Structure and Organization of the Old Army - Artillery - Prussia - Field Artillery Regiments

The German artillery was divided into (light) maneuver (=field) and (heavy) positional (=foot) artillery. It was not until 1872 that the complete separation of the two branches took place. In 1914 the field artillery numbered: 4 guard and 96 line regiments, including 12 Bavarian (separate numbering), 1 Hessian (No. 25), 1 Mecklenburg (No. 60), 8 Saxon (No. 12, 28, 32, 48, 64, 68, 77, 78) and 4 Württemberg (No. 13, 29, 49, 65) regiments. Mecklenburg-Strelitz provided the 3rd battery of Field Artillery Regiment No. 24 (Neustrelitz). The guard formations also included the training regiment of the Field Artillery Shooting School (Jüterbog).

Already at the start of World War I the 5th and 6th Guard Field Artillery Regiments were formed. The regiments each consisted of 2 mobile detachments with 3 batteries each. Individual regiments still had a mounted detachment until 1916/17. The field artillery regiments also included ammunition columns. In addition to the line regiments, many reserve formations were raised. In the course of the following years numerous further formations were created (up to No. 602), in part only as independent field artillery detachments.

In 1897 the 7.7 cm field gun was introduced; this was the response to the modernization of French artillery equipment. The Field Gun 96 had a higher rate of fire and devices that braked the recoil. The cartridges had metal cases. Deployment was in batteries of 6 guns each. The number of ammunition wagons per battery was reduced (previously 9, now 6), but ammunition columns were introduced for each regiment — from 1909 for each field artillery detachment. The mounted batteries (with the cavalry divisions) were also equipped accordingly.

In 1899 10.5 cm field howitzers were introduced to combat concealed targets. From 1905 the field guns received protective shields to protect the crews, and the barrel recoil was also improved. The guns were now painted gray (previously blue). Observation wagons to improve firing performance were introduced from 1909; the observer stood on a high ladder and was protected by an armored shield. Beside the climbing ladder a folding (scissor) telescope was available. The aforementioned field howitzers also now received a barrel recoil system.