Artillery and Artillerymen in the Army of New Granada in the First Half of the 19th Century

Abstract

Studies on the professionalisation of armed forces often focus on the institutionalisation of military academies and schools. For 19th-century Colombia, this heuristic path is challenging to follow as such educational institutions were short-lived or nonexistent. Hence, there is a need to explore alternative avenues to trace how artillery officers, integral to the most technical and complex branch of armies, were trained and attained expertise in handling gunpowder mixtures and operating the cannons of the period. This research relies on reports from the Secretary of War and Navy, utilising a prosopographic method to trace the trajectories of several artillerymen in the New Granadian army from the 1820s to the early 1860s. It is concluded that these officers achieved a degree of expertise and professionalism in weapon handling through years of service, study of manuals, and basic knowledge disseminated by veteran artillerymen, gunsmiths, and powder makers, who were responsible for cannons in various theatres of operations.