Portuguese Artillery of the Napoleonic Wars: Organization

By Jo�o Centeno

Each regiment had 10 companies:

The organization of a regiment of artillery in October 20, 1809 consisted� of a Staff and five Companies, of the which one will be of Atiradores (sharpshooters)

Estado-Maior (Staff)

�Each Company consisted of:

In 1812, an�art�fices battalion was formed and later in the year an artillery drivers battalion�(artilheiros-condutores) was created.

Artilheiros-Condutores (Artillery Drivers Battalion)

On 8 October 1812, the Artillery Drivers Battalion was formed with 4 companies of 276 and men and 400 horses or mules.

Headquarters (Estado-Maior)

Distinctive Colors of the Artillery Regiments (1806-1815)

Miscellaneous

1. An example of the brigades:

The brigade commanded by Major Victor von Arentschild with 123 gunners of the 1st Regiment and 276 of the 2nd Regiment.

In 1810, the Brigade of Major Alexander Dickson had 313 gunners of the 1st; the battery� of Tr�s-os Montes and� 319 gunners of the 4th; and the battery of Cabreira, and 105 gunners from the 2nd.

2. The mountain artillery had pieces of 3 pounders, which were� lighter and of easy transport. They� could even be transported on mules. The long Portuguese experience with mountain brigades, in mountain movements as it is the Portuguese territory in the North, where the existing roads were bad. There experience in rough terrain was put very useful in the Campaign of the Pyrenees in 1813, where its effectiveness was important to the outcome of the combats and battles.

3. The siege artillery had pieces of 18 or 24 Pounders and in exceptional cases, of 32 and 43 Pounders. The Anglo-Portuguese Army was deficient in this type of guns, and during one of the sieges of Badajoz, they had to use British naval guns sent from Lisbon. In the siege of Badajoz of April 1811, guns from the Fortress of Elvas were used. Many of these guns were casted in 1620, 1636, 1646, 1652 and many of them with the name of King Filipe III.

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