THE ARTILLERY OF A FIELD ARMY; ITS FUNCTIONS.
The artillery assigned to a field army should be of such mobility, power, variety and number as to insure the success of its purpose and to enable this success to be gained with the minimum of casualties. The latter point must receive careful consideration in studies of organization, for without adequate artillery preparation and support the successes of the most gallant infantry can in a series of actions become little more than pyrrhic victories. Many actions of our divisions in France resulted in casualties whose numbers decreased in proportion to the number of guns with which divisions were supported. The proportion of guns to the thousand gross strength of infantry, cavalry, and machine guns adopted by the armies of the first class powers before the opening of the present European War in 1914 was:
British, 6.8; French, 4.6; German, 6.4; American 3.2 (Greble Board).
During the war this proportion was constantly increased until at the close under conditions of position or entrenched warfare it was between 8 and 12 per thousand; this varied of course with the activity in different sectors. In quiet sectors and under conditions of maneuver, or open warfare, which necessitated leaving much artillery behind, it was about 6 per thousand.
A program of types of artillery weapons should be founded on the object and the means—that is, the destruction of the target and the projectile to accomplish this. In the study of an artillery program there are two methods of approaching the subject. First, by starting with a minimum weight of projectile and working up to a reasonable maximum, according to some law and taking the corresponding calibers, a theoretical series of guns and howitzers can be expressed. For instance, if the law be doubling the weight of the projectile the series of types could be:
| Projectile of | 13 | pounds, caliber | 3”. |
| Projectile of | 26 | pounds, caliber | 4”. |
| Projectile of | 52 | pounds, caliber | 5”. |
| Projectile of | 104 | pounds, caliber | 6”. |
| Projectile of | 208 | pounds, caliber | 8”. |
| Projectile of | 416 | pounds, caliber | 10”. |
| Projectile of | 832 | pounds, caliber | 12”. |
| Projectile of | 1664 | pounds, caliber | 14”. |
The second and more logical method, and one followed in our service, is to consider the artillery missions and determine the types best suited irrespective of any theoretical series of weights and calibers. However, in the discussion of artillery missions and the proper types for their fulfillment there is a remarkable degree of unanimity of thought on these subjects; and the above table actually contains, with slight variations, the types that are most strongly recommended. While granting the great variety of artillery missions that often shade into each other, it is believed that they can best be considered in three great classes that follow the tactical composition of a field army: those of division, corps and army artillery.