The invention of gunpowder, and its application to throwing 
heavy bodies in a given direction, are now pretty generally 
conceded to have been of eastern origin. In China and India, 
saltpetre is the spontaneous excrescence of the soil, and, very 
naturally, the natives soon became acquainted with its properties. 
Fireworks made of mixtures of this salt with other combustible 
bodies were manufactured at a very early period in China, and 
used for purposes of war as well as for public festivities. We have 
no information at what time the peculiar composition of saltpetre, 
sulphur, and charcoal became known, the explosive quality of 
which has given it such an immense importance. According to 
some Chinese chronicles, mentioned by M. Paravey in a report 
made to the French academy in 1850, guns were known as early 
as 618 B.C.; in other ancient Chinese writings, fire-balls projected 
from bamboo tubes, and a sort of exploding shell, are described. 
At all events, the use of gunpowder and cannon for warlike 
purposes does not appear to have been properly developed in the 
earlier periods of Chinese history, as the first authenticated 
instance of their extensive application is of a date as late as 1232 
of our era, when the Chinese, besieged by the Mongols in 
Kai-fong-fu, defended themselves with cannon throwing stone 
balls, and used explosive shells, petards, and other fireworks based 
upon gunpowder. 

The Hindoos appear to have had some sort of warlike fireworks 
as early as the time of Alexander the Great, according to the 

a This presumably refers to Ch. H. de Paravey’s book Mémoire sur la découverte 
trés-ancienne en Asie et dans l'Indo-Perse de la poudre a canon et des armes 4 feu.— Ed. 

Artillery 189 

evidence of the Greek writers Aelian, Ctesias, Philostratus, and 
Themistius. This, however, certainly was not gunpowder, though 
saltpetre may have largely entered into its composition. In the 
Hindoo laws some sort of fire-arms appears to be alluded to; 
gunpowder is certainly mentioned in them, and, according to Prof. 
H. H. Wilson, its composition is described in old Hindoo medical 
works. The first mention of cannon, however, coincides pretty 
nearly with the oldest ascertained positive date of its occurrence in 
China. Chased’s poems, about 1200, speak of fire-engines throw- 
ing balls, the whistling of which was heard at the distance of 10 
coss (1,500 yards). About 1258 we read of fireworks on carriages 
belonging to the king of Delhi. A hundred years later the use of 
artillery was general in India; and when the Portuguese arrived 
there, in 1498, they found the Indians as far advanced in the use 
of fire-arms as they themselves were. 

From the Chinese and Hindoos the Arabs received saltpetre and 
fireworks. Two of the Arabic names for saltpetre signify China salt, 
and China snow. Chinese red and white fire is mentioned by their 
ancient authors. Incendiary fireworks are also of a date almost 
contemporaneous with the great Arabic invasion of Asia and 
Africa.”*° Not to mention the maujanitz, a somewhat mythical 
fire-arm said to have been known and used by Mohammed, it is 
certain that the Byzantine Greeks received the first knowledge of 
fireworks (afterward developed in the Greek fire) from their Arab 
enemies. A writer of the 9th century, Marcus Gracchus, gives a 
composition of 6 parts of saltpetre, 2 of sulphur, 1 of coal, which 
comes very near to the correct composition of gunpowder.* The 
latter is stated with sufficient exactness, and first of all European 
writers, by Roger Bacon, about 1216, in his Liber de Nullitate 
Magiae,”*” but yet for fully a hundred years the western nations 
remained ignorant of its use. The Arabs, however, appear to have 
soon improved upon the knowledge they received from the 
Chinese. According to Conde’s history of the Moors in Spain,” 
guns were used, 1118, in the siege of Saragossa, and a culverin of 
4 |b. calibre, among other guns, was cast in Spain in 1132.%% Abd- 
el-Mumen is reported to have taken Mohadia, near Bona, in 
Algeria, with fire-arms, in 1156, and the following year Niebla, in 
Spain, was defended against the Castilians with fire-machines 
throwing bolts and stones. If the nature of the engines used by the 
Arabs in the 12th century remains still to be investigated, it is 

a Marcus Graecus, Liber ignium ad comburendos hostes.— Ed. 
b J. A. Conde, Historia de la dominacion de los Arabes en Espana, t. I-III.— Ed. 

quite certain that in 1280 artillery was used against Cordova, and 
that by the beginning of the 14th century its knowledge had 
passed from the Arabs to the Spaniards. Ferdinand IV_ took 
Gibraltar by cannon in 1308. Baza in 1312 and 1323, Martos in 
1326, Alicante in 1331, were attacked with artillery, and carcasses 
were thrown by guns in some of these sieges. From the Spaniards 
the use of artillery passed to the remaining European nations. The 
French, in the siege of Puy Guillaume in 1338, had guns, and in 
the same year the German knights in Prussia used them.*” By 
1350, fire-arms were common in. all countries of western, 
southern, and central Europe. That artillery is of eastern origin, is 
also proved by the manufacture of the oldest European ordnance. 
The gun was made of bars of wrought iron welded longitudinally 
together, and strengthened by heavy iron rings forced over them. 
It was composed of several pieces, the movable breech being fixed 
to the flight after loading. The oldest Chinese and Indian guns 
are made exactly in the same way, and they are as old, or older, 
than the oldest European guns. Both European and Asiatic 
cannon, about the I4th century, were of very inferior construc- 
tion, showing artillery to have still been in its infancy. Thus, if it 
remains uncertain when the composition of gunpowder and its 
application to fire-arms were invented, we can at least fix the 
period when it first became an important engine in warfare; the 
very clumsiness of the guns of the ]4th century, wherever they 
occur, proves their novelty as regular war-machines. The Euro- 
pean guns of the 14th century were very unwicldy affairs. The 
large-calibred ones could only be moved by being taken to pieces, 
each piece forming a wagon-load. Even the small-calibred guns 
were exceedingly heavy, there being then no proper proportion 
established between the weight of the gun and that of the shot, 
nor between the shot and the charge. When they were brought 
into position, a sort of timber framework or scaffolding was 
erected for each gun to be fired from. The town of Ghent had a 
gun which, with the framework, measured 50 feet in length. 
Gun-carriages were still unknown. The cannons were mostly fired 
at very high elevations, like our mortars, and consequently had 
very little effect until shells were introduced. The projectiles were 
generally round shot of stone, for small calibres sometimes iron 
bolts. Yet, with all these drawbacks, cannon was not only used in 
sieges and the defence of towns, but in the field also, and on 
board ships of war. As carly as 1386 the English took 2 French 
vessels armed with cannon. If the guns recovered from the Mary 
Rose (sunk 1545) may serve as a clue, those first ship guns were 

Artillery 19] 

simply let into and secured in a log of wood hollowed out for the 
purpose, so as to be incapable of elevation. 

In the course of the 15th century, considerable tmprovements 
were made, both in the construction and application of artillery. 
Cannon began to be cast of iron, copper, or brass. The movable 
breech was falling into disuse, the whole gun being cast of a piece. 
The best founderies were in France and Germany. In France, too, 
the first attempts were made to bring up and place guns under 
cover during a siege. About 1450 a sort of trench was introduced, 
and shortly after the first breaching batteries were constructed by 
the brothers Bureau, with the aid of which the king of France, 
Charles VII, retook in one year all the places the English had 
taken from him. The greatest improvements were, however, made 
by Charles VIII of France. He finally did away with the movable 
breech, cast his guns of brass and in one piece, introduced 
trunnions, and gun-carriages on wheels, and had none but iron 
shot. He also simplified the calibres, and took the lighter regularly 
into the field. Of these, the double cannon was placed on a 
4-wheeled carriage drawn by 35 horses; the remainder had 
2-wheeled carriages, the trails dragging on the ground, and were 
drawn by from 24 down to 2 horses. A body of gunners was 
attached to each, and the service so organized as to constitute the 
first distinct corps of field artillery; the lighter calibres were 
movable enough to shift about with the other troops during 
action, and even to keep up with the cavalry. It was this new arm 
which procured to Charles VIII his surprising successes in Italy. 
The Italian ordnance was still moved by bullocks; the guns were 
still composed of several pieces, and had to be placed on their 
frames when the position was reached; they fired stone shot, and 
were altogether so clumsy that the French fired a gun oftener in 
an hour than the Italians could do in a day. The battle of Fornovo 
(1495), gained by the French field artillery,”° spread terror over 
Italy, and the new arm was considered irresistible. Machiavelli’s 
Arte della Guerra was written expressly, in order to indicate means 
to counteract its effect by the skilful disposition of the infantry 
and cavalry. The successors of Charles VIII, Louis XII and 
Francis I, continued to improve and lighten their field artillery. 
Francis organized the ordnance as a distinct department, under a 
grand-master of the ordnance. His field-guns broke the hitherto 
invincible masses of the Swiss pikemen at Marignano, 1515, by 
rapidly moving from one flanking position to another, and thus 
they decided the battle. The Chinese and Arabs knew the use and 
manufacture of shells, and it is probable that from the latter this 

knowledge passed to the European nations. Still, the adoption of 
this projectile, and of the mortar from which it is now fired, did 
not take place in Europe before the second half of the 15th 
century, and is commonly ascribed to Pandolfo Malatesta, prince 
of Rimia. The first shells consisted of 2 hollow metal hemispheres 
screwed together, the art of casting them hollow was of later 
invention. 

The emperor Charles V was not behind his French rivals in the 
improvement of field-guns. He introduced limbers, thus turning 
the two-wheeled gun, when it had to be moved, into a 4-wheeled 
vehicle capable of going at a faster pace and of surmounting 
obstacles of ground. Thus his light guns, at the battle of Renty in 
1554,°** could advance at a gallop. 

The first theoretical researches, respecting gunnery and the 
flight of projectiles, also fall in this period. Tartaglia, an Italian, is 
said to be the discoverer of the fact that the angle of elevation of 
45° gives, in vacuo, the greatest range. The Spaniards Collado and 
Ufano also occupied themselves with similar inquiries. Thus the 
theoretical foundations for scientific gunnery were laid. About the 
same time Vannocci Biringoccio’s inquiries into the art of casting 
(1540)* produced considerable progress in the manufacture of 
cannon, while the invention of the calibre scale by Hartmann, by 
which every part of a gun was measured by its proportion to the 
diameter of bore, gave a certain standard for the construction of 
ordnance, and paved the way for the introduction of fixed 
theoretical principles, and of general experimental rules. 

One of the first effects of the improved artillery was a total 
change in the art of fortification. Since the time of the Assyrian 
and Babylonian monarchies, that art had made but little progress. 
But now the new fire-arm everywhere made a breach on the 
masonry walls of the old system, and a new plan had to be 
invented. The defences had to be constructed so as to expose as 
little masonry as possible to the direct fire of the besieger, and to 
admit of a strong artillery being placed on the ramparts. The old 
masonry wall was replaced by an earthwork rampart, only faced 
with masonry, and the small flanking town was turned into a large 
pentagonal bastion. Gradually the whole of the masonry used in 
fortification was covered against direct fire by outlying earthworks, 
and by the middle of the 17th century the defence of a fortified 
place became once more relatively stronger than the attack, until 
Vauban again gave the ascendant to the latter. 

a V. Biringoccio, Prrotechnia.— Ed. 

Artillery 193 

Hitherto the operation of loading had been carried on with 
loose powder shovelled into the gun. About 1600 the introduction 
of cartridges, cloth bags containing the prescribed quantity of 
powder, much abridged the time necessary for loading, and 
insured greater precision of fire by greater equality of charge. 
Another important invention was made about the same time, that 
of grape-shot and case-shot. The construction of field-guns, 
adapted for throwing hollow shot, also belongs to this period. The 
numerous sieges occurring during the war of Spain against the 
Netherlands” contributed very much to the improvement of the 
artillery used in the defence and attack of places, especially as 
regards the use of mortars and howitzers, of shells, carcasses, and 
red-hot shot, and the composition of fuzes and other military 
fireworks. The calibres in use in the beginning of the 17th century 
were still of all sizes, from the 48-pounder to the smallest falconets 
bored for balls of '/s Ib. weight. In spite of all improvements, field 
artillery was still so imperfect that all this variety of calibre was 
required to obtain something like the effect we now realize with a 
few middle-sized guns between the 6-pounder and the 12- 
pounder. The light calibres, at that time, had mobility, but no 
effect; the large calibres had effect, but no mobility; the 
intermediate ones had neither the one nor the other in a degree 
sufficient for all purposes. Consequently, all calibres were main- 
tained, and jumbled together in one mass, each battery consisting 
generally of a regular assortment of cannon. The elevation was 
given to the piece by a quoin. The carriages were still clumsy, and 
a separate model was of course required for each calibre, so that it 
was next to impossible to take spare wheels and carriages into the 
field. The axletrees were of wood, and of a different size for each 
calibre. In addition to this, the dimensions of the cannon and 
carriages were not even the same for one single calibre, there 
being everywhere a great many ‘pieces of old construction, and 
many differences of construction, in the several workshops of a 
country. Cartridges were still confined to guns in fortresses; in the 
field the cannon was loaded with loose powder, introduced on a 
shovel, upon which a wad and the shot were rammed down. Loose 
powder was equally worked down the touchhole, and the whole 
process was extremely slow. The gunners were not considered 
regular soldiers, but formed a guild of their own, recruiting 
themselves by apprentices, and sworn not to divulge the secrets 
and mysteries of their handicraft. When a war broke out, the 
belligerents took as many of them into their service as they could 
get, over and above their peace establishment. Each of these 

gunners or bombardiers received the command of a gun, had a 
saddle-horse, and apprentice, and as many professional assistants 
as he required, beside the requisite number of men for shifting 
heavy pieces. Their pay was fourfold that of a soldier. The horses 
of the artillery were contracted for when a war broke out; the 
contractor also found harness and drivers. In battle the guns were 
placed in a row in front of the line, and unlimbered; the horses 
were taken out of the shafts. When an advance was ordered, the 
linbers were horsed, and the guns limbered up; sometimes the 
lighter calibres were moved, for short distances, by men. The 
powder and shot were carried in separate carts; the limbers had 
not yet any boxes for ammunition. Manoeuvring, loading, 
priming, pointing, and firing, were all operations of great 
slowness, according to our present notions, and the number of 
hits, with such imperfect machinery, and the almost total want of 
science in gunnery, must have been small indeed. 

The appearance of Gustavus Adolphus in Germany, during the 
30. years’ war,”*! marks an immense progress in artillery. This 
great warrior did away with the extremely small calibres, which he 
replaced, first, by his so-called leather guns, light wrought-iron 
tubes covered with ropes and leather. These were intended to fire 
grape-shot only, which thus was first introduced into field warfare. 
Hitherto its use had been confined to the defence of the ditch in 
fortresses. Along with grape and case shot, he also introduced 
cartridges in his field artillery. The leather guns not proving very 
durable, were replaced by light cast-iron 4-pounders, 16 calibres 
long, weighing 6 cwt. with the carriage, and drawn by two horses. 
Two of these pieces were attached to each regiment of infantry. 
Thus the regimental artillery which was preserved in many armies 
up to the beginning of this century, arose by superseding the old 
small calibred, but comparatively clumsy guns, and was originally 
intended for case shot only, though very soon it was also made to 
fire round shot. The heavy guns were kept distinct, and formed 
into powerful batteries occupying favorable positions on the wings 
or in front of the centre of the army. Thus by the separation of 
the light from the heavy artillery, and by the formation of 
battertes, the tactics of field artillery were founded. It was General: 
‘Torstensson, the inspector-general of the Swedish artillery, who 
mainly contributed to these results by which field artillery now 
first became an independent arm, subject to distinct rules of its 
own for its use in battle. Two further important inventions were 
made about this time: about 1650, that of the horizontal elevating 
screw, as it was used until Gribeauval’s times, and about 1697, that 

Artillery 195 

of tubes filled with powder for priming, instead of working 
powder into the touchhole. Both pointing and loading became 
much facilitated thereby. Another great improvement was the 
invention of the prolonge, for manoeuvring at short distances. 
The number of guns carried into the field during the 17th 
century, was very large. At Greifenhagen, Gustavus Adolphus had 
80 pieces with 20,000 men, and at Frankfort-on-the-Oder, 200 
pieces with 18,000 men.** Artillery trains of 100 to 200 guns were 
of very common occurrence during the wars of Louis XIV. At 
Malplaquet, nearly 300 pieces of cannon were employed on both 
sides; this was the largest mass of artillery hitherto brought 
together on a single field of battle. Mortars were very generally 
taken into the field about this time. The French still maintained 
their superiority in artillery. They were the first to do away with 
the old guild system and enrol the gunners as regular soldiers, 
forming, in 1671, a regiment of artillery, and regulating the 
various duties and ranks of the officers. Thus this branch of 
service was recognized as an independent arm, and the education 
of the officers and men was taken in hand by the state. An 
artillery school, for at least 50 years the only one in existence, was 
founded in France in 1690. A hand-book of artilleristic science, 
very good for the time, was published in 1697 by Saint-Remy.’ Still 
the secrecy surrounding the “mystery” of gunnery was so great 
that many improvements adopted in other countries were as yet 
unknown in France, and the construction and composition of 
every European artillery differed widely from any other. Thus the 
French had not yet adopted the howitzer, which had _ been 
invented in Holland and adopted in most armies before 1700. 
Limber boxes for ammunition, first introduced by Maurice of 
Nassau, were unknown in France, and indeed but little adopted. 
The gun, carriage, and limber were too heavy to admit of their 
being encumbered with the extra weight of ammunition. The very 
small calibres, up to 3 Ibs. inclusive, had indeed been done away 
with, but the light regimental artillery was unknown in France. 
The charges used in the artillery of the times hitherto considered 
were, for guns, generally very heavy; originally equal in weight to 
the ball. Although the powder was of inferior quality, these 
charges were still far stronger in effect than those now in use, thus 
they were one of the chief causes of the tremendous weight of the 
cannon. To resist such charges the weight of a brass cannon was 

a A reference to Mémoires dartillerie, a collection of works by artillery officers 
compiled and edited by Saint-Remy.— Ed. 

often from 250 to 400 times the weight of the shot. Gradually, 
however, the necessity of lightening the guns compelled a 
reduction of the charge, and about the beginning of the 18th 
century, the charge was generally only one-half the weight of the 
shot. For mortars and howitzers the charge was regulated by the 
distance, and generally very small. 

The end of the 17th and beginning of the 18th century was the 
period in which the artillery was in most countries finally 
incorporated in the army, deprived of its mediaeval character of a 
guild, recognized as an arm, and thus enabled to take a more 
regular and rapid development. The consequence was an almost 
immediate and very marked progress. The irregularity and variety 
of calibres and models, the uncertainty of all existing empirical 
rules, the total want of well-established principle, now became 
evident and unbearable. Accordingly, experiments were 
everywhere made on a large scale to ascertain the effects of 
calibres, the relations of the calibre to the charge and to the 
weight and length of the gun, the distribution of metal in the 
cannon, the ranges, the effects of recoil on the carriages, &c. 
Between 1730 and 1740, Bélidor directed such experiments at La 
Fére in France, Robins in England, and Papacino d’Antoni at 
Turin. The result was a great simplification of the calibres, a 
better distribution of the metal of the gun, and a very general 
reduction of the charges, which were now between ‘/, and '/, the 
weight of the shot. The progress of scientific gunnery went side by 
side with these improvements. Galileo had originated the parabolic 
theory, Torricelli his pupil, Anderson, Newton, Blondel, Ber- 
noulli, Wolff, and Euler, occupied themselves with further 
determining the flight of projectiles, the resistance of the air, and 
the causes of their deviations. The above-named experimental 
artillerists also contributed materially to the advancement of the 
mathematical portion of gunnery. 

Under Frederick the Great the Prussian field artillery was again 
considerably lightened. The short, light, regimental guns, not 
more than 14, 16, or 18 calibres long, and weighing from 80 to 
150 times the weight of the shot, were found to have a sufficient 
range for the battles of those days, decided principally by infantry 
fire. Accordingly, the king had all his 12-pounders cast the same 
proportional length and weight. The Austrians, in 1753, followed 
this example, as well as most other states; but Frederick himself, in 
the latter part of his reign, again provided his reserve artillery 
with long powerful guns, his experience at Leuthen*™*” having 
convinced him of their superior effects. Frederick the Great 

Artillery 197 

introduced a new arm by mounting the gunners of some of his 
batteries, and thus creating horse artillery, destined to give the 
same support to cavalry as foot-artillery did to infantry. The new 
arm proved extremely effective, and was very soon adopted by 
most armies; some, as the Austrians, mounting the gunners in 
separate wagons as a substitute. The proportion of guns with the 
armies of the 18th century was still very large. Frederick the Great 
had, in 1756, with 70,000 men 206 guns, 1762 with 67,000 men 
275 guns, 1778 with 180,000 men 811 guns. These guns, with the 
exception of the regimental ones which followed their battalions, 
were organized in batteries of various sizes from 6 to 20 guns 
each. The regimental guns advanced with the infantry, while the 
batteries were firing from chosen positions, and sometimes 
advanced to a second position, but here they generally awaited the 
issue of the battle; they left, as regards mobility, still very much to 
be desired, and at Kunersdorf,”** the loss of the battle was due to 
the impossibility of bringing up the artillery in the decisive 
moment. The Prussian general, Tempelhof, also introduced 
field-mortar batteries, the light mortars being carried on the backs 
of mules; but they were soon again abolished after their 
uselessness had been proved in the war of 1792 and ’93. The 
scientific branch of artillery was, during this period, cultivated 
especially in Germany. Struensee and Tempelhof wrote useful 
works on the subject,* but Scharnhorst was the leading artillery- 
man of his day. His hand-book of artillery is the first comprehen- 
sive really scientific treatise on the subject, while his hand-book for 
officers, published as early as 1787, contains the first scientific 
development of the tactics of field artillery.? His works, though 
antiquated in many respects, are still classical. In the Austrian 
service, Gen. Vega, in the Spanish, Gen. Morla, in the Prussian, 
Hoyer and Rouvroy, made valuable contributions to artilleristic 
literature.“ The French had reorganized their artillery according to 
the system of Valliére in 1732; they retained 24, 16, 12, 8, and 
4-pounders, and adopted the 8-inch howitzer. Still there was a 
great variety of models of construction; the guns were from 22 to 
26 calibres long, and weighed about 250 times as much as the 

a K. A. Struensee, Anfangsgriinde der Artillerie, G. F. Tempelhof, Le bombardier 
prussien.— Ed. 

b G. Scharnhorst, Handbuch der Artillerie, Bd. 1-3 and Handbuch für Officiere. 
Erster Theil von der Artillerie.— Ed. 

¢ G. Vega, Praktische Anweisung zum Bombenwerfen; T.Morla, Tratado de 
artilleria, J. G. Hoyer, Allgemeines Worterbuch der Artillerie, an 1-2; F. G. Rouvroy, 
Vorlesungen tiber die Artillerie, Th. 1-3.— Ed. 

8* 

corresponding shot. At length, in 1774, General Gribeauval, who 
had served with the Austrians in the 7 years’ war, and who knew 
the superiority of the new Prussian and Austrian artilleries, 
carried the introduction of his new system. The siege artillery was 
definitively separated from the field artillery. It was formed of all 
guns heavier than 12-pounders, and of all the old heavy 
12-pounder guns. The field artillery was composed of 12-pounder, 
8-pounder, and 4-pounder guns, all 18 calibres long, weighing 150 
times the weight of the shot, and of a 6-inch howitzer. The charge 
for the guns was definitely fixed at one-third the weight of the 
shot, the perpendicular elevating screw was introduced, and every 
part of a gun or carriage was made according to a fixed model, so 
as to be easily replaced from the stores. Seven models of wheels, 
and 3 models of axletrees, were sufficient for all the various 
vehicles used in the French artillery. Although the use of 
limber-boxes to carry a supply of ammunition was known to most 
artillerists, Gribeauval did not introduce them in France. The 
4-pounders were distributed with the infantry, every battalion 
receiving 2 of them; the 8 and 12-pounders were distributed in 
separate batteries as reserve artillery, with a field-forge to every 
battery. Train and artisan companies were organized, and 
altogether this artillery of Gribeauval was the first corps of its kind 
established on a modern footing. It has proved superior to any of 
its day, in the proportions by which its constructions were 
regulated, in its material, and in its organization, and for many 
years it has served as a model. 

Thanks to Gribeauval’s improvements, the French artillery, 
during the wars of the revolution, was superior to any other, and 
soon became, in the hands of Napoleon, an arm of hitherto 
unknown power. There was no alteration made, except that the 
system of regimental guns was definitively done away with in 
1799, and that with the immense number of 6-pounder and 
3-pounder guns conquered in all parts of Europe, these calibres 
were also introduced in the service. The whole of the field artillery 
was organized into batteries of 6 pieces, among which one was 
generally a howitzer, and the remainder guns. But if there was 
little or no change in the material, there was an immense one in 
the tactics of artillery. Although the number of guns was 
somewhat diminished in consequence of the abolition of regimen- 
tal pieces, the effect of artillery in a battle was heightened by its 
skilful use. Napoleon used a number of light guns, attached to the 
divisions of infantry, to engage battle, to make the enemy show his 
strength, &c., while the mass of the artillery was held in reserve, 

Artillery 199 

until the decisive point of attack was determined on; then 
enormous batteries were suddenly formed, all acting upon that 
point, and thus preparing by a tremendous cannonade the final 
attack of the infantry reserves. At Friedland 70 guns, at Wagram 
100 guns, were thus formed in line 249. at Borodino,? a battery of 
80 guns prepared Ney’s attack on Semenovka. On the other hand, 
the large masses of reserve cavalry formed by Napoleon, required 
for their support a corresponding force of horse artillery, which 
arm again received the fullest attention, and was very numerously 
represented in the French armies, where its proper tactical use was 
first practically established. Without Gribeauval’s improvements, 
this new use of artillery would have been impossible, and with the 
necessity for the altered tactics, these improvements gradually, and 
with slight alterations, found their way into all continental armies. 

The British artillery, about the beginning of the French 
revolutionary war, was exceedingly neglected, and much behind 
that of other nations. They had two regimental guns to each 
battalion, but no reserve artillery. The guns were horsed in single 
team, the drivers walking alongside with long whips. Horses and 
drivers were hired. The materiel was of very old-fashioned 
construction, and except for very short distances, the pieces could 
move at a walk only. Horse artillery was unknown. After 1800, 
however, when experience had shown the inadequacy of this 
system, the artillery was thoroughly reorganized by Major 
Spearman. The limbers were adapted for double team, the guns 
brigaded in batteries of 6 pieces, and in general those improve- 
ments were introduced which had been in use for some time 
already on the continent. No expense being spared, the British 
artillery soon was the neatest, most solidly, and most luxuriously 
equipped of its kind; great attention was paid to the newly erected 
corps of horse artillery, which soon distinguished itself by the 
boldness, rapidity, and precision of its manoeuvres. As to fresh 
improvements in the materiel, they were confined to the construc- 
tion of the vehicles; the block-trail gun-carriage, and the ammuni- 
tion wagon with a limber to it have since been adopted in most 
countries of the continent. 

The proportion of artillery to the other components of an army 
became a littlke more fixed during this period. The strongest 
proportion of artillery now present with an army was that of the 
Prussians at Pirmasens*°—7 guns for every 1,000 men. Napoleon 
considered 3 guns per 1,000 men quite sufficient, and_ this 

4 See this volume, pp. 251-55.— Ed. 

proportion has become a general rule. The number of rounds to 
accompany a gun was also fixed; at least 200 rounds per gun, of 
which '/, or '/; were case shot. During the peace following the 
downfall of Napoleon, the artilleries of all European powers 
underwent gradual improvements. The light calibres of 3 and 4 
Ibs. were everywhere abolished, the improved carriages and 
wagons of the English artillery were adopted in most countries. 
The charge was fixed almost everywhere at '/;, the metal of the 
gun at, or near, 150 times the weight of the shot, and the length 
of the piece at from 16 to 18 calibres. The French reorganized 
their artillery in 1827. The field-guns were fixed at 8 and 12 lb. 
calibre, 18 calibres long, charge '/3, weight of metal in gun 150 
times that of the shot. The English carriages and wagons were 
adopted, and limber-boxes for the first time introduced into the 
French service. Two kinds of howitzers, of 15 and 16 centimetres 
of bore, were attached to the 8 and 12-pounder batteries, 
respectively. A great simplicity distinguishes this new system of 
field artillery. There are but 2 sizes of gun-carriages, 1 size of 
limber, 1 size of wheel, and 2 sizes of axletrees to all the vehicles 
used in the French field batteries. Beside this, a separate mountain 
artillery was introduced, carrying howitzers of 12 centimetres bore. 

The English field artillery now has for its almost exclusive 
calibre the 9-pounders of 17 calibres long, weight 1'/s cwt. to 1 
pound weight of shot, charge '/; the weight of shot. In every 
battery there are 2 24-pounder 5'/o-inch howitzers. Six-pounder 
and 12-pounder guns were not sent out at all in the late Russian 
war." There are 2 sizes of wheels in use. In both the English and 
French foot artillery the gunners are mounted during manoeuvres 
on the limber and ammunition wagons. 

The Prussian army carries 6 and 12-pounder guns, 18 calibres 
long, weighing 145 times, and charged with '/, the weight of the 
shot. The howitzers are 5'/> and 6'/s-inch bore. There are 6 guns 
and 2 howitzers to a battery. There are 2 wheels and 2 axletrees, 
and 1 limber. The gun-carriages are of Gribeauval construction. 
In the foot artillery, for quick manoeuvres, 5 gunners, sufficient to 
serve the gun, mount the limber-box and the off-horses; the 
remaining 3 follow as best they can. The ammunition wagons are 
not, therefore, attached to the guns, as in the French and British 
service, but form a column apart, and are kept out of range 
during action. The improved English ammunition wagon was 
adopted in 1842. . 

@ The Crimean war of 1853-56.— Ed. 

Artillery 201 

The Austrian artillery has 6 and 12-pounder guns, 16 calibres 
long, weighing 135 times, charged with '/, the weight of the shot. 
The howitzers are similar to those of the Prussian service. Six guns 
and 2 howitzers compose a battery. 

The Russian artillery has 6 and 12-pounder guns, 18 calibres 
long, 150 times the weight of the shot, with a charge of 1/, its 
weight. The howitzers are 5 and 6-inch bore. According to the 
calibre and destination, either 8 or 12 pieces form a battery, 
one-half of which are guns, and the other half howitzers. 

The Sardinian army has 8-pounder and 16-pounder guns, with 
a corresponding size of howitzer. The smaller German armies all 
have 6 and 12-pounders, the Spaniards 8 and 12-pounders, the 
Portuguese, Swedes, Danes, Belgians, Dutch, and Neapolitans 6 
and 12-pounders. 

The start given to the British artillery by Major Spearman’s 
reorganization, along with the interest for further improvement 
thereby awakened in that service, and the wide range offered to 
artilleristic progress by the immense naval artillery of Great 
Britain, have contributed to many important inventions. The 
British compositions for fireworks, as well as their gunpowder, are 
superior to any other, and the precision of their time fuzes is 
unequalled. The principal invention latterly made in the British 
artillery are the shrapnel shells (hollow shot, filled with musket 
balls, and exploding during the flight), by which the effective 
range of grape has been rendered equal to that of round shot. 
The French, skilful as they are as constructors and organizers, are 
nearly the only army which has not yet adopted this new and 
terrible projectile; they have not been able to make out the fuze 
composition, upon which every thing depends. 

A new system of field artillery has been proposed by Louis 
Napoleon, and appears to be in course of adoption in France. The 
whole of the 4 calibres of guns and howitzers now in use, to be 
superseded by a light 12-pounder gun, 15'/y calibres long, 
weighing 110 times, and charged with '/, the weight of the solid 
shot. A shell of 12 centim. (the same now used in the mountain 
artillery), to be fired out of the same gun with a reduced charge, 
thus superseding howitzers for the special use of hollow shot. The 
experiments made in 4 artillery schools of France have been very 
successful, and it is said that these guns showed a marked 
superiority, in the Crimea, over the Russian guns, mostly 
6-pounders. The English, however, maintain that their long 
9-pounder is superior in range and precision to this new gun, and 
it is to be observed that they were the first to introduce, but very 

soon again to abandon, a light 12-pounder for a charge of '/, the 
shot’s weight, and which has evidently served Louis Napoleon as a 
model. The firing of shells from common guns is taken from the 
Prussian service, where, in sieges, the 24-pounders are made to 
fire shells for certain purposes. Nevertheless, the capabilities of 
Louis Napoleon’s gun have still to be determined by experience, 
and as nothing special has been published on its effects in the late 
war, we cannot here be expected finally to judge on its merits. 

The laws and experimental maxims for propelling solid, hollow, 
or other projectiles, from cannon, the ascertained proportions of 
range, elevation, charge, the effects of windage and other causes 
of deviation, the probabilities of hitting the mark, and the various 
circumstances that may occur in warfare, constitute the science of 
gunnery. Though the fact, that a heavy body projected in vacuo, in 
a direction different from the vertical, will describe a parabola in 
its flight, forms the fundamental principle of this science, yet the 
resistance of the air, increasing as it does with the velocity of the 
moving body, alters very materially the application of the parabolic 
theory in gunnery practice. Thus for guns propelling their shot at 
an initial velocity of 1,400 to 1,700 feet in a second, the line of 
flight varies considerably from the theoretic parabola, so much so 
that with them, the greatest range is obtained at an elevation of 
only about 20 degrees, while according to the parabolic theory it 
should be at 45 degrees. Practical experiments have determined, 
with some degree of precision, these deviations, and thus fixed the 
proper elevations for each class of guns, for a given charge and 
range. But there are other circumstances affecting the flight of the 
shot. There is, first of all, the windage, or the difference by which 
the diameter of the shot must be less than that of the bore, to 
facilitate loading. It causes first an escape of the expanding gas 
during the explosion of the charge, in other words, a reduction of 
the force, and secondly an irregularity in the direction of the shot, 
causing deflections in a vertical, or horizontal sense. Then there is 
the unavoidable inequality in the weight of the charge, or in its 
condition at the moment it is used, the eccentricity of the shot, the 
centre of gravity not coinciding with the centre of the sphere, 
which causes deflections varying according to the relative position 
of the centres at the moment of firing, and many other causes 
producing irregularity of results under seemingly the same 
conditions of flight. For field-guns, we have seen that the charge 
of '/, of the shot’s weight, and a length of 16-18 calibres are 
almost universally adopted. With such charges, the point-blank 
range (the gun being laid horizontal), the shot will touch the 

Artillery 203 

ground at about 300 yards distance, and by elevating the gun, this 
range may be increased up to 3,000 or 4,000 yards. Such a range, 
however, leaves all probability of hitting the mark out of the 
question, and for actual and effective practice, the range of 
field-guns does not exceed 1,400 or 1,500 yards, at which distance 
scarcely 1 shot out of 6 or 8 might be expected to hit the mark. 
The decisive ranges, in which alone cannon can contribute to the 
issue of a battle, are, for round shot and shell, between 600 and 
1,100 yards, and at these ranges the probability of striking the 
object is indeed far greater. Thus it is reckoned that at 700 yards 
about 50 per cent., at 900 yards about 35 per cent., at 1,100 yards 
25 per cent., out of the shots fired from a 6-pounder, will hit a 
target representing the front of a battalion in column of attack (34 
yards long by 2 yards high). The 9 and 12-pounder will give 
somewhat better results. In some experiments made in France in 
1850, the 8-pounders and. 12-pounders then in use gave the 
following results, against a target 30 metres by 3 metres 
(representing a troop of cavalry) at:— 

500 met. 600 met. 700 met. 800 met. 900 met. 

12-p’ders, hits 64 p.ct. 54 p.ct. 43 p.ct. 37 p. ct. 32 p. ct. 
8-p’ders, ” 67”. 44 ” 40 ” 28 ” 28°." 

Though the target was higher by one-half, the practice here 
remained below the average stated above. With field-howitzers the 
charge is considerably less in proportion to the weight of the 
projectile than with guns. The short length of the piece (7 to 10 
calibres) and the necessity of firing it at great elevations, are the 
causes of this. The recoil from a howitzer fired under high 
elevation, acting downward as well as backward, would, if a. heavy 
charge was used, strain the carriage so as to disable it after a few 
rounds. This is the reason why in most continental artilleries 
several charges are in use in the same field-howitzer, thus making 
the gunner to produce a given range by different combination of 
charge and elevation. Where this is not the case, as in the British 
artillery, the elevation taken is necessarily very low, and scarcely 
exceeding that of guns; the range-tables for the British 24- 
pounder howitzer, 2'/>-pound charge, do not extend beyond 1,050 
yards, with 4° elevation; the same elevation, for the 9-pounder 
gun, giving a range of 1,400 yards. There is a peculiar short kind 
of howitzer in use in most German armies, which is capable of an 
elevation of from 16 to 20 degrees, thus acting somewhat like a 
mortar; its charge is, necessarily, but small; it has this advantage 

over the common, long howitzer, that its shells can be made to 
drop into covered positions, behind undulations of ground, &c. 
This advantage is, however, of a doubtful nature against movable 
objects like troops, though of great importance where the object 
covered from direct fire is immovable; and as to direct fire, these 
howitzers, from their shortness (6 to 7 calibres) and small charge, 
are all but useless. The charge, to obtain various ranges at an 
elevation fixed by the purpose intended (direct firing or shelling), 
necessarily varies very much; in the Prussian field artillery, where 
these howitzers are still used, not less than twelve different charges 
occur. Withal, the howitzer is but a very imperfect piece of 
cannon, and the sooner it is superseded by an effective field 
shell-gun, the better. 

The heavy cannon used in fortresses, sieges, and naval 
armaments, are of various description. Up to the late Russian war, 
it was not customary to use in siege-warfare heavier guns than 
24-pounders, or, at the very outside, a few 32-pounders. Since the 
siege of Sebastopol, however, siege-guns and ship-guns are the 
same, or, rather, the effect of the heavy ship-guns in trenches and 
land-defences has proved so unexpectedly superior to that of the 
customary light siege-guns, that the war of sieges will henceforth 
have to be decided, in a great measure, by such heavy naval 
cannon. In both siege and naval artillery, there are generally 
found various models of guns for the same calibre. There are light 
and short guns, and there are long and heavy ones. Mobility being 
a minor consideration, guns for particular purposes are often 
made 22 to 25 calibres long, and some of these are, in 
consequence of this greater length, as precise as rifles in their 
practice. One of the best of this class of guns is the Prussian brass 
24-pounder of 10 feet 4 inches, or 22 calibres long, weighing 60 
cwt.; for dismounting practice in a siege, there is no gun like it. 
For most purposes, however, a length of 16 to 20 calibres is found 
quite sufficient, and as, upon an average, size of calibre will be 
preferable to extreme precision, a mass of 60 cwt. of iron or 
gun-metal will be more usefully employed, as a rule, in a heavy 
32-pounder of 16-17 calibres long. The new long iron 32- 
pounder, one of the finest guns in the British navy, 9 feet long, 50 
cwt., measures but 16'/5 calibres. The long 68-pounder, 112 cwt., 
pivot-gun of all the large screw 131 gun-ships, measures 10 feet 10 
inches, or a trifle more than 16 calibres; another kind of 
pivot-gun, the long 56-pounder of 98 cwt., measures 11 feet, or 
17'/y calibres. Still a great number of less effective guns enter into 
naval armaments even now, bored-up guns of merely 11 or 12 

Artillery 205 

calibres, and carronades of 7-8 calibres long. There is, however, 
another kind of naval gun that was introduced about 35 years ago 
by General Paixhans, and has since received an immense 
importance, the shell-gun. This kind of ordnance has undergone 
considerable improvement, and the French shell-gun still comes 
nearest to that constructed by the inventor; it has retained the 
cylindrical chamber for the charge. In the English service the 
chamber is either a short frustum of a cone, reducing only very 
slightly the diameter of the bore, or there is no chamber at all; it 
measures in length from 10 to 13 calibres, and is intended for 
hollow shot exclusively; but the long 68-pdrs. and 56-pdrs. 
mentioned above throw solid shot and shell indiscriminately. In 
the U.S. navy Capt. Dahlgren has proposed a new system of 
shell-guns, consisting of short guns of very large calibre (11 and 9 
inches bore), which has been partly adopted in the armament of 
several new frigates. The value of this system has still to be fixed 
by actual experience, which must determine whether the tremen- 
dous effect of such enormous shells can be obtained without the 
sacrifice of precision, which cannot but suffer from the great 
elevation required at long ranges. In sieges and naval gunnery, the 
charges are as variable as the constructions of the guns themselves, 
and the ends to be attained. In laying a breach in masonry, the 
heaviest charges are used, and these amount, with some very 
heavy and solid guns, to one-half the weight of the shot. On the 
whole, however, one-fourth may be considered a full average 
charge for siege purposes, increased sometimes to one-third, 
diminished at others to one-sixth. On board ship, there are 
generally 3 classes of charges to each gun; the high charge, for 
distant practice, chasing, &c., the medium charge, for the average 
effective distances of naval engagements; the reduced, for close 
quarters and double shotting. For the long 32-pdrs. they are equal 
to */ie, ‘/4, and */16 of the shot’s weight. For short light guns and 
shell-guns, these proportions are of course still more reduced; but 
with the latter, too, the hollow shot does not reach the weight of 
the solid one. Beside guns and shell-guns, heavy howitzers and 
mortars enter into the composition of siege and naval artillery. 
Howitzers are short pieces intended to throw shell at an elevation 
up to 12 or 30 degrees, and to be fixed on carriages; mortars are 
still shorter pieces, fixed to blocks, intended to throw shell at an 
elevation generally exceeding 20 degrees, and increasing even to 
60 degrees. Both are chambered ordnance; i. e. the chamber or 
part of the bore intended to receive the charge, is less in diameter 
than the flight or general bore. Howitzers are seldom of a calibre 

exceeding 8 inches, but mortars are bored up to 13, 15, and more 
inches. The flight of a shell from a mortar, from the smallness of 
the charge (1-20th to 1-40th of the weight of the shell), and from 
its considerable elevation, is less interfered with by the resistance 
of the air, and here the parabolic theory may be used in gunnery 
calculations without material deviation from _ practical results. 
Shells from mortars are intended to act either by bursting, and, as 
carcasses, setting fire to combustible objects by the jet of flame 
from the fuzes, or by their weight as well, in breaking through 
vaulted and otherwise secured roofs; in the latter case the higher 
elevation is preferred, giving the highest flight and greatest 
momentum of fall. Shells from howitzers are intended to act, first 
by impact, and afterward by bursting. From their great elevation, 
and the small initial velocity imparted to the shell, and consequent 
little resistance offered to it by the air, a mortar throws its 
projectile further than any other kind of ordnance, the object 
fired at being generally a whole town, there is little precision 
required; and thus it happens that the effective range of heavy 
mortars extends to 4,000 yards and upward, from which distance 
Sveaborg was bombarded by the Anglo-French mortar-boats.””' 

The application of these different kinds of cannon, projectiles, 
and charges, during a siege, will be treated of under that head *; 
the use of naval artillery constitutes nearly the whole fighting part 
of naval elementary tactics, and does therefore not belong to this 
subject; it thus only remains for us to make a few observations on 
the use and tactics of field artillery. 

Artillery has no arms for hand-to-hand fight; all its forces are 
concentrated in the distant effect of its fire. It is, moreover, in 
fighting condition as long only as it is in position; as soon as it 
limbers up, or attaches the prolonge for a movement, it is 
temporarily disabled. From both causes, it is the most defensive of 
all the 3 arms; its powers of attack are very limited indeed, for 
attack is onward movement, and its culminating point is the clash 
of steel against steel. The critical moment for artillery is therefore 
the advance, taking position, and getting ready for action under 
the enemy’s fire. Its deployments into line, its preliminary 
movements, will have to be masked either by obstacles of ground 
or by lines of troops. It will thus gain a position parallel to the line 
it has to occupy, and then advance into position straight against 
the enemy, so as not to expose itself to a flanking fire. The choice 
of a position is a thing of the highest importance, both as regards 

a See this volume, pp. 336-38.— Ed. 

Artillery 207 

the effect of the fire of a battery, and that of the enemy’s fire 
upon it. To place his guns so that their effect on the enemy is as 
telling as possible, is the first important point; security from the 
enemy’s fire the second. A good position must afford firm and 
level standing ground for the wheels and trails of the guns; if the 
wheels do not stand level, no good practice is possible; and if the 
trail digs into the ground, the carriage will soon be broken by the 
power of recoil. It must, beside, afford a free view of the ground 
held by the enemy, and admit of as much liberty of movement as 
possible. Finally, the ground in front, between the battery and the 
enemy, must be favorable to the effect of our arms, and 
unfavorable, if possible, to that of theirs. The most favorable 
ground is a firm and level one, affording the advantage of 
ricochet practice, and making the shot that go short strike the 
enemy after the first graze. It is wonderful what difference the 
nature of the ground will make in artillery practice. On soft 
ground the shot, on grazing, will deflect or make irregular 
rebounds, if they do not stick fast in it at once. The way the 
furrows run in ploughed land, makes a great difference, especially 
with canister and shrapnel firing; if they run crossways, most of 
the shot will bury themselves in them. If the ground be soft, 
undulating, or broken immediately in front of us, but level and 
hard further on toward the enemy, it will favor our practice, and 
protect us from his. Firing down or up inclinations of more than 5 
degrees, or firing from the top of one hill to that of another, is 
very unfavorable. As to our safety from the enemy’s fire, very 
small objects will increase that. A thin fence, scarcely hiding our 
position, a group of shrubs, or high corn, will prevent his taking 
correct aim. A small abrupt bank on which our guns are placed 
will catch the most dangerous of his projectiles. A dyke makes a 
capital parapet, but. the best protection is the crest of a slight 
undulation of ground, behind which we draw our guns so far back 
that the enemy sees nothing but the muzzles; in this position every 
shot striking the ground in front, will bound high over our heads. 
Still better is it, if we can cut out a stand for our guns into the 
crest, about 2 feet deep, flattening out to the rear with the slope, 
so as to command the whole of the external slope of the hill. The 
French under Napoleon were extremely skilful in placing their 
guns, and from them all other nations have learnt this art. 
Regarding the enemy, the position should be chosen so as to be 
free from flank or enfilading fire; regarding our own troops, it 
should not hamper their movements. The usual distance from gun 
to gun in line is 20 yards, but there is no necessity to adhere 

strictly to any of these rules of the parade-ground. Once in 
position, the limbers remain close behind their guns, while the 
wagons, in some services, remain under cover. Where the wagons 
are used for mounting the men, they too must run the chance of 
going into effective range. The battery directs its fire upon that 
portion of the enemy’s forces which at the time most menaces our 
position; if our infantry is to attack, it fires upon either the 
opposing artillery, if that is yet to be silenced, or upon the masses 
of infantry if they expose themselves; but if a portion of the 
enemy advance to actual attack, that is the point to aim at, not 
minding the hostile artillery which fires on us. Our fire against 
artillery will be most effective when that artillery cannot reply, 1. e. 
when it is limbering up, moving, or unlimbering. A few good shots 
cause great confusion in such moments. The old rule that artillery, 
excepting in pressing moments of importance, should not ap- 
proach infantry to within 300 yards, or the range of small arms, 
will now soon be antiquated. With the increasing range of modern 
muskets, field artillery, to be effective, cannot any longer keep out 
of musket range; and a gun with its limber, horses, and gunners, 
forms a group quite large enough for skirmishers to fire at, at 600 
yards with the Minié or Enfield rifle. The long-established idea, 
that who wishes to live long must enlist in the artillery, appears to 
be no longer true, for it is evident that skirmishing from a 
distance will in future be the most effective way of combating 
artillery; and where is the battle-field in which there could not be 
found capital cover for skirmishers within 600 yards from any 
possible artillery emplacement? 

Against advancing lines or columns of infantry, artillery has thus 
far always had the advantage; a few effective rounds of grape, or 
a couple of solid shot ploughing through a deep column, have a 
terribly cooling effect. The nearer the attack comes, the more 
effective becomes our practice; and even at the last moment we 
can easily withdraw our guns from an opponent of such slowness, 
though whether a line of chasseurs de Vincennes, advancing at the 
pas gymnastique, would not be down upon us before we had 
limbered up, must still remain doubtful. 

Against cavalry, coolness gives the advantage to artillery. If the 
latter reserve their grape to within 100 yards, and then give a 
well-aimed volley, the cavalry will be found pretty far off by the 
time the smoke has cleared away. At all events, to limber up and 
try to escape, would be the worst plan; for cavalry would be sure 
to overtake the guns. 

Artillery against artillery, the ground, the calibres, the relative 

Artillery 209 

number of guns, and the use made thereof by the parties, will 
decide. It is, however, to be noticed, that though the large calibre 
has an undoubted advantage at long ranges, the smaller calibre 
approaches in its effects those of the large one as the ranges 
decrease, and at short distances almost equals them. At Borodino, 
Napoleon’s artillery consisted principally of 3 and 4-pounders, 
while the Russians exulted in their numerous 12-pounders; yet the 
French small pop-guns had decidedly the best of it. 

In supporting either infantry or cavalry, the artillery will have 
always to gain a position on its flank. If the infantry advances, it 
advances by half-batteries or sections on a line with the skir- 
mishers, or rather in advance of it; as soon as the infantry masses 
prepare to attack with the bayonet, it trots up to 400 yards from 
the enemy, and prepares the charge by a rapid fire of case shot. If 
the attack is repelled, the artillery will re-open its fire on the 
pursuing enemy until compelled to withdraw; but if the attack 
succeeds, its fire contributes a great deal to the completion of the 
success, one-half of the guns firing while the other advances. 
Horse artillery, as a supporting arm to cavalry, imparting to it 
some of that defensive element which it naturally lacks altogether, 
is now one of the most favorite branches of all services, and 
brought to high perfection in all European armies. Though 
intended to act on cavalry ground, and in company with cavalry, 
there is no horse artillery in the world which would not be 
prepared to gallop across a country where its own cavalry would 
not follow without sacrificing its order and cohesion. The horse 
artillery of every country forms the boldest and skilfullest riders of 
its army, and they will take a particular pride, on any grand 
field-day, in dashing across obstacles, guns and all, before which 
the cavalry will stop. The tactics of horse artillery consist in 
boldness and coolness. Rapidity, suddenness of appearance, 
quickness of fire, readiness to move off at a moment’s notice, and 
to take that road which is too difficult for the cavalry, these are 
the chief qualities of a good horse artillery. Choice of position 
there is but little in this constant change of places; every position is 
good so as it is close to the enemy and out of the way of the 
cavalry; and it is during the ebbing and flowing of cavalry 
engagements, that the. artillery, skirting the advancing and 
receding waves, has to show every moment its superior horseman- 
ship and presence of mind in getting clear of this surging sea 
across all sorts of ground where not every cavalry dares, or likes to 
follow. 

In the attack and defence of posts, the tactics of artillery are 

similar. The principal thing is always to fire upon that point from 
which, in defence, threatens the nearest and most direct danger, 
or in attack, from which our advance can be most effectually 
checked. The destruction of material obstacles also forms part of 
its duties, and here the various calibres and kinds of ordnance are 
applied according to their nature and effect; howitzers for setting 
fire to houses, heavy guns to batter down gates, walls, and 
barricades. . 

All these remarks apply to the artillery which in every army is 
attached to the divisions. But the grandest results are obtained by 
the reserve artillery in great and decisive battles. Held back out of 
sight and out of range during the greater part of the day, it is 
brought forward in a mass upon the decisive point as soon as the 
time for the final effort has come. Formed in a crescent a mile or 
more in extent, it concentrates its destructive fire upon a 
comparatively small point. Unless an equivalent force of guns 1s 
there to meet it, half an hour’s rapid firing settles the matter. The 
enemy begins to wither under the hailstorm of howling shot; the 
intact reserves of infantry advance—a last, sharp, short struggle, 
and the victory is won. Thus did Napoleon prepare Macdonald’s 
advance at Wagram, and resistance was broken before the 3 
divisions advancing in a column had fired a shot or crossed a 
bayonet. And since those great days only can the tactics of field 
artillery be said to exist. 

Written between October 19 and Reproduced from The New Ameri- 
November 27, 1857 can Cyclopaedia 

Cyclopaedia, Vol. II, 1858