Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 2.djvu/726

Rh nature of the siege, but as a standard a detail has been fixed, which is given at length in the Revised Army Regulations of 1870. The number of men required is calculated for three reliefs, or 30 men per gun, 15 per large mortar, and 9 per small mortar, with a reserve. A brigade of garrison artillery on war strength, numbering 51 officers, 135 non-commissioned officers and trumpeters, and 800 gunners, is held to be sufficient to man a siege train of 35 pieces. The carriages employed are gun-carriages and limbers, howitzer and mortar-carriages, platform waggons, general service waggon, siege waggon, store waggon, sling waggon and cart, hand and trench carts. The carriages are generally of the block trail pattern, and, except that they are stronger, are similar in construction to the travelling carriages for field service. The new siege limber is of universal pattern, and similar to the field limber in con struction. The mortar-carriages consist of a bed with an axletree mounted on two wheels, and with a perch for limbering up to a limber for travelling. The platform waggon is composed of a fore and hind carriage, with a platform over them for carrying guns and mortars. The general service waggon consists of a fore and hind carriage with body over them, covered with waterproof canvas. The siege waggon is merely the general service waggon strengthened and fitted so as to transport shot and shell. The store waggon consists of a body and limber, and will contain spare stores and materials, and necessary tools. The sling waggon is composed of a body and limber, and fitted with windlass arrangement so that guns can be slung up underneath. In the heavier pieces iron sling waggons are used. Considerable improvements will probably be made in siege carriages so as to admit of the abolition of embrasures and of the gun being fired over the parapet. In India siege trains are kept in readiness in arsenals, and the transport, which is composed of bullocks, is to a large extent also maintained. These siege trains have been hitherto composed of old smooth-bore guns, but these will be replaced by rifled guns. There are 16 such trains, with a total of 400 or 500 pieces. The personnel would be supplied from the garrison artillery and the native establishment in the arsenals. The duties of the siege trains, the position of parks and batteries, &c., rather relate to the conduct of sieges, and do not therefore fall within the scope of the present article.

(f.) Garrison Artillery.—The garrison battery consists only of personnel, the matériel used being part of the defences or fortress in which this branch of the artillery is employed. The establishment of a battery is as follows:—

Peace. War. India. Officers 445 N.-C. Officers 16 16 16 Gunners and Trumpeters 80 to 120 142 72 An Indian battery, further, has a native establishment of 30 hospital attendants, followers, &c. The care and preservation of the ordnance in fortresses and batteries, with all the complicated appliances and scientific construc tions of modern artillery matériel, and of the carriages, stores, and ammunition, devolve upon the garrison artillery in peace time. For fortress defence large numbers of smooth-bore 68, 32, and 24-pounders, and 8 and 10-inch shell guns, are still mounted. The general tendency, however, is to replace these with rifled guns of calibre suited to the importance and object of the work, while the mitrailleur or Gatling gun will probably be used in flanks and for the defence of ditches. Large numbers of 7-inch or 110-pounder B.L.R. Armstrong guns have been mounted since 1862. The M.L.R. guns are 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12-inch, the latter weighing 35 tons. The projectiles of these are common, shrapnel, and Palliser shell, case, and Palliser cored shot, and attain the extraordinary weight of 690 S&amp;gt;. An 81 -ton gun is now (1875) in process of construction, and is calcu lated to throw a shell of 1600 lb. The old smooth-bore garrison carriages are of wood, with various arrangements and platforms for traversing. The new carriages for the large M.L.R. guns are of wrought- iron, with hydraulic buffer arrangements. The Moncrieff carriage and system, by which the gun is loaded and laid in a gun pit, raised by a counterweight, and released again, descending after firing by the regulated power of the recoil, will probably be extensively employed in coast defences ; and it is probable that still further improvements will be made in the carriages for the immense ordnance now used.

General Organisation.—The whole of the British artillery forms one regiment, the &quot; Royal Regiment of Artillery,&quot; numbering 1414 officers and 33,688 men, and distributed in 216 batteries of horse, field, and garrison artillery. For purposes of administration a unit higher than the battery is adopted, called the brigade. Each brigade has its own staff of colonel-commandant, 4 lieutenant-colonels, adjutant, quarter-master, &c. The batteries of the bri gades are, as far as possible, kept in the same part of the country where the headquarters are serving. There are 6 brigades of horse artillery, 12 of field artillery, 13 of garrison artillery, and the &quot; coast brigade ; &quot; their detail and distribution will be found in the account of the British army (see, p. 578). Besides the brigade organisa tion, there is another which may be termed the territorial system, or district commands, having reference especially to local duties, stationary matériel, such as guns mounted on forts and batteries, &c. These artillery districts corre spond generally to the army districts, and have at their head a colonel on the staff, or other officer commanding the artillery district. In the United Kingdom there are also artillery sub-districts, under lieutenant-colonels, who are invested with the commands of the auxiliary and reserve force artillery of the sub-district. The highest administra tion of the Royal Artillery is conducted at the War Office, in the department of the Commander-in-Chief, a deputy- adjutant-general of artillery, with assistants, being attached for that purpose to the adjutant-general s division. An inspector-general of artillery is charged with special artillery inspections in the United Kingdom, and also inspects the matériel and munitions of war in the hands of the artillery. The department of the director of artillery and stores at the War Office is a branch of the Ordnance Department (see, pp. 573, 582), and deals with all matters relating to armaments, stores, and munitions not in artillery charge, and superintends the manufacture of warlike stores and the scientific experiments which have to be constantly made. In India the administration is not dissimilar, a deputy-adjutant-general and inspector-general of artillery performing duties analogous to those of the similar officials in England, while the director of artillery is represented by an inspector-general of ordnance and magazines. Although Woolwich is no longer the official headquarters of the artillery it is the chief artillery station, and continues to be that to which officers and men practically look as their headquarters. The mess and band of the regiment are permanently maintained there ; and a large number of batteries, including the greater part of the depot brigade, are always stationed there, and it further contains most of the great artillery establishments, both manufacturing and instructional. For an account of the manufacturing establishment see, p. 633, and for the scientific and educational establishments see, p. 586.