Hanoverian Artillery
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Origin and History
General Brückmann virtually created the Hanoverian artillery in the 1730's and 40's.
At the beginning of the Seven Years' War, in 1757, the actual pieces in the army were very ponderous and had an old-fashioned construction. Most were loaded with loose powder rather than cartridges by many untrained gunners. These problems were tellingly displayed when a powder barrel exploded during an artillery duel during the Battle of Hastenbeck that caused chaos. As the war progressed, many of the cumbersome pieces were replaced by British or captured French guns. In addition, gunners became highly trained and experienced.
The ranks of the artillery were filled, like the rest of the army, by voluntary recruitment. The artillery had the character of a craft-guild, as there was an indentured apprenticeship which had to be signed by those wishing to learn the science of gunnery. Artillery recruits received no bounty, but instead had to pay the sum of 6 Talers for instruction in the arts of gunnery and pyrotechnics.
Service during the War
Throughout the war, the Hanoverian artillery was present to most engagements in the Western theatre.
On July 26 1757, the Hanoverian artillery was present at the Battle of Hastenbeck.
In 1758, on June 23, a large contingent of artillery fought at the Battle of Krefeld. This contingent included 36 officers, 165 NCOs and 732 men, losing 10 killed and 219 wounded in the battle. Ammunition consumption in that battle was 97 18-pounder balls, 712 12-pounder balls, 786 6-pounder balls, 2,027 3-pounder balls and 524 3-pounder grape rounds. On October 10 1758, a detachment of artillery took part in the Battle of Lutterberg where, besides the battalion guns, it manned four 12-pdrs and eight heavy 6-pdrs.
On August 1 1759, two detachments took part in the Battle of Minden where one detachment formed part of the 2nd column under Major Haase and the other was part of the 5th column under Colonel Braun.
To do: campaigns of 1760, 1761 and 1762
Uniform
Gunners
| Headgear |
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| Neckstock | black | ||||||||||||
| Coat | light blue with two pewter buttons under the lapel
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| Waistcoat | red with 2 horizontal pockets, each with 3 pewter buttons | ||||||||||||
| Breeches | straw yellow | ||||||||||||
| Gaiters | white | ||||||||||||
| Leather Equipment |
|
Gunners were armed with a sword framed with copper and an infantry style musket.
Trainmen
| Headgear |
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| Neckstock | black | ||||||||||||
| Coat | red with two pewter buttons under the lapel
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| Waistcoat | straw with 2 horizontal pockets, each with 3 pewter buttons | ||||||||||||
| Breeches | straw yellow | ||||||||||||
| Gaiters | white | ||||||||||||
| Leather Equipment |
|
N.B.: some sources mention yellow buttons rather than pewter buttons
Officers
n/a
Musicians
n/a
Colours
No information available yet
References
Gmundener Prachtwerk, circa 1760
Pengel & Hurt, German States in the Seven Years War 1740 to 1762, Imperial Press
Rogge, Christian, The French & Allied Armies in Germany during the Seven Years War, Frankfurt, 2006
Schirmer, Friedrich: Nec Aspera Terrent: Eine Heereskunde der hannoverschen Armee von 1631 bis 1803, Niedersächische Hausbücherei, Hannover 1929
N.B.: the section Service during the War is mostly derived from our articles depicting the various campaigns, battles and sieges.
