Introduction
It was in the American Civil War that artillery hinted at its ultimate power on the modern battlefield. Historians suggest that cannon fire accounted for less than 10% of the casualties in both the Union and Confederate Armies, although the records indicate it was responsible for much more carnage in individual battles. Moreover, letters, diaries, and after-action reports are full of references to the fear factor associated with the presence of artillery during various engagements. Even its most vocal proponents acknowledge the limits of Civil War artillery when used in the attack by an army on the offense. And even its detractors acknowledge its battle-saving contributions when employed correctly by an army holding a defensive position.
Union Artillery
The Union Army entered the war with a strong advantage in artillery. It had ample manufacturing capacity in Northern factories, and it had a well-trained and professional officer corps manning that branch of the service. Brig. Gen. Henry J. Hunt, who was the chief of artillery for the Army of the Potomac for part of the war, was well recognized as a most efficient organizer of artillery forces, and he had few peers in the practice of the sciences of gunnery and logistics. Another example was John Gibbon, the author of the influential Artillerist's Manual published in 1863 (although Gibbon would achieve considerably more fame as an infantry general during the war). Shortly after the outbreak of war, Brig. Gen. James Wolfe Ripley, Chief of Ordnance, ordered the conversion of old smoothbores into rifled cannon and the manufacture of Parrott guns.
Confederate Artillery
The South was at a relative disadvantage to the North for deployment of artillery. The industrial North had far greater capacity for manufacturing weapons, and the Union blockade of Southern ports prevented many foreign arms from reaching the Southern armies. The Confederacy had to rely to a significant extent on captured Union artillery pieces (either on the battlefield or by capturing armories, such as Harpers Ferry); it is estimated that two-thirds of all Confederate field artillery was captured from the Union.[citation needed] The Confederate cannons built in the South often suffered from the shortage of quality metals and shoddy workmanship. Another disadvantage was the quality of ammunition as the fuses needed for detonating shells and cases were frequently inaccurate, causing premature or delayed explosions. All that, coupled with the Union gunners' initial competence and experience gained as the war progressed, led Southern forces to dread assaults on Northern positions backed up by artillery. A Southern officer observed, "The combination of Yankee artillery with infantry would make an army that could be beaten by no one." Union artillery was used on the Army of Northern Virginia to devastating effect on a number of occasions, particularly during the Seven Days Battles (particularly the Battle of Malvern Hill) and Gettysburg.
Types of Artillery Units
There are two types of Artillery Units: 1. Foot and 2. Horse.
Foot Artillery: Left click on a unit’s area or its flag and move it forward to your desired location. Your artillerymen will push their guns forward and remain actively engaged in the fight. You can push your artillery unit(s) forward to use canister shot. This is devastating in a frontal attack, but even more so with enfilading fire against an attacking enemy brigade.
Horse Artillery: Left click on a unit's area or its flag and drag to create a red movement arrow to your desired location. Your artillery unit will ‘limber up,’ or lift the trail of the gun and attach it to the limber so that the gun can be moved by the horses.
Positioning of Artillery Units:
Map: The map was created by blending satellite imagery, topographical research data and historical maps into a unique, clear art style. All major terrain features such as houses, ridges, hills and forests are depicted as accurately as possible. The game also features all the mechanics to make full use of the map: cover, movement, line of sight, fields of fire, and more.
The map features accurate topographical information of the historical battlefield. Every hill, ridge, house and boulder will impact visibility in the game. Units have their spotting ranges adjusted according to their role, with generals, cavalry and artillery having higher view ranges than infantry. As you position them at strategic locations, your army’s visibility increases, while the units use their individual Line of Sight (LoS) to target local threats. Therefore, it is very important to secure multiple elevated positions to see further and cover more areas with your artillery.
Elevation: Select M key to add/remove the elevation lines on the map.
This game comes with an accurate Fog of War system that simulates Line of Sight (LoS). Simply, units can only spot what they can directly see. It is important to understand LoS when selecting positions.
Every unit sees and reacts according to its individual Line of Sight. You may be able to see a hostile unit because it is inside the LoS of at least one of your units, but this does not mean that all of your units can see it as well. Objects such as buildings, trees or hills and even friendly units block LoS.
On the other hand, high ground increases a unit’s LoS and firing range, but can also make it more vulnerable to hostile artillery. Use the terrain wisely to make your guns more effective or to protect them from enemy fire.
Place artillery batteries on ridges and hills to gain a wider view of the battlefield and be able to bombard the enemy from a distance. Losing the high ground can result in a decreased visibility of the battleground and reduced artillery effectiveness, as most of your cannons will not be able to aim directly at enemy forces.
Establish a strong defensive line on a ridge with your artillery. Having better artillery positions than your enemy, will force him to either advance or withdraw.
Always protect your artillery units with some infantry, if possible. If the enemy charges your strong defensive artillery positions, use canister shot. Once, the enemy brigade wavers, then, charge him with your infantry.
Place artillery in strategic positions that provide continuous line of fire and is protected by nearby houses or between two houses from enemy cannon fire while it can shoot directly in front.
Place artillery in cover to fire at the enemy flank and prevent them from advancing.
Do not bunch up your cannons on top of one another. Cannons spread out and hitting the same target from many directions, converging fire, will devastate enemy morale.
Use ‘bounding overwatch’ when moving your artillery batteries. Bounding overwatch or leap frogging is a military infantry tactic of alternating movement of coordinated units to allow, if necessary, suppressive fire in support of offensive forward "Fire and Movement" or defensive "Center Peel or more commonly, Australian Peel" disengagement. You can use this tactic, whether, you are advancing or retreating. If advancing, (Fire and Movement.) one battery supports (Overwatch) by continuing to fire while the other battery moves forward (Bounding). Once, the moving battery is in place and firing, the trail battery, then, moves forward. This technique can also be use when withdrawing (Center Peel.).