The History Of The Royal Artillery From The Indian Mutiny To The Great War

This volume continues the theme of the development of the Royal Artillery during the run-up to the Great War, fifteen years compared with the forty of VoL I, fifteen years devoted to definite preparation in which the developments in Organization, Armament and Training discussed in Vol I were co-ordinated to a common aim. On the other hand the breach between branches was widened by the separation between mounted and dismounted, and the general trend towards spacialization. So, in this volume a different method has been adopted in which the developments of each branch are recorded separately in three parts - The Field Army Artillery, The Siege Artillery and the Coast Artillery. Part V has a couple of chapters on the Auxiliary Artillery which included the Militia, Volunteers, the Special Reserve and the Territorial Force. The final Part VI deals with Regimental Institutions such as the Remount Department, the Riding Establishment, the RA Institution, the Artillery College, Gunnery courses, the RMA, the RA Mess and the Bands. One of the appendices provides a chart showing the distribution of units as on 1 Aug 1914. There is a very comprehensive index

This history, written at the beginning of the Great War half a century after the events it describes, started out only as a history of the Royal Artillery s part in the Indian Mutiny. However, the unit became inextricably mixed with the Bengal, Madras and Bombay artillery during the campaign, and the four regiments were officially amalgamated soon afterwards in 1861. Therefore, as the author remarks, this book is effectively a military history of the Indian Mutiny itself, covering events chronologically and in some detail, from minor skirmishes to the great setpiece sieges of Delhi and Lucknow. The narrative is based both on official despatches and on books, diaries, letters and interviews with eye-witnesses of the events it relates and is illustrated with drawings and sketch maps. Detailed appendices list awards, Rolls of Honour and lists of actions and enagements in which the artillery fought.