The following table gives the personnel and transport of a battery or ammunition column on war establishment:—
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Commanding officer Batteries. Ammunition Columns. Horse. Field. C Infantry. S-contin. 9-ccntm. 1 4 i- 1 1 12 2 42 49 38 1 4 1 1 12 2 42 60 23 1 4 1 1 12 2 48 60 23 1 2 1 1 12 2 8 23 37 3 1 1 80 1 2 1 1 12 2 8 26- 34 3 1 1 84 Subalterns Officers of ammunition columns Laboratory conductor (officer) . Quartermaster Ensign (aspirant to rank of officer) Non-Commissioned officers . Trumpeters Gunners Drivers Spare men Corporals , Hospital orderly 1 2 li 1 1 5 1 1 5 Collarmalcers and Saddlers Soldiers of the transport train (including officers servants) Total 158 153 159 172 176 i Officers 15 92 100 6 7 92 16 8 7 92 16 10 4 132 22 8 4 140 22 8 i Draught Horses < 1 Eiding Spare Total 213 123 125 166 174 320 rifled guns
For siege purposes the Germans use the 12-centimetre (4 GS inch) bronze gun, firing a 29-Eb shell, and steel and bronze guns of 15 centimetres (6 85 inch) calibre, firing a 54-Bj shell. The mortars used are the 8-inch rifled, and the smooth-bore 15-centimetre. The usual composition of a siege train is 400 guns, viz.:—
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40 of 9-cm. (bronze).
120 of 12-cm. (bronze).
120 of 15-cm. (steel), short
40 of 15-cm. (steel), long.
40 rifled 21-cm. mortars, 40 smooth-bore 15-cm. mortars,—
besides 150 rifled wall pieces.
A 21-cm. shell gun and a 28-cm. rifled mortar are likely to be added to this list soon. Each gun has 508 rounds of ammunition ready for immediate service. The siege trains are 2 in number, and in time of war have 16 ammunition columns attached to each. These columns consist of 46 ammunition waggons, 6 open waggons, a forge, and some baggage and forage carts. Each waggon is adapted for draught for either 4 or 6 horses.
The garrison guns are the 12-centimetre gun in cast-iron and bronze, 15-centimetre, 23-centimetre (9-inch) cast-iron howitzer and heavy guns for garrison, coast, and naval purposes, ranging from 7-inch to 13-inch calibre. The Prussian artillery is breech-loading, and three systems are employed in the closing of the breech, viz., that of Wahren- dorf, or the " piston" arrangement (KolbenverscJduss) that of Kreiner, or the "wedge" system (Keilversclduss) and the Krupp system, or cylmdro-prismatic wedge (Rundkeilver- sclduss). The first dates from 1861 ; the second system has been applied to land guns since 1864; the third is, in slightly varying forms, applied to all the most recently manufactured guns. The siege carriages have a peculiar arrangement of iron supports on the cheeks, by means of which the gun is enabled to fire over the parapet. The foot or garrison artillery has recently been reorganised into 30 battalions, counting 122 batteries or companies. The number of regiments is 19, but the number of battalions in a regiment varies. The garrison artillery is separated from the field artillery, and is specially attached to the army territorial commands, and officers can only be transferred from one branch to the other by special permission.
The Austrian artillery is divided into field, garrison, and technical artillery.
The field artillery consists of 13 regiments, having Field their permanent headquarters in Prague, Olmiitz, Komorn, art i llei 7- Josephstadt, Pesth (2), Gratz, Vienna (2), Lemberg, Neustadt, Laibach, Temesvar. Each regiment comprises six 8-pounder and four 4-pounder field batteries, three 4-pounder horse batteries, one depot battery, and five or six ammunition columns.
Three batteries are attached to each infantry division, and three form the corps artillery, one battery being detached to the cavalry. In peace time a battery has only four guns and two ammunition waggons horsed; on war footing they have eight guns and eight waggons each drawn by four horses in the 4-pounder field batteries, and by six horses in the others. The guns are 4 and 8-pounder bronze rifled guns, having calibres of 3 and 3 9 inches, and firing 8-lb and 14-tt> shell respectively.
Steel B.L. guns of the Prussian type are, however, being gradually brought into the service, the M.L. system being definitely abandoned. The carriages are double cheeked or bracketed like the Prussian. A box to hold case is fixed on the trail about halfway between the breech of the gun and the point of the trail, and adapted to form a seat. The projectiles are common shell, shrapnel, incen diary shell, and case. As in the Prussian artillery, the percussion fuze is alone used with common shell, and time fuzes for shrapnel. The peace and war establishments of batteries and ammunition columns, and the number of rounds carried, are shown in the following tables:—
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Peace Establishment. Var Establishment. 4-pr. Batt. K ^ P. Cadres. 4-pr. Batt. Battery. Ammun. Cols. o 1*1 a Anunun. Cols. c. C 2
t_i o M t r cc P. O c? 4. 5. 1 3 1 2 4 G 1 14 4G 25 i i 2 4 G 1 14 4G SI 1 3 1 2 4 G 1 14 50 1 "3 4 5 1 12 1 4 5 1 10 G 1 3 1 2 4 8 2 1G 65 GO 4 3 1 1 3 1 2 4 8 2 16 65 80 4 3 1 1 3 1 2 4 8 1C 80 4 3 1 4 [* 3 3 Subalterns Cadet Artificers 8 8 1C 20 90 70 6 3 1 3 2 6 1 8 47 93 3 3 1 3 2 i", 1 8 52 108 3 1 3 2 C 1 8 57 113 3 1 Conductors of car-) 4 1 1 4 1 1 4 1 1 6 G Shoeing -smiths ) and farriers ...(" Saddler and Col-i lar maker j Total 01 115 19 24 4 119 19 24 4 37 41 170 19 84 6 190 19 120 8 200 19 ]20 8 230 19 84 6 170 10 124 4 28 190 10 154 4 28 200 10 172 4 40 Horses : Officers 19 1C 2 Draught S P are {drauiht""
The 4-pounder batteries carry 156 rounds of ammunition per gun, the 8-pounder 128 rounds. The first ammunition reserve conveys in addition 74 rounds for each 4, and 82 for each 8-pounder. The total number of rounds for each gun is, therefore, 230 and 210 respectively.
In order to avoid dependence on foreign contractors attempts are being made to cast a hard bronze for field guns, and it is hoped that by employing this metal a portion of the new equipment may be furnished by the Austrian arsenals.
