The Corps of Royal Artillery Drivers was a British Army corps founded (as the 'Corps of Captain Commissaries and Drivers') in 1793 and disbanded in 1822. It was established to provide trained and disciplined drivers for the Royal Artillery, a service that had previously relied upon civilian contractors. Though closely associated with the Royal Regiment of Artillery the corps was listed separately from it in the London Gazette until at least 1815. By 1814 the corps numbered more than 7,400 men and fielded more than 2,600 men at the 1815 Battle of Waterloo. The unit was reduced in size after the end of the Napoleonic Wars and disbanded in 1822 by the Duke of Wellington.
Foundation and service
What later became the Corps of Royal Artillery Drivers was founded in 1793 by Charles Lennox, 3rd Duke of Richmond who, as Master-General of the Ordnance, had responsibility for the British Army's artillery, engineers and logistics. Prior to this time the artillery guns, ammunition and other supplies had been transported by civilian contractors. These contractors supplied the necessary men, wagons and horses, but there were sometimes problems when these men some untrained abandoned their task in battle.
The men of the new corps were uniformed army personnel trained in managing guns, wagons and horses. The use of the corps allowed for quicker movement of the artillery; and, as provision was made for the gunners to travel on the gun limbers and wagons, reduced time for the guns to be brought into action. As first constituted, the corps consisted of 45 officers, 1,330 other ranks and 2,380 horses. By 1810 the corps had 78 officers, 4,860 other ranks and 7,000 horses; sufficient for the needs of the entire British field artillery. By 1814 the corps had grown to 88 officers and 7,352 other ranks; at the 1815 Battle of Waterloo more than half of the 5,300 artillery men present were from the corps of drivers. The corps had its headquarters within the Royal Artillery Barracks, Woolwich.
Disbandment
Following the conclusion of the Napoleonic Wars seven troops of the corps were disbanded, leaving it with five troops and 1,336 men – a measure that saved £14,570 per annum. The officers of the corps were retired and replaced by officers made available from the Horse Artillery, which had lost three troops. This provided a means for the Board of Ordnance to retain experienced gunnery officers. The officers made redundant from the Corps of Royal Artillery Drivers were granted retirement on full pay (half-pay was the usual allowance for retired officers) due to the unusual circumstances; this cost the board some £1,600 per year in pensions.
The corps was disbanded in 1822 by the Duke of Wellington, who was then Master-General of the Ordnance. The Royal Artillery thereafter took responsibility for its own transport, with the artillerymen in the field batteries functioning as drivers and gunners. Major-General Sir Alex Dixon stated in 1838 that the system provided for better economic and efficient use of men, with 5,000 artillerymen able to do the work previously carried out by the 7,000-strong Corps of Royal Artillery Drivers. Dixon stated that the corps had unnecessarily tied up several thousand men in logistics duty during the Peninsular War. The new system, which was to be maintained even in times of war, was said to be particularly suited to the British Army, which needed units to be made ready at short notice for foreign or colonial service.
Structure and organisation
As initially constituted, the corps was formed of several independent companies, each under the command of a captain commissary, who was individually empowered to buy and sell the horses required for his company to operate. This, however, led to mismanagement, with officers deriving 'considerable emoluments from the situation, by the sale of the dung'. As a result, 'an Officer of Artillery was appointed to take command of the whole': Lt-Col. (later Lt-Gen.) Robert Douglas, who served as Commandant from 1795 through until 1817.