Horse Artillery (Flying Artillery)

[Cannoneer]

This video seems to give a fair representation of just how quickly a “horse artillery” battery could have deployed their guns on the battlefield in the nineteenth century, even though this British ceremonial unit (King’s Troop, Royal Horse Artillery) uses QF 13-pounders which first entered service in 1904.

[BoomLover]

Pretty interesting and pretty sharp, snappy, drills! Thanks for posting....

[Artilleryman]

It illustrates just how much space is needed to operate a battery.  The firing of individual guns rather than in a volley was a recommended tactic of the time of the civil war.  It might not have been as important with breechloading guns.

[Cannoneer]

You'll notice that in order to achieve those uniform distances between the pieces, that ammunition boxes were prearranged on the field to give the team drivers a mark to aim for.

[subdjoe]

If my memory serves me, in the time of the Civil War a battery was supposed to be able to stop, unlimber, fire two round, limber up and be on its way in two minutes. 

I just found this: 

On the march a battery was usually deployed in a column of platoons.  When ordered “Into Battery” the guns were halted and deployed into line facing the direction they were to be fired. On the command “Action Front” the guns were brought into action. They were unlimbered and moved by hand into the firing position. The ammunition chests were opened, and the rounds primed for firing. An efficient battery was usually able to fire the first round twenty-five seconds after being given the “Action Front” order.

An unlimbered horse battery covered a large area. The Field Artillery Manual stated that, ‘in the [horse artillery] the interval between the pieces is 17 yards… On the field of battle the front would be more commonly extended; the pieces being posted so as to obtain the greatest advantage from the nature of the ground, and the caissons sheltered as much as possible’. The deployment was, usually, staggered, to prevent enfilade fire. When a battery had, or, were going to occupy, a position for some time, the unharnassed horses were taken to the rear to shelter them from enemy fire.

http://wildcatbatterya2usarty.wordpress.com/company-a-action-front/

Unfortunatley, I don't see any list of references. 

I recall some manuals calling for 15 yards between the guns.  In any case, a 6 gun batter should have a front close to 100 yards.

[Cannoneer]

subdjoe,
Thanks for the link.
Remember the YT vid that you posted of this British ceremonial horse artillery unit demonstrating their well honed skills at an indoor arena, where one of the guns flipped over as the team made a high speed turn. I was looking for some more detailed information on this unit, and came across one of the officers talking about different aspects of the battery. He (Capt. Dominic Ibbs) said that recruits usually started out on "detatchment," which are the riders at the rear of the gun, then moved up to "center," the two middle horses of the team, then to "wheel," the rear two horses of the six horse team, and finally after 6-8 years of experience to "lead driver," the artilleryman that directs the front two horses.