History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery, Vol. 1. Duncan Francis
on active service in Flanders. There were four companies, very weak, certainly, and containing men paid both on the old and new establishments. Each contained 1 captain, 1 first-lieutenant, 1 second-lieutenant, 2 gentlemen of the Ordnance, 2 sergeants, and 30 gunners. Of these the gentlemen of the Ordnance and 15 gunners per company were on the old Tower establishment. The names of the captains not mentioned above were Edward Gibbon, and Edmund Williamson.
There were also in the Regiment six engineers, four sub-engineers, two firemasters, twelve fireworkers, and twelve bombardiers.
When the regiment was reduced, the captains received 60l. per annum, the first and second lieutenants 50l. and 40l. per annum, the firemasters 60l., and the fireworkers 40l. These officers were described as belonging to the new establishment, in contradistinction to the old.
The time had now come when there was to be an establishment of Artillery in addition to these, whose school and arena were the campaigns of a great master of war, one who was to be the means, after a victorious career, of placing the stamp of permanence on what had as yet had but an ephemeral existence, – the regimental character as applied to Artillery forces in England.
CHAPTER V.
Marlborough's Trains
Although the description of campaigns which occurred before the regimental birth of the Royal Artillery is beyond the purpose and province of this history, yet so many of the officers and men who fought under the great Duke of Marlborough, or served in the various trains equipped by his orders for Gibraltar, Minorca, and Nova Scotia, afterwards were embodied in the regiment, that the reader must greet with pleasure any notice of the constitution of these Trains, as being in all probability typical of what the early companies of the Regiment would be when attached to Ordnance for service in the field.
The Duke of Marlborough was appointed Master-General of the Ordnance almost immediately after the accession of Queen Anne, and until the day of his death he evinced the warmest and most intelligent interest in everything connected with the Artillery Service.
The reader will remember that one of the first acts of Queen Anne was to declare war against France, with her allies the Emperor of Germany and the States-General. The declaration of war was not formally made until the 4th May, 1702, but preparations had been going on for a couple of months before with a view to commencing hostilities. On the 14th March, 1702, the warrant for the Train of Artillery required for the opening campaign was issued to the Earl of Romney, then Master-General. The number of pieces of Ordnance required was fixed at 34, including 14 sakers, 16 3-pounders, and 4 howitzers: and the personnel considered adequate to the management of these guns consisted of two companies of gunners, one of pioneers, and one of pontoon men, in addition to the requisite staff, and a number of artificers. Each company consisted of a captain, a lieutenant, a gentleman of the Ordnance, six non-commissioned officers, twenty-five gunners, and an equal number of matrosses. At this time the fireworkers and bombardiers were not on the strength of the companies as was afterwards the case. Two fireworkers and eight bombardiers accompanied this train.
The pioneers were twenty in number, with two sergeants, and there was the same number of pontoon men, with two corporals, the whole being under a Bridge-master. The staff of the train consisted of a colonel, a lieutenant-colonel, a major, a comptroller, a paymaster with his assistant, an adjutant, a quartermaster, a chaplain, a commissary of horse, a surgeon and assistant-surgeon, and a provost-marshal. The kettledrummer and his coachman accompanied the train. There were also present with this train a commissary of stores with an assistant, two clerks, twelve conductors, eight carpenters, four wheelwrights, three smiths, and two tinmen.
The rates of pay of the various attendants are again worthy of note. The master carpenter, smith, and wheelwright got a shilling daily more than the assistant-surgeon, who had to be happy on 3s. per diem; the provost-marshal and the tinman each got 2s. 6d.; the clerks and the gentlemen of the Ordnance were equally paid 4s.; the chaplain, adjutant, and quartermaster received 6s. each; a lieutenant received the same, and a fireworker 2s. less. The pay of the higher ranks was as follows: – Colonel, 1l. 5s.; lieutenant-colonel and comptroller, each 1l.; major, 15s.; and paymaster, 10s. The gunners received 1s. 6d.; matrosses, pioneers, and pontoon-men, each, 1s..
It was the month of June, 1702, before this train landed in Holland, and on the 30th of that month it joined the Allied Army at Grevenbrouck, having had an addition made to it of four guns before leaving England. The pay of the train amounted to 9289l. 5s. per annum; and the ammunition with which they commenced the campaign consisted of 3600 rounds, of which 3000 were round shot, and 600 canister or case. They also carried 31 boxes of small hand-grenades, and 754 grenades of a larger description. The conduct in the field of this train was admirable. During the whole campaign of 1702, their fire is described as having been carried on with "as much order, despatch, and success as ever before was seen."
And then, in the luxurious way in which war was made in those days, the army went into winter quarters.
For the campaign of 1703, it was decided to augment the train of Artillery, and a warrant to that effect was issued to the Ordnance on the 8th February, 1703. The only difference in the personnel of the train was the addition of five gunners to each company, they now outnumbering the matrosses for the first time. The addition to the guns consisted of six demi-culverins.
In March of this year, the Board of Ordnance was also called upon to fit out two bomb-vessels for service in the Channel; and as the bomb-service remained long after the Regiment existed, it may be interesting to the reader to learn the armament of these vessels. It consisted of three 13-inch brass sea-service mortars, one vessel carrying two. For ammunition they carried 1200 shells and 40 carcasses, – besides 248 barrels of powder. The Artillerymen on board were represented by three fireworkers, six bombardiers, and two artificers; but as provision was made for ten, not eleven, "small flock bedds, bolsters, ruggs, and blankets," it is to be presumed either that one of the number was above the necessity of sleep, or that a certain socialism existed in the matter of beds, which admitted of the individual on duty adjourning to the bed vacated by the man who relieved him.
In a later warrant of the same year, when a larger number of these vessels was ordered to the Mediterranean, a Firemaster at 8s. per diem was placed over the fireworkers, and a few conductors of stores were added.
A further addition was made in 1704 to the train in Holland, showing the increased appreciation of the services of the Artillery. It consisted of six brass culverins and four 3-pounders, with two gentlemen of the Ordnance, sixteen gunners, and sixty of their assistants, the matrosses. Two more artificers were also added.
An idea of the Artillery train under Marlborough's own command can be obtained from the above dry details, and when compared with the proportions of Artillery in the armies of more recent times, Marlborough's train excites a smile. The value of Artillery in the field had not yet been learned, while the cumbrous nature of its equipment was painfully present to every General. Not until Napoleon came on the scene did Artillery assume its proper place in European armies; not until the Franco-German War of 1870 did it assume its proper place in European opinion.
But equally interesting with the details of the train which Marlborough commanded are those of the trains, which, as Master-General of the Ordnance, he prepared for expeditions and services under other commanders, in the stormy time which was hushed to rest by the Peace of Utrecht.
When the expedition to Portugal, ordered in 1703, but which did not take place till the following year, was decided on, the armament selected consisted merely of five brass sakers, and one 5¼-pounder.
For this small battery, a somewhat eccentric detail of attendants was ordered, characterized by the marked absence of Artillery officers. They were as follows: – One commander, styled commander-in-chief, with a daily pay of 1l.; six engineers, with 10s. each; a commissary of stores, five bombardiers, twenty gunners, and ten miners. The absence of matrosses in this detail is also remarkable. The deficiencies in this train soon became apparent, for in 1705 we find it was reinforced by a captain, a lieutenant, a fireworker, a surgeon, and forty-two matrosses, with a proportion of non-commissioned officers. And with the reinforcement