Before the battle of Austerlitz : "Anxiety was impressed on the faces of the Austrian generals, the officers and even the soldiers.  The artillery officers alone did not give way to the general depression and expressed absolute confidence in the effect of their guns." 
- Prince Adam Czartoryski

Austrian artillery at Austerlitz

As I'm painting Mark's 6mm gunners for him (at the knock-down price of £10 per figure - which I think is fair) I thought I'd share some info on them.


Joseph Wenzel Liechtenstein was the father of modern Austrian artillery. He became Artillerie General-Director and by the outbreak of Seven Years War he was able to furnish the army with a corps of thoroughly professional gunners, together with a train of excellent new pieces of artillery. All the work of elevating and depressing the massive barrels was now done by a simple screw device. Liechtenstein also did away with the slow, wasteful (and dangerous) business of loading the loose powder down the muzzles from open-topped ladles.

Joseph Wenzel Lichtenstein

"Liechtenstein paid out 50,000 florins every year in peacetime to ensure that the annual camps were as useful as possible. At Moldautein the shot and shell were aimed against targets, and all the exercises carried out there were an accurate and realistic representation of what went on in combat and sieges. Everything was executed with a seriousness which allowed no place for pedantry or triviality." (Duffy - "Instrument of War" Vol 1 p 277)

The pre-Napoleonic Austrian artillery was held up as an example to the world. It enjoyed a high reputation for the quality of gun powder and ammunition. The famous French Gribeauval system was based on Austria’s Lichtenstein system.

The artillerymen, recruited mostly from the German provinces, has always stood high; not so much by early and judicious adoption of improvements, as by the practical efficiency of the men. They were volunteers and not recruits as it was the case in majority of European armies. The rank and file were able to read and write in German, the NCOs and officers were professionals. The enlistments were 14 years for artillery and engineers as compared to only 6 years for the infantry.

Austrian artillery officers

In 1811 Austria began the establishment of rocket troops based upon the British invention.

Several French commanders, incl. Marshal Massena, admired the Austrian artillery and its professionalism. Just two examples of how excellent was the Austrian artillery.
 - At Leipzig in 1813 General Bubna detached 2 horse batteries (12 guns) against 21 Saxon and French guns near Paunsdorf. After 30 minutes of cannonade, despite being outnumbered almost 2 to 1 the Austrian gunners lost only 6 guns while dismounted 7 enemy guns.

 - At Essling in 1809 Austrian artillery rained death and destruction on

Austrian army was the only major force that lacked well-developed horse artillery. Kevin Kiley writes, "The Austrians' cavalry batteries were organized in the 1780s, their new light 6pdr gun and the 7-pounder howitzer being the usual armament of these mobile units. The cannoneers were not individually mounted, but first rode modified caissons, commonly called Wurst-Wagen, sitting astride them one behind the other, while others rode the gun carriage astride a specially made seat on the trail. Later, after the implementation of the 1808 update to the artillery regulations, the wursts were done away with and packhorses to haul ammunition were issued each cavalry battery, ostensibly to increase their mobility.

Gunners riding into action on the caisson

The gunners were still not individually mounted as on other armies, and the ride on the padded, elongated gun carriages had to be a minor adventure at any speed faster than a walk.

They could not keep up with cavalry, but were much more mobile than the Austrian foot artillery. They were generally slow, and had to be protected in combat, and although the personnel and equipment were excellent, their employment in combat was not as efficient as that of either the French or British horse artillery arm."

The comparison of the French and Austrian artillery is quite interesting. The Austrian artillery had powder and ammunition of higher quality than the French and the Russian artillery. Their tactics and organization however were far behind the French.

The gunners of Austrian horse artillery sat on caission while the French were mounted on horses. It made the Austrian batteries slower in movement across fields and roads, but they were quicker in deploying and unlimbering the guns. The Austrians also needed less horses, were cheaper, required less space and therefore were a smaller target for enemy's guns.

The French gunners however were more dashing and imaginative and their guns had longer range and bigger calibres than Austrians'. For example in 1798 the captured 6pdr Austrian guns were equal to French 5pdrs (the Austrian pound being smaller than the French).

"The new [Austrian] artillery organization, 742 field guns in 108 batteries, aimed to provide concentrated fire but in practice this was not always realized. ... Moreover, there developed a real gap between the 'scientific' artillery specialists and field generals which tended to interfere with efficiency. Finally, the individual battery commanders, described by Charles as 'often old and frail, and having been slowly advanced up the ladder', still tended to regard the individual piece as a discreet fire element, while generals often lacked the feeling for the proper use of artillery. As a result the archduke's instructions that artillery should always act as part of a combined arms team as often were neglected." (Rothenberg - "Napoleon's Great Adversary")

Austrians' accuracy of artillery fire however was pretty good. According to Paddy Griffith the Austrians were superior to their British, Prussian and Belgian counterparts.

Accuracy of field guns in various tests against
approximate company sized screens. 
(Paddy Griffith - "French Artillery" p 14) 

Country	Source of information	Range	% hits
Austria	Lauerma	1000 m	40-70 %
Prussia	Lauerma	800 m	35
Great Britain	Hughs (pp Muller)	950	26-31
Belgium	Fallot	900 m	20

At Aspern-Essling in 1809 the Austrian artillery inflicted heavy casualties on Napoleon's army. French Marshal Lannes died after being mortally wounded by an Austrian cannonball. It was a great loss to the French army as he ranked as one of the ablest marshals. Lannes was also a personal friend of the Emperor.

As Lannes sat at the edge of a ditch, a small 3pdr cannonball ricochetted, and struck him just where his legs crossed. Lannes said  "I am wounded; it's nothing much; give me your hand to help me up". He tried to rise, but could not. He was carried to rear where the surgeons proceeded to dress his wound. One of the marshal's legs was amputated. He bore the operation with great courage. Napoleon then came up and, kneeling beside the stretcher, wept as he embraced the marshal. Lannes' other leg was later also amputated. Several days later he succumbed to his wounds.

The fire of Austrian artillery at Wagram in July 1809 was such that the French and Saxon battalions began to waver. To steady his men Napoleon rode "from one extremity of the line to the other, and returned at a slow pace." (James Arnold - "Napoleon Conquers Austria"). The artillery also suffered heavily from the Austrian artillery. De Aboville, the commander of the elite Guard Horse Artillery, was wounded by a cannonball. The round tore off his arm. Canister also struck the foot of Drouot of the Guard Artillery.

Officer Chlapowski of Napoleon's Guard Light Horse was almost beheaded by Austrian cannonball at Wagram. He wrote; "The Emperor called me to him ... When he had finished speaking and I raised my hat in salute, as was our custom on receiving orders from the Emperor, a cannon ball hit my headwear and hurled it through the air. The Emperor roared with laughter and said to me: It's a good job you're not taller !"



Organization of Austrian Artillery.

In 1809 the Austrian artillery was organized into 4 artillery regiments,
each comprised of staff and 2.811 men in 16 companies.

1. Artillerie-Regiment (in Bohemia)
Inhaber: FML Baron Franz Schuhay
Kommandanten:
. . . . . 1805-1808 Karl von Strauss
. . . . . 1808-1815 Baron Karl Fasching

2. Artillerie-Regiment (in Lower Austria)
Inhaber: 1804-1807 GM Johann Frhr. von Schwarzinger
and in 1807-1835 FZM Erzherzog Maximilian Josef v. Este
Kommandanten:
. . . . . 1805-1808 Anton Wachter von Wachtenburg
. . . . . 1808-1811 Wenzel von Frierenberger
. . . . . 1811-1820 Emerich von Stein

3. Artillerie-Regiment (in Moravia)
Inhaber : 1804-1817 FML Karl Baron von Rouvroy
Kommandanten:
. . . . . 1801-1807 Anton Kramer von Kronenbach
. . . . . 1807-1808 Anton Chevallier von Gillet
. . . . . 1808-1810 Hermann Graf Künigl
. . . . . 1810-1815 Johann Baron Fasching

4. Artillerie-Regiment (in Inner Austria)
Inhaber : 1802-1818 - FZM Leopold Frhr. von Unterberger
Kommandanten
. . . . . 1774-1808 Procop Sonntag von Sonnenstein
. . . . . 1808-1813 Josef, Baron Russo von Aspernbrand
. . . . . 1813-1824 Jakob Majanicz

Das Bombardier-Korps
Kommandanten
. . . . . 1798-1807 Johann Wahrlich von Bubna
. . . . . 1807-1808 Wenzel Frierenberger
. . . . . 1808-1811 Josef von Smola
. . . . . 1811-1822 Anton Manger

Das Artillerie-Handlanger Bataillon
. . . . . Oberstlieutenant Maresch von Marsfeld
(Source: Doleczek "Geschichte der österreichischen Artillerie", Wien 1887)

The battalion of so-called Artillerie-Handlangers had 1,179 men in 8 companies (in wartime increased to 8 battalions). These men replaced the ad-hoc drawn 'German' infantrymen for moving the guns in combat. The handlagers were untrained personnel. In 1808 there were 8 companies of Handlagers, in 1814 their number increased to 30 and in 1814 to 33 companies.

George Nafziger explains the role of the Handlagers: "The laborers attached to each battery came from handlager companies, which served the same function as the French artillery train companies. Generally speaking, these companies operated in pairs or 'divisions'. The peacetime establishment of a handlager battalion consisted of a staff and 8 companies. However, in wartime the number of companies expanded to the number necessary for the job at hand. These companies consisted of 181 officers and men. Each company was slightly more than was necessary to man three batteries." (Nafziger - "Napoleon's Invasion of Russia" p 66, 1998)

Each artillery company had:
= 4 officers
= 14 NCOs
= 2 drummers
= 159 privates

Gun Crew according to System 1792
(Nafziger - "Imperial Bayonets" p 244) 
Guns                                NCOs Gunners Handlagers Horses
foot 12pdr cannon      1 NCO      5               10             6
foot 6pdr cannon     1/2 NCO *      5                 8             4
horse 6pdr cannon     1/2 NCO *      6                 -             6
foot 7pdr howitzer     1/2 NCO *      6                 7             3
horse 7pdr howitzer     1/2 NCO *      5                 -             4
reserve 10pdr howitzer 1 NCO      ?                 4             4
* one NCO for every 2 guns

The field pieces were organized into tactical units called batteries:
- Brigade Batteries (lighter guns) - attached to infantry brigades
- Position Batteries (heavier guns) - they formed artillery reserves
- Cavalry Batteries (lighter guns) - attached to cavalry

Typical number of gunners to each gun

Equipment of the Austrian Artillery.

There was a total of 742 field guns
- 12 % were the 12pdrs cannons
- 60 % were the 6pdrs cannons
- 12 % were the light 3pdr cannons
- 17 % were howitzers

The woodwork of Austrian gun was painted in ochre and metal parts in black. The carriages and ammunition wagons were painted in yellow. The oil paint increased the resistance of the wood against "the damp and bad weather of all kinds." All items were branded with the same number as the piece "so that everybody knows whom they belong to, and can be held responsible for looking after them."

Austrian colour scheme

Gun                 Cannonballs Canister Grapes Shells
6pdr Cannon       94              26
12pdr Cannon       123              40     12
Howitzer                              12            72

Battery of 8 6pdr cannons required 8 two-wheel ammunition wagons, 32 gunners and 48 Handlangers.

Battery of 4 12pdr cannons and 2 howitzers required 3 four-wheel ammunition wagon, 20 gunners and 46 Handlangers. In 1813 a battery consisted of 6 6pdr cannons, 2 howitzers and 8 ammunition wagons

The Austrian horse gunners were conveyed upon caissons or wagons. These caissons differed from the common ones only in having the cover stuffed, which 'affords the facility of placing the gunners upon it in the attitude of a man on horseback.' The disadvantages of this system: accidents are more frequent and movements more difficult than if the gunners rode on horseback. The advantages of the system: the gunners seated on caissons/wagons don't have to be concerned with extra horses. This was also cheaper as horses were always expensive.

Austrian artillery in action

Austrian artillery ammunition was of poorer quality than ammunition used by the French, British, and German artillery (Bavaria, Wurttemberg, Hessen-Darmstadt). The Prussian ammunition was about the same quality as the Austrian.

Chunky chicks in uniform.

Comparison of the ammunition provision for the 12pdrs cannons suggests that in a firefight the Austrian would have been out shot.

1. French artillery - 222 rounds
2. Russian artillery - 172 rounds
3. Austrian artillery - 150 rounds
4. Prussian artillery - 114 rounds
5. British artillery - 84 rounds
(Dawson- "Wellington’s Big Bang: the British 12-pounders" )




An example of Austrian artillery in action : Aspern-Essling, 1809


"He was an aggressive and imaginative officer ... understood the principle of massed artillery fire 
and infantry/artillery cooperation. Unfortunately he was the exception and not the rule in the 
Austrian service." - Kevin Kiley

Josef Smola was born in 1764. He entered the Austrian 1st Regiment of Artillery in 1780 as a gunner. Having fought in the Turkish War he went in 1791 to Netherlands as battery comnmander. He was awarded with Knight's Cross of the Order of Maria-Theresa for the battle of Neerwinden in 1793.

Dave Hollins writes, "In 1793, as part of the advance guard, Smola's battery plus 2 3pdrs blocked Miranda's French division for several hours. Forced eventually to pull back, Smola added 10 12pdrs, 2 3pdrs, and 2 howitzers to his command, which put the French to flight; his cavalry guns then joined a counter-attack. His decisive actions earned him the MTO. (Maria-Theresa Order)

He showed himself a skilled advance-guard artillery throughout the Belgian campaign directing a further decisive battery attack at Lowen, until badly wounded at Fleurus (26 June 1794). He led the artillery in the famous Austrian cavalry victory at Cateau-Cambresis (1794) under Schwarzenberg, and was no less skilled in the defensive role, as he demonstrated in a 71-defence of Ehrenbreitstein fortress in 1796.

In 1799 at First Zurich, Smola directed a group of several batteries which halted a French attempt to cross the Limmat. With his guns, he destroyed the Rhine bridges at Mannheim. He was badly wounded at Mosskirch (5 May 1800) and, now a Major, rejoined the Bombardier School as a professor mathesos.

At Second Caldiero in 1805, Smola directed the artillery on the left wing, and in 1809 he was the Artillery Director with III Corps, distinguishing himself around Regensburg, for which he was promoted Oberst. As interim headquarters Artillery Director until FML Rouvroy arrived, he directed the guns which broke the French assaults at Aspern, and then established the 192-gun battery which pounded enemy positions in the final phase. Smola led the artillery at Wagram after Rouvroy was wounded. In 1813 he was promoted to General Major and appointed artillery director in Italy; he later fought in France in 1815. He was promoted FML and ennobled as Freihher von Smola."(Hollins - "Austrian Commanders of the Napoleonic Wars 1792-1815 ")

Kevin Kiley writes, "His exploit with his reinforced cavalry battery at Neerwinden in 1793 demonstrated that he both knew his business and that he was an aggressive and imaginative officer who desrved to be promoted. It also showed that he could think for himself in a pinch and understood the principle of massed artillery fire and infantry/artillery cooperation. Unfortunately he was the exception and not the rule in the Austrian service." (Kiley - "Artillery of the Napoleonic Wars 1792-1815" p 207)

Smola's monstrous battery at Aspern-Essling in 1809:
What happened on the battlefield now marked the largest single concentration of artillery to date in the period. Charles withdrew his shot-up and demoralized infantry from the French center, and Oberst Josef Smola, the Artillery Chief for Hohenzollern's Austrian II Corps, organized the artillery batteries assigned to him into one large, 200-odd-gun battery whose mission it would be to destroy the French center and open the way to the Bridgehead to Lobau Island.

Coignet described the effect of massed artillery fire against troops formed in line at Essling:
I felt an urgent call to relieve nature, but it was strictly against orders to move a step towards the rear. Imagine the agony we endured in such a position, for I can never describe it. The cannonballs fell among our ranks, and cut down our men three at a time; the shells knocked the bearskin caps 20 feet in the air. The losses became very heavy. We had to place the Guard all in one rank so as to keep up the line in front of the enemy. 


Elzear Blaze added his comments on the sheer terror of being hit by artillery fire:
There are men, however, who, gifted with an extraordinary strength of spirit, can cold-bloodily face the greater dangers. Murat, bravest of the brave, always charged at the head of his cavalry, and never returned without blood on his saber. That can easily be understood, but what I have seen General Dorsenne do - and [have] never have seen it done by anyone else - was to stand motionless, his back to the enemy, facing his bullet-riddled regiment, and say, "Close up your ranks," without once looking behind him. On other occasions I have tried to emulate him, I tried to turn my back to the enemy, but I could never remain in that position - curioisity always made me look to see where all those bullets were coming from. 

Smola expertly handled artillery silenced the outnumbered French artillery. Then, the artillerymen, 'lifted and shifted' their fire onto the now helpless, and largely defenseless, French infantry, that had to stand and take it - or the army would have been driven into the Danube.

General Pouzet, a longtime friend of Marshal Lannes, was killed, and St. Hilaire was mortally wounded, having a foot blown off by artillery fire. Lannes saw his friend being taken to the rear in a blanket, and he was later hit by a roundshot which shattered both knees, mortally wounding him. Both he and St. Hilaire would die in great agony after the battle was over and they had been evacuated. Lannes could not save them. What the Austrians needed to know, under the heavy artillery bombardement, was to launch an all-out coordinated attack on the French.  But no Austrian assault took place." (Kiley - "Artillery of the Napoleonic Wars 1792-1815" pp 207-209)

PS. Not only Smola concentrated the Austrian guns in grand batteries. At Novi, in August 1799, General Kray deployed 40 Austrian guns and pounded the French infantry on the ridge.