Field Artillery In American History

Since the foundation stages of American history, the American spirit has always waved its valiant attempts to not only remain free, but to the best. From the Civil War all the way to current operations in the Middle East, the Field Artillery has been a major component to the success of all and any major conflicts. Modern day Army calls artillery, “King of the Battle”. This has earned its dynamic name from the many conflicts in which Field Artillery lived to tell the tale. Many components to a war change from; tactics, logistics, concepts of operations, and even geographical considerations. Much like the change of modern war, the Field Artillery continues to adapt and overcome to its growing demand for change and development. One topic of discussion that will be discussed is the use of Field Artillery in World War 1. Other topics to be discussed are the facts of the War “as it pertains to Artillery”; the effects of the technological advances of the Artillery during the war, and lastly not just the aftermath of the war, but lessons learned moving forward from World War 1. Artillery moving into World War 1 would later shape the rest of the future on how future operations and conflicts would integrate the effective lethal fires of the Field Artillery. At the end of the War there was no question that the Field
Artillery remained, “The King of the Battle”.
Artillery Entering the War
Few battles exemplify the effectiveness of devastating artillery fires as much as the battle of Verdun. The Germans fired the first artillery barrage into France striking the Bishops palace in Verdun 21 February 1916. Those shells would be the first of millions in a battle that would last until 19 December 1916. With the current direction the war was headed, Germany knew they needed to devise a plan that could change the course of the war. According to Author Trueman in, The Battle of Verdun, German Chief of General Staff, Von Falkenhayn, knew the historic importance of Verdun to the French and decided to capitalize on their dedication to the town (Trueman, 2016). Von Falkenhayn said he would “bleed France white” (Trueman, p.1 2016). This statement meant he knew that France would continue to defend Verdun down to the last man. He figured with the largest artillery attack the world had ever seen he could kill more French soldiers than ever before and change the course of the war. Falkenhayn had started assembling the biggest arsenal in history to date in secret. According to C. N. Trueman, Germany had gathered 140,000 troops being supported by 1,200 artillery pieces. This task required 1,300 ammunition trains to transport all of the artillery and ammunition. These artillery pieces would eventually fire 2,500,000 shells at the Verdun region. On the day of the attack the Germans lined up 6 miles of artillery guns on line for the attack on Verdun (Trueman, 2016).
The Germans knew that one key to capturing Verdun was to first take control of the huge fort at Douaumont. The Germans used flame throwers in large numbers for the first time in history to make their way through Douaumont towards Verdun. It was said Douaumont was the most powerful fort in the world, but to the Germans surprise it was only manned by 56 elderly part time gunners (Trueman, 2016). The Germans captured the fort with very little resistance. At this point 10,000 French soldiers were taken captive by Feb 25th.
June 1st Germany launched what they thought would be the final attack in Verdun. The Germans got within 2.5 miles from the city of Verdun but failed to capture it. Like the French, the German Army had also given everything it had. By the end of October the French had taken back the fort at Douaumont and several other forts protecting the city of Verdun. The power struggle would continue back and forth until December when the battle would finally come to an end with the end of the battle of Somme. The length and loss of life the occurred in the battle for Verdun remains to be unmatched. Though nobody knows for sure the true numbers it’s believed the French lost over 160,000 soldiers and the Germans almost 140,000 (Trueman, 2016). The largest impact in this war was the intense use of artillery. The biggest factor in such a high death count was due to the effectiveness of constant artillery barrages. To better understand the effectiveness of artillery, this paper will discuss the types of changes that made artillery so effective.
Pre-Battle of Verdun-Early stages of the War
The capabilities of Field Artillery expanded with the Industrial Revolution and newer technologies continued to develop, however doctrine for the use of the newer advancements of the artillery pieces was still in its infancy stages leading up to the Battle of Verdun.
The initial use of Artillery was used to disable barbed wire defenses, damage trench lines, and destroy enemy gun emplacements. During the battle of Verdun each side used new Field Artillery methods of employment to achieve different effects. Modern Artillery doctrine and tactics evolved, in part from the lessons learned on both sides at the Battle at Verdun as a result. (Meloney,
1924).
The German forces, under the command of general VonFalkenhayn, initiated hostilities using a barrage of Artillery fire that included over 800 Artillery systems. More than half of these systems were large bore howitzers over 150mm including 26 howitzers ranging from 305mm to 420mm. The Germans had witnessed the devastating effects of large scale Artillery offensives on Belgian fortifications early on in the war and planned to obtain the same effect in greater volume at Verdun. The Germans fired roughly one million shells, approximately 40 shells per minute, into French trenches, fortifications, and towns along the Eastern border of France (Bidou, 2016).
The German Artillery offensive resulted in the French forces retreating not only from their primary battle line but beyond their second. The attack, not only, wrought the desired destruction of enemy lines of communication, fortifications and supply lines but also created a devastating effect on French morale. Many of those who had survived the attack were left in various states of crippling psychological distress. The damage to the French moral was specifically intended by general VonFalkenhayn who stated, “No Line is to remain un-bombarded, no possibilities of supply unmolested, nowhere should the enemy feel himself safe” (Bidou, p.4 2016).
Most of the French Artillery assets had been relocated elsewhere on the war front as the French believed an attack on Verdun was highly unlikely. Beaten back beyond their two forward lines, with supply lines cut, communication in disarray, and reeling from the effects of the enemy’s massive Artillery offensive; the French appointed General Petain to hold back the German advance.
General Petain’s first directive is to cease all retreat from German forces and hold the line which is now nearly upon the city of Verdun itself rather than fall back to a more defensible position that would allow him to mount a return offensive more easily. He is aware that the loss of Verdun would severely damage national morale, foster an unwillingness on the part of the French to continue the war, and would greatly increase the chances of a German victory (Bidou, 2016),
Initially General Petain and the French Army are able to do little more than hold further German advance and the two sides are at a stalemate. The German howitzers are large and hard to maneuver, especially over the heavily shelled terrain they have gained thus far, making use of them to break the stalemate limited. At this point General Petain has re-established supply lines and brought howitzers forward to the line via what was known as the “sacred” road. The Road was so named because only trucks carrying supplies to the front were allowed to use it and they did so in a continuous wave of resupply. (Bidou, 2016).
Meanwhile the British forces have entered into the battle of Somme and the intensity of fighting in that battle forces the German Army to weaken it’s support at the Battle of Verdun. General Petain seizes this chance to push a counter offensive against the Germans and he