The French artillery arm (not including the Guard units) consisted of foot and horse artillery, pontonniers, artificers, and armorers. The organizations associated with the artillery were the artillery train, cannoniers garde-cotes (coast defense artillery); cannoniers veterans, and local artillery units, the cannoniers sedentaires.
In 1805 there were eight foot artillery regiments, six horse artillery regiments, eight artillery train battalions, two pontonnier battalions, and a company of armorers.
In 1812 there were nine foot artillery regiments, six artillery regiments, twenty-seven train battalions, nineteen companies of artificers and five companies of armorers.
In 1810-1811 the Dutch horse artillery formed the 7th Regiment of Artillerie a Cheval.
From Louis Tousard's American Artillerist's Companion, Volume II, page 75 regarding the French artillery arm:
'The French imperial corps of artillery, at this time, is composed of eight regiments of foot artillery, and six regiments of horse artillery. The full compliment of the first is 2,582 men, including the officers, and the total of the foot artillery is 20,656. The full compliment of a regiment of horse artillery is 524 men, and the total is 3,229.'
'Fifteen companies of artificers, 92 men including four officers, 1,380. Eight battalions of the train, the great complement of which is 477 men, and the total, including officers, 3,816.'
'When the battalions of the train are put on the war establishment, they are increased to the same number of battalions, of six companies, each of 99 men, 60 of whom are conscripts.'
'There are also two battalions of pontonneers of 610 men; officers, soldiers, and artificers, total 1220.'
'Fourteen companies of veteran cannoniers, 50 men each, 700 men, and 128 garde-cote companies of 121 men each, which give a complement of 15,488 men.'
'The whole of the French artillery is thus 46,489 men, including the officers…'
The French artillery parcs consisted of the Grand Parc, which was the army-level artillery park which was divided into two parts. The first was the mobile park which was stationed at the immediate rear of the army with resupply ammunition and spare parts carried in wagons. The second, the fixed park established the temporary arsenals and maintenance shops which were located in one or more fortified depots along the army's line of communications.
Each army corps (corps d'armee) had its own artillery park which contained spare vehicles (caissons, field forges, and supply wagons) and also had extra field pieces (one for every ten in the gun companies). The park was commanded/directed by a senior artillery officer with a small staff along with a squad of artillerymen detailed one from each gun company in the corps.
These two parcs were not the repository of the army's or corps' artillery.
The artillery gun companies were assigned to either the corps or to the artillery reserve under army control. They were commanded by the corps or army artillery chiefs, nearly always an artillery general officer. The corps gun companies were further assigned to the infantry divisions with some kept as a corps artillery reserve.
The train d'artillerie was an organization founded and organized by Napoleon in 1800 in time for the Marengo campaign. Its mission was to haul the artillery vehicles whether in the parcs, army, or corps. The artillery train battalions with the army were under the supervision of a general of brigade with the title 'Inspector General of the Artillery Train.' These were train troops, not artillerymen.
Each train company assigned to a gun company to haul its equipment was usually semi-permanently assigned to that gun company, and that brigaded unit acted as one unit. The train company commander was a lieutenant, which subordinated him to the gun company commander, who commanded the entire unit. the guns and vehicles belonged to the gun company, the horses to the train company. The entire organization was efficient and worked excellently together.
Each caliber of field piece had a different number of caissons assigned to it to haul its ammunition. 4-pounders were assigned two, 6- and 8-pounders three, 12-pounders five, and howitzers usually between three and five. Horse artillery vehicles were all pulled by six horses as were 12-pounders and at least one caisson is a 12-pounder gun company. Everything else was pulled by four horses. The only time horse teams were reduced was by casualties.
Ammunition resupply was handled by a shuttle service between the parcs and the gun companies. Only one caisson per piece was with the gun company, the others being assigned to the parcs for resupply. An empty one coming to the rear for replenishment would be replaced by another in the same company on the firing line. Additionally, each foot artillery company assigned to an infantry divisions would have four ammunition caissons which contained infantry ammunition to keep the troops resupplied.
When emplacing, the coffrets carrying ready-use ammunition was taken from the piece and placed on the limbers and that was refilled from the caissons assigned to each piece. Further, each piece would have a gun guide run forward to guide each piece into position and in addition each gun crew in the horse artillery companies would have a designated horse holder to take care of the gunner’s horses.
The bottom line in regard to the gun companies and the artillery train companies is that they were not separate entities even though they belonged to different organizations. They were integrated so that they functioned together on campaign and in combat.
The Guard artillery began with Napoleon’s Guides which had a small artillery company. By 1804 there were two companies of artillery, both horse artillery along with two train companies. Along with the Guard infantry and cavalry, the Guard artillery was assigned velites, the infantry in 1805 the cavalry and artillery a year later. The horse artillery was enlarged to a regiment of 6 companies which was reduced to four companies when Napoleon ordered the organization of three companies of foot artillery of the Guard to man 12-pounders along with three companies in 1808-1809. The Guard foot artillery became a full regiment in 1810-1812, its first commander and organizer being Antoine Drouot, who commanded it at Wagram in July 1809.
The original conscript artillery became the artillery of the Young Guard. Further development of the Guard artillery arm. In 1813-1814 there were six companies of horse artillery and six companies of foot artillery belonging to the Old Guard. There was also a 12-company regiment of the artillery train, a company of veterans, and a company of combined ouvrier and pontonniers. The Young Guard artillery consisted of fourteen foot artillery companies and one horse artillery company and the Young Guard had its own artillery train regiment.
Napoleon’s intent of forming a large Guard artillery organization was for it to serve as the army’s artillery reserve.