THE EVOLUTION OF ARTILLERY AND ENGINEERS
The early history of the Engineers and the Artillery in England may be
traced in the continued existence, from the Conqueror to Henry VIII.,
of a high official called in Latin documents the King’s _Ingeniator_,
because he had charge of _Engines_ of War (Latin _ingenium_). About
1300 the _Ingeniator_ (or _Engyneor_, as he was called in English,
from the Old French _Engineur_) became styled _Attilator_ (probably a
slovenly rendering of _Artillator_), from the fact that, having charge
of the engines of war, he naturally took over the latest form of them,
the new invention of _artillery_. This word is derived from the French
_artillerie_, which meant the art of the _artilleur_, or _articulier_,
from _articularius_, or the man who handled _articula_, the _articles_
or the “_things_,” as the newly invented guns began by being styled,
that word being a diminutive of _art-em_, _art_.
THE ARTILLERY
The word _artillery_ meant in the sixteenth century the guns used by
the _artilleur_, but did not denote the Arm of the Service till the
end of the next century, before which time Artillery had hardly an
independent existence, but formed merely a portion of the train, or
mass of vehicles which followed an army.
GUNS
Cannon were at first used in fortresses during the fifteenth century,
soon after the invention of gunpowder. They were soon mounted on
wheels, and then provided with trunnions and a trail. They seem to have
been first brought into the field by the Hussites in Bohemia, and then
in the French invasion of Italy in 1496. The French added the limber
to carry the trail on the march, and thus finally gave guns the form
they still have. In the mid-sixteenth century the armies of three great
monarchs, the Emperor Charles V., Francis I. of France, and Henry VIII.
of England, possessed a train of cannon for the field.
At this epoch there were many descriptions of mobile guns of various
calibres: the heavy, 42- and 24-pounders, for siege purposes chiefly,
were drawn by several yoke of oxen; the lighter ones, for use in the
field, fired 2, 4, or 6 pound shot, and were drawn by horses in single
file. The drivers, till the end of the eighteenth century, walked on
foot beside their horses, carrying carters’ whips, and were civilians,
hired with their teams from the country. To keep them from running
away, the train of guns and wagons carrying ammunition were under an
escort of Infantry, who were only much later used for protection of
the guns.
The working of the gun, and its technical mysteries, were in the hands
of the _Master Gunner_, with his _Gunner_ and two assistants for each
gun. In England these gentry were apart from the army, and solely
controlled by the _Master-General of the Ordnance_, as the Artillery
and the nearly related Engineers remained down to our own time.
Maurice, about 1600, did away with the great variety of guns which
existed, and retained four different calibres only, so as to facilitate
the supply of shot. Gustavus, a little later, introduced lighter guns,
and cartridges for the powder, which till then had been carried loose
in barrels. But his main innovation was the allotment of two light
guns to each Infantry Battalion, for action in the intervals between
Regiments, an organization retained in most armies till the end of
the eighteenth century. These “Battalion guns” were drawn by one or
two horses, or by men when under fire, and were often served by the
Infantry they were attached to. He used the heavier guns in masses on
the wings and in the centre; but no Battery organization came in till
late in the eighteenth century. In France, under Louis XIV., the step
was taken of creating a Regiment of Artillery, formed of Gunners and
Artificers, the Drivers being still hired. This idea was partially
copied in England, where the Artillery was organized into a Military
Corps in 1716. Other armies formed Companies of Artillery, but had no
Regimental organization till much later.
Shells were first used in the field about 1700, they fired from what
were called _Hautbitzers_, now _Howitzers_, a Czech word taken from
Zisca’s organization of the Hussite hosts in Bohemia long before.
Grapeshot was also invented; but solid shot was the projectile of
Artillery down to the introduction of General Shrapnel’s shell in the
British Artillery about 1810, followed much later by the universal
adoption of shell fire for field guns. Another invention, Congreve’s
rocket, was partially adopted in the English service before the battle
of Waterloo.
In the middle of the eighteenth century Frederick the Great made
considerable progress in Artillery organization, although the material
was unchanged. He increased the number of guns till he had 5 or 6 to
every 1,000 Infantry, which is to-day the proportion thought desirable.
In 1759 he formed a light Battery with gunners mounted, so as to keep
up with Cavalry. This Horse Artillery was eventually adopted by the
Austrians in 1783, and by the French and British in the Revolutionary
Wars. Frederick abolished Battalion Guns, and grouped them in permanent
Batteries, the germ of modern _Field Batteries_, although drivers were
not mounted, or made into soldiers, till near the end of the century.
The heavier guns were still dragged by horses in single file, led by
civilian drivers on foot, and were called “Guns of position.” They were
generally formed in four masses--centre, wings, and reserve. After the
Seven Years’ War these guns were everywhere formed into _Batteries_
of uniform calibre, which in France were called _Divisions_, and
manned by one Company of the Artillery Regiment. The teams began to be
harnessed in pairs, with the drivers mounted on the near horse. The
modern battery system was thus introduced, and may be said to have been
adopted in every army towards the end of the eighteenth century, when
battalion guns were abolished. Batteries began to be brigaded by threes
or fours during the early part of the nineteenth century.
In England and France, about 1800, a corps of drivers for Artillery was
formed, in which for the first time drivers had uniform and discipline;
but these corps were abolished after 1820, and the drivers became an
integral part of the Artillery.
In Austria and Prussia, Batteries were allotted to _Infantry Brigades_,
a system which was kept up in Prussia till after Waterloo, and in
Austria till after the war of 1866. In France, during the Revolutionary
Wars, the Batteries were allotted to _Divisions_, in the way which
still holds. There was always, in addition, a mass of guns styled the
_Reserve Artillery_, which we find during the Napoleonic Wars, and down
to the campaign of 1870. By that time it had been converted in the
Prussian Army into _Corps Artillery_, an arrangement which all other
armies have since copied. About 1900, however, the Corps Artillery was
abolished in Germany, and its batteries distributed to the Divisions.
THE EVOLUTION OF THE ENGINEERS
The name and calling of the Engineer is traceable through English
history in the existence of the King’s _Engynour_, as mentioned at
the commencement of this chapter. He had charge of what we now call
Engineer Works, as well as of the Artillery. Both these Services were,
up to the Stuart times, mainly connected with fortresses and sieges;
but the first and the third King Edwards had with their field armies
a corps of _Military Artificers_, and Henry VIII. formed a body of
_Pioneers_ for work in the field. These were artisans, either specially
recruited, or taken from the ranks of the Infantry, as Pioneers
still are. The body was commanded by a Captain of Pioneers, who was
practically an Engineer Officer. He and his men formed part of the
field force, and were Field Engineers.
From this time onwards, the Pioneers are identified with the field
operations of an army, while individual Engineer Officers were attached
to the Staff. The latter were formed into the Corps of Royal Engineers
in 1772. This system, which differentiated between Pioneer men
commanded by Engineer Officers, and individual Engineer Officers on the
Staff, is exactly that which still exists in the German Army.
A Corps of Military Artificers was formed in 1770, and became the
_Corps of Sappers and Miners_ in 1780. It was constantly used in the
field, especially in the sieges in the Peninsula and in the Crimea,
after which it became merged with the Engineer Officers into the Corps
of Royal Engineers.
The developments of science applied to war, such as railways,
telegraphs, and balloons, the importance of mobility for modern armies,
which entails much road-making and bridging work, and the increased
demand for field works in the attack, as well as on the defensive, have
greatly increased the demand for Engineers with Forces in the field.
It may be pointed out that the Military Engineer existed for centuries
before the _civil engineer_, who is a nineteenth-century offshoot of
his military colleague, named after him, and not vice versa, as is
sometimes imagined. The _civil engineer_ was so called because, like
the Engineer, he dealt with tools, machinery, and works, but only for
civil purposes.