Hmm, I must disagree with this.Originally Posted by DinoMight
Take in mind that howitzers and any other artilley guns from that period were not so accurate.
Only occassionally artillery guns can hit on target with one shot, but this was not common case.
Normally artillery guns fired many shots to hit on target and sometimes they did it quite long time. Therfore artillery fired many times and they needed so many ammunition wagons. Especially howitzers and heavy cannons needed lot of gun powder and heavier projectiles. They also needed more men crew and horses.
That does not matter from what howitzers were emerged. They still were not so accurate and deadly, especially against moveable targets. They of course could be dangerous and could made havoc, because they can inflicted heavy wounds and can killed some men or horses. But against moveable targets their accuracy was poor. Time to time shells can hit on such targets and inflict even heavy loses, but howitzers were more effective for special purposes or against fixed targets as like fortifications, buildings, or even enemy artillery deployed on position, or slowly moved targets in terrain. They were also used against enemy covered in or behind forests, villages, towns etc.
In open and relatively flat terrain, at short range, canister or grape shots fired with common cannons could be more effective than howitzers' shells.
At long range solid cannon balls wich could made ricochets, could bounced or rolling on the ground breaking legs were more dangerous for men and horses too.
That's why on battlefields were used so many cannons and not so many howitzers.
Earlier or today weapons it is quite different case.
Oh, what it is typical battery?Originally Posted by DinoMight
I could say that typical Russian battery consisted of 8 cannons and any howitzer, because they used 4 licorns instead howitzers. However licorns or unicorns were little bit different guns than howitzers.
French horse artillery battery comprised 4 light cannons and 2 howitzers.
French foot artillery battery consisted of 6 cannons and 2 howitzers.
Average British foot artillery battery at Waterloo had 5 cannons and 1 howitzer.
Average British horse artillery battery at Waterloo had 2 9pdr, 2,5 6pdr cannons and 1,5 howitzer etc.
In other hand Prussian had few batteries entirely armed with howitzers, and their infantry regiments had their regimental cannons.
Austrian and many others also used regimental artillery companies armed mainly with light cannons.
There were also some siege or costal, or garrison artillery, they had different organization.
Then what it is typical artillery battery and how you can count 25% numbers of howitzers in the army?