328 
GOLD MEDAL PRIZE ESSAY, 1804 . 
Units. 
Artillery of 
an Army 
Corps. 
Foreign or¬ 
ganisations 
unsnited to 
British re¬ 
quirements . 
Comparison 
between 
British and 
Foreign or¬ 
ganisation. 
The largest artillery unit is the Brigade Division, which consists of 
3 batteries of Horse or Field Artillery. These Brigade Divisions are 
not permanently organised, but are formed locally wherever possible, 
and consist of the batteries which happen to be stationed at the places 
where the units can be formed. 
The British Army Corps is composed of 3 Infantry Divisions, to each 
of which a Brigade Division of artillery is attached. 
The Corps Artillery consists of 5 batteries (3 horse and 2 field). 
There are therefore 14 batteries or 84 guns in an Army Corps. In¬ 
fantry in an Army Corps 24,000 = 3*5 per 1000. 
By Army Order 127 of .July 1893, the artillery of the “Field Force” 
which is to consist (speaking roughly) of an Infantry Division and a 
Cavalry Brigade, will be 3 batteries Royal Artillery and 2 batteries 
Royal Horse Artillery. Therefore the proportion of guns will be 
Y = 3'7 per 1000 infantry. 
Staff. The staff of the Divisional Artillery of an Army Corps con¬ 
sists of 2 officers (the Lieut.-Colonel and his Adjutant) 1 clerk and 4 
non-commissioned officers and gunners (this includes servants). 
The staff of the Corps Artillery consists of 6 officers, viz.: the Col¬ 
onel Commanding the Corps Artillery and his Adjutant, the Lieut.-Col. 
Commanding the Royal Horse Artillery and his Adjutant, the Lieut.- 
Colonel Commanding the Field Artillery and his Adjutant. 
The staff of the officer Commanding the Artillery of an Army Corps 
(a Major-General) consists of his A.-D.-C. and Brigade-Major, 1 clerk, 
6 non-commissioned officers and gunners (including servants). 
From the above it will be seen that while all the leading European 
nations organise their artillery into regiments and brigades, varying in 
strength from 144 to 48 guns, each with the same staff that they will 
take on service ; our highest permanently organised unit is the Battery, 
Brigade Divisions being only formed in certain fixed stations in Eng¬ 
land and India. Also we have no permanent staff for units above the 
Brigade Division. 
The chief reasons for this are (1) The necessity for quartering our 
batteries in numerous small stations scattered throughout the United 
Kingdom. (2) The frequent changes in the position of batteries ne¬ 
cessitated by the Indian reliefs, both of which causes would render the 
formation of larger units a practically paper organisation and one 
which would confer no real benefit. Now advantages are gained from 
the formation of large units when the commander of the whole can, from 
time to time, collect and exercise his united command in the field ; and 
also, when it is necessary, to permanently allot to a large number of 
Army Corps their respective forces of artillery. Neither of these con¬ 
ditions exist in our country, where there is but one training ground 
for a large force of guns, and the 3 Army Corps for Home defence 
having only a paper organisation are without commanders or fixed 
head-quarters. There is, therefore, no advantage in organising the 
artillery in large units prior to mobilisation. Furthermore, any or¬ 
ganisation of this kind which might be suitable for England, would 
probably prove unsuited to the requirements of the army in India, and 
would greatly complicate the reliefs. 
For these reasons we have adopted the system of District Commands. 
