French naval piece of the late 19th century

Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the effective range of personal weapons. These engines comprise specialised devices which use some form of stored energy to operate, whether mechanical, chemical, or electromagnetic. Originally designed to breach fortifications, they have evolved from nearly static installations intended to reduce a single obstacle to highly mobile weapons of great flexibility in which now reposes the greater portion of a modern army's offensive capabilities.

In common speech the word artillery is often used to refer to individual devices, together with their accessories and fittings, although these assemblages are more properly referred to as equipments. By association, artillery may also refer to the arm of service that customarily operates such engines.

Artillery may also refer to a system of applied scientific research relating to the design, manufacture and employment of artillery weapon systems although, in general, the terms ballistics and ordnance are more commonly employed in this sense.

Artillery is by far the deadliest and most effective form of land-based armament; in the Napoleonic Wars, World War I and World War II the vast majority of combat deaths were caused by artillery.^[1] In 1944, Joseph Stalin said in a speech that artillery was "the God of War".^[1]

Overview[link]

French soldiers in the Franco-Prussian War 1870-71.

Although not called as such, machines recognizable as artillery have been employed in warfare since antiquity. The first references in the western historical tradition may be those of Hero of Alexandria c. 1st century AD/CE, but these devices were widely employed by the Roman Legions in Republican times well before the Christian era. Through much of their early history artillery was treated as part of the engineering art because the devices were often constructed mostly of local materials whenever needed and not permanently assembled. Until the introduction of gunpowder into western warfare artillery depended upon mechanical energy to operate and this severely limited the range and size of projectiles while also requiring the construction of very large apparatus to store sufficient energy.

For much of artillery's history during the Middle Ages and the Early modern period, artillery pieces on land were moved with the assistance of horse teams. During the more recent Modern era and in the Post-Modern period the artillery crew has used wheeled or tracked vehicles as a mode of transportation. Artillery used by naval forces has changed significantly also, with missiles replacing guns in surface warfare.

Over the course of military history, projectiles were manufactured from a wide variety of materials, made in a wide variety of shapes, and used different means of inflicting physical damage and casualties to defeat specific types of targets. The engineering designs of the means of delivery have likewise changed significantly over time, and have become some of the most complex technological application today.

In some armies, the weapon of artillery is the projectile, not the piece that fires it. The process of delivering fire onto the target is called gunnery. The actions involved in operating the piece are collectively called "serving the gun" or "detachment" by the gun crew, constituting either direct or indirect artillery fire. The manner in which artillery units or formations are employed is called artillery support, and may at different periods in history refer to weapons designed to be fired from ground, sea, and even air-based weapons platforms.

Although the term also describes soldiers and sailors with the primary function of using artillery weapons, the individuals who operate them are called gunners whatever their rank, however 'gunner' is the lowest rank in artillery arms. There is no generally recognised generic term for a gun, howitzer, mortar, and so forth: some armies use 'artillery piece', while others use 'gun'. The projectiles fired are typically either 'shot' (if solid) or 'shell' if not. Shell is a widely used generic term for a projectile, which is a component of munitions.

The term 'artillery' is also applied to a combat arm of most military services when used organizationally to describe units and formations of the national armed forces that operate the weapons.

5-person gun crew firing a US M777 Light Towed Howitzer, War in Afghanistan, 2009.

The gunners and their guns are usually grouped in teams called either 'crews' or 'detachments'. Several such crews and teams with other functions are combined into a unit of artillery usually called a battery, although sometimes called a company. Batteries are roughly equivalent to a company in the infantry, and are combined into larger military organizations for administrative and operational purpose.

During military operations the role of field artillery is to provide close support to other arms in combat or to attack targets. The latter role is typically achieved by delivering either high explosive munitions to inflict casualties on the enemy from casing fragments and other debris and blast, or by demolition of enemy positions, equipment and vehicles. Fire may be directed by an artillery observer or called onto map coordinates.

Military doctrine has played a significant influence on the core engineering design considerations of artillery ordnance through its history, in seeking to achieve a balance between delivered volume of fire with ordnance mobility. However, during the modern period the consideration of protecting the gunners also arose due to the late-19th century introduction of the new generation of infantry weapons using conoidal bullet, better known as the Minié ball, with a range almost as long as that of field artillery.

The gunners' increasing proximity to and participation in direct combat against other combat arms and attacks by aircraft made the introduction of a gun shield necessary. The problems of how to employ a fixed or horse towed gun in mobile warfare necessitated the development of new methods of transporting the artillery into combat. Two distinct forms of artillery developed: the towed gun, which was used primarily to attack or defend a fixed line; and the self-propelled gun, which was designed to accompany a mobile force and provide continuous fire support. These influences have guided the development of artillery ordnance, systems, organisations, and operations until the present, with artillery systems capable of providing support at ranges from as little as 100 m to the intercontinental ranges of ballistic missiles. The only combat in which artillery is unable to take part in is close quarters combat.

Etymology[link]

The word as used in the current context originated in the Middle Ages. One suggestion is that it comes from the Old French atellier meaning "to arrange", and attillement meaning "equipment".

From the 13th Century an artillier referred to a builder of any war equipment, and for the next 250 years the sense of the word "artillery" covered all forms of military weapons. Hence the naming of the Honourable Artillery Company an essentially infantry unit until the 19th Century. Another suggestion is that comes from the Italian arte de tirare (art of shooting) coined by one of the first theorists on the use of artillery, Niccolo Tartaglia.

History[link]

Roman mechanical artillery (click on picture for detailed descriptions)

Mechanical systems used for throwing ammunition in ancient warfare, also known as "engines of war", like the catapult, onager, trebuchet, and ballista, are also referred to by military historians as artillery.^[2]

High Middle Ages – gunpowder[link]

The first documented record of artillery with gunpowder propellant used on the battlefield was on January 28, 1132, when General Han Shizhong of the Song Dynasty used escalade and Huochong to capture a city in Fujian.^[3] These small, crude weapons diffused into the Middle East (the madfaa) and reached Europe in the 13th Century, in a very limited manner.

In Asia, Mongols adopted the Chinese artillery and used it effectively in the great conquest. By late 14th century, Chinese rebels used organized artillery and cavalry to push Mongols out.

As small smoothbore tubes these were initially cast in iron or bronze around a core, with the first drilled bore ordnance recorded in operation near Seville in 1247.^{[citation needed]} They fired lead, iron, or stone balls, sometimes large arrows and on occasions simply handfuls of whatever scrap came to hand. During the Hundred Years' War, these weapons became more common, initially as the bombard and later the cannon. Cannon were always muzzle-loaders. While there were many early attempts at breech-loading designs, a lack of engineering knowledge rendered these even more dangerous to use than muzzle-loaders.

15th century[link]

French gunner in the 15th century, a 1904 illustration.

The Austrian Pumhart von Steyr, the earliest extant supergun.^[4]

In 1415, the Portuguese invaded the Mediterranean port town of Ceuta. While it is difficult to confirm the use of firearms in the siege of the city, it is known the Portuguese defended it thereafter with firearms, namely bombardas, colebratas, and falconetes. In 1419, Sultan Abu Sa'id led an army to reconquer the fallen city, and Moroccans brought cannons and used them in the assault on Ceuta. Finally, hand-held firearms and riflemen appear in Morocco, in 1437, in an expedition against the people of Tangiers.^{[5][page needed]} It is clear these weapons had developed into several different forms, from small guns to large artillery pieces.

The artillery revolution in Europe caught on during the Hundred Years' War and changed the way that battles were fought. In the following year, the English used a gunpowder weapon in a military campaign against the Scottish. However, at this time, the cannons used in battle were very small and not particularly powerful. Cannons were only useful for the defense of a castle, as demonstrated at Breteuil in 1356, when the besieged English used a cannon to destroy an attacking French assault tower. By the end of the 14th Century, cannon were only powerful enough to knock in roofs, and could not penetrate castle walls.

However, a major change occurred between 1420–1430, when artillery became much more powerful and could now batter strongholds and fortresses quite efficiently. The English, French, and Burgundians all advanced in military technology, and as a result the traditional advantage that went to the defense in a siege was lost. The cannon during this period were elongated, and the recipe for gunpowder was improved to make it three times as powerful as before.^[6] These changes led to the increased power in the artillery weapons of the time.

Joan of Arc encountered gunpowder weaponry several times. When she led the French against the English at the Battle of Tourelles, in 1430, she faced heavy gunpowder fortifications, and yet her troops prevailed in that battle. In addition, she led assaults against the English-held towns of Jargeau, Meung, and Beaugency, all with the support of large artillery units. When she led the assault on Paris, Joan faced stiff artillery fire, especially from the suburb of St. Denis, which ultimately led to her defeat in this battle. In April 1430, she went to battle against the Burgundians, whose support was purchased by the English. At this time, the Burgundians had the strongest and largest gunpowder arsenal among the European powers, and yet the French, under Joan of Arc's leadership, were able to beat back the Burgundians and defend themselves.^[7] As a result, most of the battles of the Hundred Years' War that Joan of Arc participated in were fought with gunpowder artillery.