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The battering train, under the orders of the officer commanding the royal artillery. The engineer's park, material for seiges, &c. The ordnance stores train.

After presenting this view of the arrangement or organization of the unit force of the artillery of the powers of Europe, and the manner of its application to field service, the Commissary-General would, before stating our method or system of artillery, present the organization of that arm in the National Guard of France, in review, for consideration also, because that species of force approximates more closely to our militia system than any other known to him.

The effective strength of the National Guards of France, according to the latest returns, is 1,945,899 men.

Of the artillery of the National Guard, each regiment is to consist hereafter of an etat major, a platoon not on the muster rolls, (hors rang) twelve batteries, mounted, (on the artillery carriages and caissons) and a detachment in depot. The whole number of regiments of artillery is fourteen. The four first regiments of artillery will have three batteries of horse artillery attached to them; the ten others only two.

The peace establishment of a regiment of the first four, will consequently comprise three batteries of horse artillery, and nine mounted batteries on foot, and a detachment en depot, consisting altogether of 70 officers, 1,232 non-commissioned officers and privates, 36 cadets, and 621 horses; the complement of the latter, which is allowed for the officers, being 80, and that for the pri

vates 540.

The establishments for the regiments, to which but two batteries of horse artillery are attached, will be ten batteries of mounted foot artillery, and a detachment en depot; the whole composed of 70 officers, 1,832 non-commissioned officers and privates, 28 cadets, and 583 horses, of which 81 are for the officers, and 502 for the privates.

In the event of a war, the minister of the war department is authorized to fix the number of batteries of horse artillery as well as of foot, which are to be raised.

The number of squadrons for the park train is fixed at ten; but in case of a war, the minister may augment them according to circumstances. Under these new arrangements the French corps of artillery, of the National Guard, will have an effective strength of 192 pieces of cannon served by horse artillery, and 816 pieces served by foot artillery.

To this statement of the artillery organization of the National Guard of France, the Commissary-General would add, that the effective strength of the regular French army reduced, is 311,400 men, and 82,057 horses. The ordnance equipped consists of 1,459 pieces of cannon ready for service, with a park of reserve, and a double supply of munitions, viz: 834 field-pieces divided into 139 batteries of six pieces each, all mounted according to the new system, and 625 field pieces in the hands of the National Guards, who have been provided with 918,968 muskets,

Having glanced at the actual organization of artillery of the different great powers of Europe, showing that the unit force of the arm is, in all services, a battery of six or eight pieces, for horse or foot artillery, which are to be applied according to the demands of war, the Commissary-General would now beg leave to refer, in contrast, to the artillery organization of this State as now obtaining. He would remark, that there are, from the best information he can obtain, 35 regiments of artillery having pieces, several separate battalions, 34 companies attached to infantry regiments, also with pieces, and four regiments of artillery, one or more of horse artillery, and a squadron of horse artillery without pieces. The regiments of artillery with pieces, are composed of from four to eight companies, each company having one field-piece, and two in some instances. The companies according to law have an organized personal, officers, non-commissioned officers and privates, of forty men.

These regiments of artillery, of three pieces, six pieces, seven pieces, eight pieces, and in one instance, the 11th regiment, of fourteen pieces, but a very small personal, have each the number of field and staff officers, as I am led to believe, of full regiments of infantry; but material, that is, cannon, hardly sufficient in many instances for the unit force of one battery as artillery properly organized. A company of artillery, whether horse or foot, according to modern organization, should have a fixed unit of battery, of six or eight pieces each, which unit is a captain's com

mand, and a company's service, and differs in different services. only. Our system furnishes from three to fourteen pieces to a regiment, without rule, in relation to the number of companies and number of pieces attached to our regiments of artillery, so called; and makes such a regiment a colonel's command, having reference in its organization to the personal in companies, if to any basis at all, and not to the number of cannon the regiment is to serve in the field.

This system will doubtless be found extremely burdensome in service, should the militia of this artillery arm be ever called, by regiments, into the service of this State, and could not be admit ted into the United States service as a regiment of artillery. It is not the surplus of officers, and rank and file, as artillery, that would be wanting from this arm of the militia;-it is their cannon, and artillerymen enough, and no more than the proper number, to serve those cannon in the field, that, as artillery, could be admitted into the public service. Wherefore then so much useless personal, and so many grades of office in this arm? By our State system, when a regiment of artillery shall be called into its service, we shall have a personal out of all proportion for the use of the guns, both in grade and numbers: for instance, we should have a colonel where a captain is wanted, and could only be admitted, and a captain where a chief of piece non-commissioned officer is wanted, and would only be required, thus we have grades improper, and unfitted for the duties to be performed by this arm of an army. A colonel's cammand, according to our system, would be but a captain's command in service, in relation to the guns of his battery, there being one to each company, and if the regiment be full, eight to the regiment. A battery of eight pieces, as such, is but a captain's command, and is the unit force of the arm properly organized. The burden on the military chest of the state, with our present organization of a regiment of artillery, in the field, would be most efficient; but the efficiency of our artillery system would be found in practice lamentably the reverse of that essential military quality. This peace error of our system, in an economical and financial point of bearing, would then be felt, if not seen now, and would cause the reduction of our regiments of this arm to less than as many companies as now there are regiments of artillery-and in the place of which, proper batteries of the arm could be organized for effective service in defence of the country.

As the law now stands, companies of artillery may be increased, as long as the State has a field-piece on hand, to furnish associations of forty persons wishing to form such a company of artillery, which number seems to constitute the personal for one piece, and is four times as many men as are necessary for the service of one gun, of and below the caliber of 12 pounds. But as long as the State shall continue to receive field artillery from the United States, and as long as there shall be a suitable piece in our arsenals for the purpose, it will be drawn for the equipment of such associations, called companies of artillery; and they will be multiplied without the aid of the Legislature to discontinue the issues, until there shall remain no reserve field artillery in the arsenals of the State; or until the expense for stores, for repairs, for renewal of gun carriages worn out, for implements and equipments lost, neglected, worn out or destroyed, would cause the Legislature to look into the system, and to change, by adopting a comprehensible one, having a definite basis for organization, and a definite object in view, as an auxiliary of defence. The Commissary-General feels himself called upon respectfully to recommend the discontinuance of organizing any more artillery companies under the existing system.

There are now about 225 companies of artillery, having among them 240 pieces of artillery, or thereabouts. This number of pieces would organize thirty batteries of eight pieces each, to which there should be a personal of thirty companies only, with four or five officers to each, and soldiers, and train, necessary for their service. Four hundred and eighty-five commissions in the line, besides upper grades, one general of artillery excepted, could thereby be dispensed with, to the advantage of the artillery organization, on a true basis and system economical and practical, for improvement in discipline, the manœuvres of the arm in the field, and the science of artillery in general of the State, for the arm would then be placed on the road to progressive advancement to perfection, on the modern method of applying this species of the public force to the defence of the country.

The thirty batteries of artillery, according to the political military location of this State, should be formed into three regiments of foot artillery, which could be located as hereafter stated, and at which locations, and their immediate vicinities, the companies [Assem. No. 17.]

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should be raised and organized for the service of the several batteries of field artillery so located, viz:

Ten batteries at New-York, to be denominated the first regiment of foot artillery. Five batteries at Albany, and five at Rome, to be considered the reserves of the second and third regiments of the foot artillery batteries in activity, ready to march to any frontier of the State. Five batteries at Sackett's-Harbour, and five at Baffalo, to be considered the advance batteries of the second and third regiments to the north and west.

In addition to these thirty batteries of foot artillery, there should be twelve batteries of horse artillery organized, in the place of the present first and second brigades of nominal horse artillery, viz: six battaries of horse artillery in the city of New-York, to constitute one regiment, and six batteries on the territory constituting the second brigade of horse artillery, to form the second regiment of horse artillery.

The three regiments of foot artillery, and two of horse artillery, should be placed under the command of a general officer, who could be called the general of artillery, who should have a double staff of the rank of a major-general's staff.

The general of artillery should be under the immediate orders of the commander-in-chief, and when acting at the head-quarters of a particular corps d'armée in service, under the orders of the general in command.

Each regiment of artillery would require a full field and staff, with a junior adjutant, quarter-master, sergeant-major, and quarter-master-sergeant, in addition to the usual number.

Each battery company in the city of New-York should be composed of 1 captain, 5 lieutenants, 8 sergeants, 8 corporals, 4 artificers and 140 privates, (40 for drivers, and 30 for garrison or depot service.)

men.

The other 20 batteries of foot artillery could have the same organization. The rank and file of each regiment would be 1,400 The number of officers, non-commissioned officers and privates stated for a company of foot artillery, would be sufficient for a battery of horse artillery, for which 64 drivers' horses would

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