siege train. Heavy guns were also those larger guns in fixed fortifications.
 
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Not a hard or fast rule but the artillery, excluding navy, mountain howitzers and odd shots: three types, heavy, field and light. Heavy mans forts. Guns are unwieldy and tend to have to be broken down a reassembled in a prepared position. Field is as it says, filed artillery, horse drawn. Light can be same caliber as field. Sometimes it's just a name preference between the last two. Sometimes light is so called because all members are mounted. Sorry if that was confusing. Somebody may come up with a rule book on it, but except for the heavy/siege artillery light and field can be at times interchangeable.
 
Light artillery would be the smaller guns that can be easily moved such as guns that traveled with cavalry.
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Field guns would be the ones that travel in groups of batteries with a brigade or division.
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And of course the siege and fortifications guns that wern't easily moved.
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It's true, you almost need a dance card to keep the distinctions straight.

Generally speaking, light artillery included both field artillery and horse artillery. The distinction is in their respective missions. Field artillery supported the infantry; only the drivers rode horses. Horse artillery supported the cavalry; the cannoneers were mounted because they had to keep up with their supported arm. A 20-pound Parrott was about the largest/heaviest gun associated with field artillery.

Heavy artillery is also organized based upon its missions (garrison and siege) and both could also be referred to as foot artillery. Originally, before the war, garrison artillery served in various seacoast fortifications to protect harbors and coastal cities. Once the war began, they served elsewhere; the defenses of Washington, for example. The ordnance associated with garrison artillery could be quite immoveable - 100 pound Rodman guns.

Siege artillery was a bit different and ordnance was not quite as big, simply because it had to be mobile enough to accompany an army into the field. McClellan's Peninsula s some pretty good descriptions of the use of siege artillery that included mortars as well as heavy guns.
 
as a general rule, guns under 3,000 lb ( not including carriage) would be considered Field Artillery. The smallest size siege/heavy artillery gun was the 12-pdr Siege gun, which weighed 3,500 lb. ( although it was decided that a 12-pdr was too small to be effective as a siege gun, and very few were actually produced).
 
Shiloh and Corinth are good examples of the use of field and heavy artillery.

At the battle of Shiloh McAllister's Battery "D", 1st Illinois Light Artillery operated with four 24-pounder howitzers. These were later considered too heavy for field use; it was not necessarily the weight of the barrel (about 1,300 lbs), but also the logistics of keeping limbers filled. These were the largest field batteries used in the battle on either side.

Also at Shiloh was Madison's Battery "B" 2nd Illinois Light Artillery. They had been designated to serve as siege artillery for the upcoming advance on Corinth, MS. On the morning of April 6 they had five 24-pounder siege guns and an 8-inch siege howitzer. The 24-pounder guns were extremely heavy (3,350 lb barrel) and were pulled by up to ten yoke of oxen (20 oxen). The guns were man handled to the top of the bluff and served as a nucleus for a line of artillery at the end of the first day. As for their 8-inch siege howitzer, it was taken out on to the field on April 7th and served as a field gun...firing 64 pound projectiles!

The Siege of Corinth (April 29-May 30, 1862) included the a battalion of the 1st U.S. Infantry who were also designated as siege artillery. Regular infantry serving as heavy artillery! They had six 30-pounder Parrot rifles, three 8-inch siege howitzers and two 12-pounder Wiard rifles. On the 28th of May the 1st Infantry fired three rounds from one of the 30-pounders which hit on target at the rail crossing 2 1/2 miles away. These were their first shots fired with the weapons. As for field artillery, between the five armies engaged there were 108 field batteries. The Confederates had a small number of siege weapons to defend the city, the largest being a 24lb rifle.

During the battle of Corinth (Oct. 3-4,1862) the 1st Infantry manned three of the seven forts circling the city. The union heavy artillery included eight 30lb Parrots, four 8" siege howitzers, and eight 24lb siege guns. One of the forts (Battery Robinett) had three 20lb Parrotts but these could be found out on the field as well.

There was no horse artillery used during these actions.

Tom
 
Shiloh and Corinth are good examples of the use of field and heavy artillery.

At the battle of Shiloh McAllister's Battery "D", 1st Illinois Light Artillery operated with four 24-pounder howitzers. These were later considered too heavy for field use; it was not necessarily the weight of the barrel (about 1,300 lbs), but also the logistics of keeping limbers filled. These were the largest field batteries used in the battle on either side.

Also at Shiloh was Madison's Battery "B" 2nd Illinois Light Artillery. They had been designated to serve as siege artillery for the upcoming advance on Corinth, MS. On the morning of April 6 they had five 24-pounder siege guns and an 8-inch siege howitzer. The 24-pounder guns were extremely heavy (3,350 lb barrel) and were pulled by up to ten yoke of oxen (20 oxen). The guns were man handled to the top of the bluff and served as a nucleus for a line of artillery at the end of the first day. As for their 8-inch siege howitzer, it was taken out on to the field on April 7th and served as a field gun...firing 64 pound projectiles!

The Siege of Corinth (April 29-May 30, 1862) included the a battalion of the 1st U.S. Infantry who were also designated as siege artillery. Regular infantry serving as heavy artillery! They had six 30-pounder Parrot rifles, three 8-inch siege howitzers and two 12-pounder Wiard rifles. On the 28th of May the 1st Infantry fired three rounds from one of the 30-pounders which hit on target at the rail crossing 2 1/2 miles away. These were their first shots fired with the weapons. As for field artillery, between the five armies engaged there were 108 field batteries. The Confederates had a small number of siege weapons to defend the city, the largest being a 24lb rifle.

During the battle of Corinth (Oct. 3-4,1862) the 1st Infantry manned three of the seven forts circling the city. The union heavy artillery included eight 30lb Parrots, four 8" siege howitzers, and eight 24lb siege guns. One of the forts (Battery Robinett) had three 20lb Parrotts but these could be found out on the field as well.

There was no horse artillery used during these actions.

Tom
Wow! 108 batteries and 5 armies.
Question though how were they divided between the armies?
 
Question though how were they divided between the armies?

Each army had it's own way of dispersing batteries. For instance the Army of the Tennessee had 32 batteries and they were assigned at the division level. The Army of the Mississippi (US) had their 18 batteries assigned at the brigade level. The Army of the Ohio had a mix of the two. As for the two Confederate armies, Army of the Mississippi and the Army of the West, they both controlled the artillery at the brigade level.
 
Some of the volunteer i.e. state heavy artillery regiments started out as infantry and were converted to artillery after reaching Washington, to man the growing defenses of the capital. As @rpkennedy mentioned earlier, they retained infantry equipment and could serve as infantry when needed. A number (around 15?) of heavy regiments were pulled out of Washington to serve as infantry in the Overland campaign of 1864.

My understanding - corrections welcome - is that heavy artillery regiments usually did not have their own artillery but rather manned whatever guns were present where they were assigned. Light and horse artillery on the other hand had their own guns.
 
My understanding - corrections welcome - is that heavy artillery regiments usually did not have their own artillery but rather manned whatever guns were present where they were assigned. Light and horse artillery on the other hand had their own guns.

I agree. A slight caveat to this, however, is "Siege Artillery" units. The two units I mentioned above in Post #9 pulled their weapons with up to ten yoke of oxen per piece during the siege. These heavy weapons, and several more, were later installed in the forts at Corinth, though the same men continued to serve them.

Another unit at Corinth was actually designated as Heavy Artillery, at least for awhile. The 1st Alabama Siege Artillery African Descent, also known as (in order) 1st Tennessee Heavy Artillery A.D., 3rd U.S. Colored Heavy Artillery, 6th U.S. Colored Heavy Artillery, 11th USCT. Five companies were part of the Corinth garrison and manned the heavy guns in several of the batteries. Of the 330 men enlisted at Corinth, 187 became casualties as Fort Pillow.
 
as a general rule, guns under 3,000 lb ( not including carriage) would be considered Field Artillery. The smallest size siege/heavy artillery gun was the 12-pdr Siege gun, which weighed 3,500 lb. ( although it was decided that a 12-pdr was too small to be effective as a siege gun, and very few were actually produced).

And to throw into the mix, some light artillery units operated at times as "Flying Artillery," meaning all the artillerists were mounted so the unit could maneuver as quickly as Cavalry if need be. (To distinguish that from the usual light artillery units, where most cannoneers walked/marched on campaign. In that usual situation the only ones riding on horses, besides the officers, were those on horseback pulling the limbered-up guns or caissons (as articulated wagons). Other artillerists in the unit were assigned to drive the battery wagons, fodder wagons, the A forges and the staff wagons but they used reins from behind, so not mounted.
 
And to throw into the mix, some light artillery units operated at times as "Flying Artillery," meaning all the artillerists were mounted so the unit could maneuver as quickly as Cavalry if need be. (To distinguish that from the usual light artillery units, where most cannoneers walked/marched on campaign. In that usual situation the only ones riding on horses, besides the officers, were those on horseback pulling the limbered-up guns or caissons (as articulated wagons). Other artillerists in the unit were assigned to drive the battery wagons, fodder wagons, the A forges and the staff wagons but they used reins from behind, so not mounted.

They are also referred to in the field artillery manual as "Mounted Artillery" (horses for equipment and Officers), and Horse Artillery (everyone mounted).
 
In addition to manning the artillery within a fort, heavy artillery regiments were also trained as infantrymen to garrison the fort. They were responsible for the complete defense of their position.

Ryan

Indeed. Before the war all but a few companies (not yet batteries) were organized as heavy artillery. I believe most of the artillerists sent to Mexico during the war served as infantry. The artillery company or companies at a fort were the whole garrison and were, effectively, responsible for defense of the city.

At the start of the war, the Regular artillery regiments were largely broken up into batteries and sent into the field, augmented by volunteer batteries. Their places in fortifications and in newly built fortifications were taken by volunteer units, usually infantry redesignated as heavy artillery.

After the war things pretty much returned to the old system, except when more field batteries were needed, until the field artillery and coastal artillery were separated and their missions made permanent.
 
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