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Organization
The organisation of the artillery was centered around the tactical role it was assigned. There were initially three field artillery regiments, a Bombardier Corps of men with additional training, and an Artillery Fusilier Battalion which provided the unskilled labour. A fourth field regiment was created in February 1802, partly from the now-disbanded Artillery Fusiliers, and the number of companies per regiment increased during the period. During the peace of 1806-09 the Austrian army was completely reoganized and the artillery was concentrated as an independent supporting arm after the French style, with the pieces organized into Brigade and Position Batteries. The Brigade Batteries consisted of eight 3pdrs. or 6pdrs. with their caissons and three baggage wagons, and were attached to the infantry brigades for close support. The Position Batteries consisted of either four 6pdrs. and two 7pdr. howitzers, or four 12pdrs. and two 7pdr. howitzers, or four 18pdrs. and two 10pdr. howitzers. These were allocated to Division, Corps and Army reserves respectively. Each had its caissons plus four baggage wagons.
From 1807 the field regiments received territorial designations: 1st Bohemian, 2nd Lower Austrian, 3rd Moravian and 4th Inner Austrian.
In wartime, the artillery regiments were split into small detachments
to serve the 'battalion guns' (Liniengeschutz), attached to each
regiment, with infantrymen providing the untrained artillery labourers;
the gun were usually 3pdrs. The artillery reserve was crewed by
the Bombardier Corps and personnel from the garrison or fortress
artillery; reserve batteries usually comprised four guns and two
howitzers. There were in addition 'cavalry batteries' of light
6pdrs. whose officers and NCOs were mounted but whose gunners
sat astride a caisson or 'Wurst-wagen', and were thus much less
mobile than proper horse artillery
The 'cavalry batteries' could not be called true horse artillery
in the strict sense as, although there were spare horses, not
all the personnel was individually mounted most riding the 'Wurst'
caissons and padded seat of the gun trail. These batteries in
1809 had five 6pdr. and one 7pdr. howitzer with their accompanyiong
caissons, plus three baggage wagons and 24 munition pack-horses
with twelve mounted pack drivers.
Manning these batteries were four regiments of artillery, each of sixteen companies of Kanoniers a company usually manned four batteries. Each company had a full establishment of 187 personnel. The regiment's size was increased by several companies of Handlanger, a company of Bombardiers to man the howitzers, and in a few cases a Feuerwerkscompagnie.
The Transport Fuhrwesen Corps provided teams and drivers for these batteries. Thre Corps was divided into Fuhrwesencorps Artillerie-Bespanungdivision, each of 73 personnel and 180 horses, sufficient to move three batteries. The Fuhrwesecorps allocated to the Horse Artillery had 200 men and 200 horses to move two batteries. The ratio of artillery pieces to men was, at its peak, 3.5 to every one thousand men.
The guns (24, 18, 12, 6 and 3pdrs. 7 and 10pdr. howitzers, mostly bronze) had been superb when introduced in 1753, but had been overtaken in efficiency and striking power by more modern systems, like that of the French.
The allocation of so great a proportion of guns to the infantry meant that concentration of fire by 'massed battery' was almost impossible to achieve, even though as early as 1795 Archduke Charles had written of its utility. In the 1805 campaign, even though the four regiments had 16 companies, each had an establishment of 187 personnel, the establishment was still inadequate, and following the defeat of that year an overhaul was instituted, which at last withdrew most of the 'battalion guns'; and as by so doing the gunners lost their infantry manual labourers, a new Artillerie Handlanger Corps was formed in June 1808 to perform this duty, each Handlanger company being split to provide sufficient untrained crew for three batteries. Throughout the period, the artillery transport service remained a seperate unit, the Fuhrwesencorps or Feuerwerkscompagnie, which was only 'malitarised' in 1808. In 1809 the Transport (Fuhrwesen) Corps provided teams and drivers for these batteries. The corps was divided into Fuhrwesencorps Artillerie-Bespanungdivisin, each of 73 personnel and 180 horses, sufficient to move three batteries. The Fuhrwesencorps allocated to the 'cavalry batteries' had 200 men and 200 horses to move 2 batteries. The ratio of artillery pieces to men was at its peak, 3.5 to every one thousand men. Charles's reforms, accomplished prior to the 1809 campaign, assembled the 'battalion guns' into 8-gun 'brigade batteries', usually deployed at brigade level; the heavier guns were reorganised into 'support' and 'position batteries' of the artillery reserve, the former assigned at divisional or corps level and the latter forming the corps reserve.
Support batteries (Unterstutzungs Batterien), usually consisted of four 6pdrs. and two 7pdr. howitzers; the cavalry batteries (Cavalleriebatterien) of four light 6pdrs. and two short barreled 7pdr. howitzers; and the 'position' batteries usually of four 12pdrs. (occasionally 18 or 6pdrs.) and two 7pdr. howitzers. With the abandoning of the corps system after 1809, the support and position batteries wereconcentrated into a reserve park, and allocated to the Armee Abtheilungen of1813-14 much as to the previous corps, with the 8-gun brigade batteries remaining as before, except the innefective 3pdr. was replaced wherever possible by the 6pdr. These reforms ended the dissipation of fire resulting from the 'battalion guns' system though even after 1809 concentrated or 'massed battery' fire was only recommended, not made compulsory by the regulations.
Barrel colours were brass/bronze polished in barracks but left dull in the field. Iron barrels were normally painted, to protect them from rust; this paint must have worn and burned off very quickly in an action, and the gunners must have spent many 'spare' hours cleaning and re-painting them
