The US Army

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Organization, deployment, and equipment of the US Army

[KWorld]

The US Army

The US Army of 1900 is a very small professional force, though larger than before the Iberian-American War because of the need to garrison the former Iberian islands in the Caribbean.  The US Army consists of 3 infantry corps, stationed in regimental groups along the East Coast, the West Coast, and in the Caribbean, along with a single cavalry corps, which is stationed in the Southwest.


Equipment

In 1900, the rifle equipping the US Army is the 1892 model Krag-Jorgenson, in 6 different versions.  Attempts to upgrade the loading of the .30-40 cartridge to a higher-pressure, higher velocity version have not been successful, however, and the US Army is actively looking for a replacement for the Krag.  The service pistol is the M1892 Colt revolver, in .38 Long Colt.  The US Army is not actively seeking a replacement for the M1892 (no Moro rebellion to push this yet), but overseas developments in the field of semi-automatic service pistols are being watched, and the US Army has requested interested manufacturers to provide .30" or larger semi-auto pistols for test purposes in August 1900.  Currently the US Army has standardized no machineguns, relying instead on the .45" Gatling, but the M1895 Colt machinegun saw service in Cuba with the US Marines and with the Volunteer regiments, and the Maxim has been trialed.

The field artillery arm is actively looking to replace it's current weapons, most of which are black powder weapons that date from the mid-1880s and were found lacking in the field in Cuba.  Again, interested manufacturers have been requested to provide examples of their products for testing, though in this case the date of test is September of 1900.

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US Army Structure circa 1900

Between the US Civil War and the Iberian-American War, the basic US Army line unit of organization was the regiment of 3 battalions of 4 companies (regiments of squadrons of 4 troops in the cavalry).  No larger permanent units were needed for fighting the Indians, and the use of such small units allowed for Army units to be widely distributed (helping Congressional support, and covering wider areas).  With the onset of the Iberian-American War, the US Army formed larger provisional units: the brigade (composed of 3 regiments), the division (3 brigades plus attachments), and the corps (3 divisions plus attachments).   Since the end of the Iberian-American War, the provisional units have remained in existence, but the Army has not yet formalized their structure.

The US Army Field Artillery is organized into battalions (or squadrons, if attached to a Cavalry unit) of 3 batteries (which correspond to infantry companies or cavalry troops).  To this point, field artillery regiments  are not used, and even battalions are more administrative than battle organizations, each battery being in general operated as a separate unit even when under unified command.  With the new indirect fire and telephone control, however, this seems likely to change.

In the US Army Coast Artillery, unlike the Field Artillery, the regiment is the basic unit of coast defence, comprising all of the guns that are emplaced to defend any particular port or city.  Each different type of gun comprising a part of the defences is assigned to a different battalion (in a few cases, multiple battalions of the same type of gun are are or will be assigned to a regiment, to lighten the load on the battalion commanders), and each group of guns of a type that are co-located make up a battery.  For example, the coast defences at New York in 1901 comprise 4 battalions (Heavy, Medium, and 2 Light battalions), with each battalion divided into multiple batteries, which are named for their locations.

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US Army Field & Siege Artillery
  circa 1901
 
The US Army's Field Artillery branch controls all cannon intended to be employed in support of the Army in the field.  Attempts have been made recently to investigate replacements for the Field Artillery's weapons, with varied success.  The light field guns (the 3.2" and 3.8" guns) will be replaced with the new Erhardt 3" quick-firing gun, but the 3.8" and 4.7" field howitzers, the 4.7" field gun, and the 7" siege howitzer and  7" siege mortar have no replacement in plan as of 1901.  It is expected that the next weapon to be added will be a field howitzer, to replace the 3.8" howitzer, followed by a heavy field gun and a heavy howitzer (which may replace both the 4.7" howitzer and the 7" siege howitzer depending on effectiveness).  The 7" siege mortar, being surprisingly capable for it's light weight of only 1715 pounds (125 pound projectile to a maximum of 5200 yards), is expected to remain in service the longest.  The US Army has no present plan to acquire the 10" siege howitzer tested in 1900 at Watervliet Arsenal for service, and no plans to replace the 3.6" field mortar.