author
A. B. (Alexander Brydie) Dyer
1852–1920
Best known for Handbook for Light Artillery, this career U.S. Army officer wrote with the practical clarity of someone who knew the subject from the inside. His work remains a useful window into late 19th-century military training and field practice.
1 Audiobook
Handbook for Light Artillery
by A. B. (Alexander Brydie) Dyer
About the author
Born in 1852, Alexander Brydie Dyer was an American army officer and writer. He graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point and later reached the rank of colonel.
He is chiefly remembered as the author of Handbook for Light Artillery, a detailed manual first published in the 1890s and reissued in later editions. The book reflects a hands-on, instructional style, covering the organization, equipment, and operation of field artillery in a way meant for soldiers and students rather than casual readers.
Dyer died in 1920. Although he is not widely known today outside military history circles, his writing has lasted because it preserves the working knowledge of an important branch of the army at a time of change in modern warfare.