Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 2.djvu/730

668 but is conducted on the same general principles as that of a field battery. Ease and celerity in coming into action is the great object in that as in all field artillery drills. At the word &quot; halt, action, front,&quot; (&quot; rear,&quot; &quot; right,&quot; &quot; left &quot;), as the case may be, the carriage is taken off the carriage- mules, the wheels taken off the wheel-mule, and run up to the carriage and put on. The gun has by this time been lifted off by gunners by means of a handspike in the muzzle and one under the cascable, and is put on to the carriage. The movements of a mountain battery in &quot; column of route,&quot; i.e., single file, in &quot;columns of subdivisions,&quot; the ammunition mules being alongside the gun and carriage mules, or in &quot; columns of divisions,&quot; subdivisions being side by side, two and two, are merely adaptations of the manœuvres of field artillery.

Siege Artillery.—The drills for the service of siege guns are numerous. Travelling carriages being used, the drill employed is a medium between field and garrison gun drills, and comprises unlimbering, limbering up, shifting from travelling to firing trunnion holes and, vice versa, the loading, laying, firing, &c., the mode of &quot;taking post&quot; under cover and at the gun. Mortar drill would also come into this section, and embraces the manner in which the travelling mortar-beds are unlimbered and placed on the ground, and the converse operations, the detachment taking post at the mortar, the preparation for action, the mode of laying the mortar, load ing, firing, &c. The laying of platforms also forms an important part of the duties of siege artillery. &quot; Knotting &quot; and the use of ropes and tackles is an essential branch of the drill. A siege artilleryman must be instructed in all the materials and appliances used in moving ordnance. Chains, levers, handspikes, fulcrums, skids, planks, rollers, crab capstans, lifting jacks, &c., all enter into his work. He must also be acquainted with the numberless operations by which siege guns are moved when dismounted, the mode of mounting and dismounting them, while the drills for gyns, sling waggons, sling carts, sheers, etc., are particularly his province.

Garrison Artillery.—The drills for garrison artillery embrace all those which come under the head of siege, but, further, comprise all the drills and exercises with heavy ordnance, such as drills with heavy guns on standing carriages, traversing platforms, and Moncrieff carriages, and with the enormous 10-inch, 11-inch, and 12-inch guns, fitted with special mechanical contrivances for loading, traversing ; mounting and dismounting of heavy ordnance; and all kinds of work with sheers and derricks. The garrison artillery are also trained in the ordinary duties of infantry, viz., carbine, company, and battalion drill. All artillerymen are further instructed in the laying of ordnance, judging distance, and in the various laboratory operations which gunners are required to know, the handling of all kinds of projectiles, fuzes, &c.

Field Artillery Manœuvres.—In manœuvring batteries, no fixed right or left is acknowledged, but only the front which the guns point when in action, or the horse's face when limbered up. The paces used are the walk, trot, and gallop, and, according to Taubert, the &quot; trot &quot; is the most important. With us field batteries are strictly enjoined not to move beyond a trot, but there are occasions on which it is necessary for a battery to move at its quickest possible pace ; and in Germany this is recognised and acted upon. Field artillery has increased in mobility by the recent change in matériel and the provision of axletree seats, so that there is no longer danger of a gun coming into action without a sufficient number of gunners to work it. Batteries should, therefore, be exercised to manœuvre with waggons at a safe distance, taking advan tage of cover, but conforming to the movements of the guns. Columns of artillery are composed of batteries, half bat teries, divisions, subdivisions, and columns of route. Taubert divides artillery columns into (1) the column of march, (2), the rendezvous column, (3) the column of manœuvre. 1. With us the first is usually the &quot;column of route &quot; or single file, each waggon following its own gun in a long string. In the German army the guns come first, and then the waggons. This has the great advantage of not hampering the line of march, and is peculiarly adapted to the use of artillery with a large advanced guard. Columns of divi sions may be used on a very broad road. 2. Rendezvous columns are open columns with the guns at full interval, so as to admit of guns, &c., reversing or taking ground to right or left. 3. The column of manœuvre may, when cover exists, be formed at close interval, but never so under fire. A close formation enables batteries to get near an enemy unseen, and the commander has the force well in hand, but this advantage should not weigh with the necessity for opening- out for fire at the earliest moment. The best formation on the battle-field is that which admits of the easiest deploy ment for action. The position of guns is always governed by the nature of the ground, and &quot; every possible advantage should be taken of this without paying too much attention either to intervals or dressing/ The construction of gunpits and epaulements for the waggons should be an important part of drill.

Positions for artillery must naturally be dependent on the character of the ground, and the objects to be executed by the guns. But where a choice exists, we must be guided by principles which secure us the vantage ground. A flat trajectory for our guns is highly important in diminishing the safe space for the enemy, and with this view a very elevated position is to be avoided. Such position is also bad if percussion fuzes are used, and the soil which the enemy occupies is soft. On the other hand, artillery do not now change their positions so frequently as in times past, and are more constantly required to iire over the heads of their own infantry ; and a position sufficiently elevated to give a good command of the country and search out the enemy s position is therefore more required than formerly. Shell firing against troops under cover will also enter largely into the use of artillery in future, and for this command is of im portance. A point of first importance in selecting a position is the absence of cover for the enemy within range of infantry rifle fire ; and the position should be such that advance or retreat is easy. The brow of a hill, where the guns can be partly, and the limbers and waggons entirely covered by being withdrawn, is generally advantageous. The ground should be neither heavy nor stony. A good deal of con troversy has taken place about the dispersion or concen tration of guns for fire. If the object, i.e., concentration of fire, can be attained by dispersion of batteries, it may be better under certain circumstances of ground to separate than to collect the artillery in large masses ; on the other hand, dispersed batteries are much more out of control, and unable to receive the directing impress of one mind, and usually the employment of large masses of artillery will have a greater moral effect. The one object, concentration of fire, must be attained.|1}} The most powerful and effective position in which artillery can be placed is that in which, acting on a flank, it enfilades or takes in flank the enemy s troops. A remark able illustration of this was given by Frederick the Great at Rossbach. At the battle of Talavera, July 28, 1809, the British guns changed position to the right, advancing from the left flank, and brought a destructive fire to bear on the French columns attacking from the centre of their line. At the battle of Bautzen, May 21, 1813, Napoleon s great manœuvre, in sending Ney to attack the right rear of the allied position, was frustrated by the fire of 20 Prussian 