History of the Field Artillery

1. History of the Field Artillery

2. TERMINAL LEARNING OBJECTIVE • Action: Develop a basic knowledge of the history of the Field Artillery • Conditions: Given a visual presentation class on Field Artillery history. • Standard: Developed a basic knowledge of the history of the field artillery.

3. SAFETY REQUIREMENTS • NONE

4. RISK ASSESSMENT • LOW

5. ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS • NONE

6. INSTRUCTIONAL LEAD-IN

7. ENABLING LEARNING OBJECTIVE 1 Action: Name key events through the history of Field Artillery. Conditions: Given a visual presentation on key events through artillery’s history. Standard: Name key events through the history of Field Artillery.

8. ORIGINS OF ARTILLERY The First appearance of artillery came in ancient Greece with crude ballistics that projected Bolts, and Stones. Trebuchet’s, Catapult's, and Ballista’s were the first forms of artillery.

9. FROM BOLTS TO GUNPOWDER • It wasn’t until January 28, 1132 that the first gunpowder artillery was used. • First developed by the Chinese, the gunpowder artillery found its way to Europe in the mid 13th century.

10. BARELY A GUN In the early stages of invention gunpowder artillery was weak and very ineffective towards Trebuchet’s which had long distance. By the end of the 14th Century gunpowder artillery was only powerful enough to knock in roofs. In 1420 the English elongated their guns, giving them more range and power.

11. A NEW TYPE OF GUN The 16th Century introduced the first “Cannon” by placing it on a buggy. The combining of shot and powder into a single unit, a cartridge, occurred in the 1620’s. By the end of the 17th Century the calibers of artillery used were restricted to 33, 24, 16, 12, 8, and 4-pdrs

12. UNIFORMITY AND REPAIRABILITY The first massed produced cannon was engineered by Frenchman Jean-Baptiste de Gribeauval. In 1789 Napoleon, himself a former artillery officer, perfected the tactic of massed artillery batteries, it wasn’t until this era that artillery became widely used. The first effective breech-loader was developed in 1855 by Sir William Armstrong for the British military.

13. DEVELOPING A PLAN After the War of 1870 the Germans became strong advocates of indirect fire. Just before the turn of the century, the Germans developed the first howitzer that could be accurately aimed. Indirect fire was the defining characteristic of 20th Century artillery and led to undreamt of changes in the amount of artillery used in WWI.

14. PRECISION IS KEY During WWI the American Army developed the first version of Fire Direction Control and began calculating trajectory for indirect fire. Using muzzle velocity, temperature, wind, and air density, the FDC became even more accurate.

15. DOMINATING THE BATTLEFIELD In WWI known as “The war to end all wars” the Field Artillery emerged as the greatest killer. The “Big Guns“ were responsible for 75% of all casualties in the trench warfare of France.

16. ARTILLERY, A VAGUE WORD WWII ended the days of horse drawn artillery carriages by the Army using motor operated vehicles to move their “big gun’s”. In the years following WWII artillery grew even more by including Air Defense Artillery, Mortars, Rocket Artillery. On 20 June 1968 the Air Defense Artillery separated from the Field Artillery and was designated as a basic branch of the Army.

17. TODAYS FIELD ARTILLERY The introduction of self-propelled artillery created an even greater advantage by making artillery fast moving and fast shooting. After years of using many different calibers of projectiles the US Army has settled on two, 105mm semi fixed cartridge, and 155mm separate loading.

18. CHECK ON LEARNING • Q: What year was gunpowder first used in artillery. A: 1132 Q: What are some of the calibers artillery used at the end of the 17th century. A: 33, 24, 16, 12, 8, and 4 pounders.

19. ENABLING LEARNING OBJECTIVE 2 Action: Identify key role players throughout the history of American Field Artillery. Conditions: Given a visual presentation on key individuals throughout Field Artillery’s History. Standard: Identified at least three individuals that impacted the history of American Field Artillery.

20. FROM CALVARY TO CANNONS The U.S. Field Artillery was first founded by Henry Knox in December 1775. MG Phillip H. Sheridan first staked out Fort Sill on 8 Jan 1869. MG Sheridan’s winter campaign involved 6 Cav. Regiments, and many of the famous Frontier Scouts.

21. THE LADY REDLEG Due to her running to the gun line with pitchers of water she gained the nickname Molly Pitcher. After watching her husband fall from heat stroke she took charge of a retreating cannon and kept the gun firing, she was a gunner.

22. FIELD ARTILLERY SCHOOL • The original home of the Field Artillery was at Fort Monroe, VA until it’s relocation to Fort Sill, OK. • The first Field Artillery school was organized in 1911 by Captain Dan T. Moore.

23. THE PATRON SAINT St. Barbara was the daughter of a rich pagan father, Dioscorus who guarded her by locking her in a tower. After her father was killed by lightning she became the patron saint of explosions. Due to her relation to explosions she became the patron saint of Field Artillery, St. Barbara’s Day is 4 DEC every year.

24. THE FA MUSEUM • CPT Harry C. Larter established the Field Artillery museum on 10 DEC 1934. • Of the 46 buildings included with the Fort Sill national historic landmark the museum occupies 26 structures.

25. 15 KILOTON CANNON Robert Schwartz gained approval from the Pentagon to build the first Nuclear Artillery Piece. “Atomic Annie” fired only one round, it successfully detonated around 0830 hrs on 25 MAY 1953.

26. CHECK ON LEARNING Q: What did Molly Pitcher accomplish making her famous across the Artillery? A: As the wife of a soldier she took charge of a cannon against the orders of an officer that was sending it to the rear and continued to return fire.

27. CHECK ON LEARNING (cont.) Q: Why was it that Atomic Annie fired the first and last atomic artillery projectile? A: After firing the round and assessing the damage it was found that the gun had cracked its cannon tube from the pressure of the projectile.

28. SUMMARY Artillery is ever changing as is the technology incorporated. Artillery is the second oldest branch of the Army and has played a vital role in every American war. The establishment of Ft. Sill not only expanded the Army but also gave room for its technology to be put to test.

29. REVIEW Action: Develop a basic knowledge of the history of the Field Artillery Conditions: Given a visual presentation class on Field Artillery history. Standard: Developed a basic knowledge of the history of the field artillery.

30. Are there any questions?