American Artillery

Book excerpt: The first regiment of artillery in the American Continental Army was formed in 1775. During the American Civil War (1861-1865) artillery evolved from the employment of individual batteries to massed fire of grouped batteries. In 1907, the US Army Artillery Corps was reorganized into the Field Artillery and the Coast Artillery Corps. During the First World War (1914-1918), a lack of American-made weapons saw the adoption of foreign artillery pieces. The Second World War demanded the introduction of many new field artillery pieces by the US Army. General Patton later commented, "I don't have to tell you who won the war, you know our artillery did." American artillery firepower also took a heavy toll of the enemy during the Korean and Vietnam Wars. During the Cold War American artillery continued to develop, embracing new weapons systems including tactical nuclear missiles which thankfully never had to be used. Conventional artillery proved highly effective during both Operation Desert Storm in 1991, and Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003. This superbly illustrated and authoritative work covers the full range of artillery weaponry which has been in service with US armed forces.