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History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery, Vol. 1 / Compiled from the Original Records cover

History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery, Vol. 1 / Compiled from the Original Records

Chapter 3: PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION.
By Francis Duncan
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About This Book

The volume presents a detailed institutional history of the Royal Artillery, tracing its administrative origins under the Masters‑General of the Ordnance, early development, formal organization, and establishment of training at Woolwich. It follows the creation and succession of battalions, troops, and companies, profiles key figures and administrative reforms, and narrates the corps' participation in major sieges and campaigns through the late eighteenth century. Extensive chapterized accounts are complemented by appendices and tables that record unit lineages, captain successions, and battery designations to aid readers in following organizational continuity.

PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION.

The unexpected favour accorded to the first edition of this work having already rendered a second necessary, the author has taken the opportunity of making many corrections and additions, and of embodying the indices of both volumes in one. The history, as it now stands, represents the services of the Corps in detail as far as the year 1815, and gives a summary of the services of those batteries now in existence, which represent the troops and companies of the old Royal Horse Artillery, and of the nine senior battalions of the Royal Artillery. The tables at the end of both volumes will also assist the reader in tracing the antecedents of every battery in the Regiment.

The author takes this opportunity of expressing his gratitude to his brother officers for the cordial sympathy and encouragement which he has received from them during his labours, and his hope that the noble narrative commenced by him will not long remain unfinished. The importance of completing the record of the Corps' services in the Crimea and India, while the officers who served in these campaigns are yet alive, is very apparent; and the author would respectfully suggest that any documents throwing light upon these services, which are in the possession of any one belonging to, or interested in the Corps, should be deposited for safe keeping, and for reference, in the Regimental Record Office at Woolwich.

March 2, 1874.