1824 James Monroe - "The Artillery School"

Today the United States Army Field Artillery School (USAFAS) trains Field Artillery Soldiers and Marines in tactics, techniques, and procedures for the employment of fire support systems in support of the maneuver commander.    The USAFAS was founded in 1911 in Fort Sill Oklahoma, but it's history goes back much further.   It's  predecessor, "The Artillery School" was founded in 1824 at Fort Monroe in Chesapeake Bay under President James Monroe and Secretary of War John C. Calhoun.  In his last state of the Union, Monroe laid before Congress a plan to establish an artillery school at Fort Monroe in Chesapeake Bay where West Point cadets would continue their training in artillery before joining their company as an artillery instructor. 

In September of 1776, Colonel Henry Knox sent a letter to the congressional committee visiting army headquarters with a number of recommendations including that of establishing an artillery school.  Almost 20 years later in 1794, the first attempt at establishing artillery instruction was tried when  Military Academy cadets were first attached a regiment of artillerists and engineers.   But these attempts failed as evidenced by a letter in 1798 from the Secretary of War saying:  "It was supposed that these cadets would form a nursery from which qualified officers might be drawn to fill vacancies; but it must occur that, without proper masters to teach them the sciences necessary to the engineers and artillerists, this nursery can produce no valuable plants".  (Birkhimer, 1884)   Over time, it was determined that cadets needed more than just courses at West Point, and that their training was not the end, but the beginning of earnest preparation in the practical duties of the profession of a soldier.  No amount of talented professors, or scientific study could make West Point into a suitable artillery institution for the entire U.S. military. Instead what was needed, was a regiment of trained artillerists who could go out into the field and instruct others.

To make this happen, the Adjutant General's office of Washington signed Orders No. 18 to establish a practical school for artillery at Fort Monroe at Old Point Comfort in the Chesapeake Bay area.  The order directed eleven companies of artillery to be stationed at the fort constituting a "corps for instruction" with the intention that they perfect the various skills and then be ordered to other posts where they could instruct other companies.   As President James Monroe described it in 1824, "In this mode a complete knowledge of the science and duties of this arm will be extended throughout the whole corps of artillery".   In 1824, Monroe along with his Secretary of War John C. Calhoun wanted to create a permanent structure for this instruction, and incorporate it into the training provided at West Point.  The idea was that cadets assigned to the artillery would upon graduation attend the artillery training at Fort Monroe.  Here they would continue their education with practical courses and practice in artillery to prepare them as instructors. This would create a rotation of men through the artillery institute and serve as an extension of the West Point Training.  But the President needed Congress to authorize such a plan to carry out a complete system of exercise and instruction of field artillery including both foot and horse artillery.  In 1824, Monroe submitted the plan to the Congress for their consideration:

"The military establishment in all its branches, in the performance of the various duties assigned to each, justifies the favorable view which was presented of the efficiency of its organization at the last session. All the appropriations have been regularly applied to the objects intended by Congress, and so far as the disbursements have been made the accounts have been rendered and settled without loss to the public. 

The condition of the Army itself, as relates to the officers and men, in science and discipline is highly respectable. The Military Academy, on which the Army essentially rests, and to which it is much indebted for this state of improvement, has attained, in comparison with any other institution of a like kind, a high degree of perfection. 

Experience, however, has shewn that the dispersed condition of the corps of artillery is unfavorable to the discipline of that important branch of the military establishment. To remedy this inconvenience, eleven companies have been assembled at the fortification erected at Old Point Comfort as a school for artillery instruction, with intention as they shall be perfected in the various duties of that service to order them to other posts, and, to supply their places with other companies for instruction in like manner. In this mode a complete knowledge of the science and duties of this arm will be extended throughout the whole corps of artillery. But to carry this object fully into effect will require the aid of Congress, to obtain which the subject is now submitted to your consideration."

With the insistence of Secretary of War Calhoun who backed the plan, Congress did approve a resolution "directing a system of Calvary Tactics, and a system of Instruction for Artillery, to be prepared for the use of the Calvary an Artillery of the Militia".   This resolution authorized the Secretary of War to prepare such a system, but the plan was never fully realized.   There were plenty of cadets and troops to train, but the artillery and materials available for practice was small and no cavalry or horse artillery was ever organized.   Finally, in 1828 with the death of Commanding General of the United States army, General Jacob Brown, the plan lost one of it's biggest advocates.  Brown's successor, Major-General Alexander Macomb chose to reduce the number companies from eleven to six, and put an end to the rotation of men through the artillery institute and hence the expansion of the artillery training program of West Point.  In 1858, the plan was resurrected, except that there were only 8 companies.   As in 1824, West Point graduates assigned to the artillery served one year at the artillery school before joining their companies as instructors.  The official designation was "The Artillery School", but the outbreak of the Civil war put an end to the program, before the first class was able to join their companies.   In 1867, the artillery school was once again resumed, with one slight change.  Rather than a rotating "corp of instructors", the battery of instructors was made permanent.   Graduates of West Point assigned to the artillery, still completed additional training at the artillery school, but did not rotate in as instructors.

In 1825, President John Quincy Adams, urged Congress to consider further legislation to aid in the establishment of an Artillery school at Fort Monroe, in Hampton Virginia.

"The Military Academy at West Point, under the restrictions of a severe but paternal superintendence, recommends itself more and more to the patronage of the nation, and the numbers of meritorious officers which it forms and introduces to the public service furnishes the means of multiplying the undertakings of the public improvements to which their acquirements at that institution are peculiarly adapted. The school of artillery practice established at Fortress Monroe Hampton, VA is well suited to the same purpose, and may need the aid of further legislative provision to the same end. The reports of the various officers at the head of the administrative branches of the military service, connected with the quartering, clothing, subsistence, health, and pay of the Army, exhibit the assiduous vigilance of those officers in the performance of their respective duties, and the faithful accountability which has pervaded every part of the system"

References

Presidency.ucsb.edu. (2017). James Monroe: Eighth Annual Message. [online] Available at: http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=29466 [Accessed 5 Dec. 2017].

Presidency.ucsb.edu. (2018). John Quincy Adams: First Annual Message. [online] Available at: http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=29467 [Accessed 3 Jan. 2018].
Birkhimer, W. (1884). Historical sketch of the organization, administration, material, and tactics of the artillery, U.S. Army. Washington., pgs 120-127

Register of debates in Congress. (1826). Washington: Gales and Seaton.  pg 37

En.wikipedia.org. (2017). United States Army Field Artillery School. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Army_Field_Artillery_School [Accessed 5 Dec. 2017].