Mar., I9O2. ] Evolution o f Fire-Arms and Ordnance. 193

T H E F R A N K L I N I N S T I T U T E . Slated Meeting, held Wednesday, December z8, I9oL

THE E V O L U T I O N o~" F I R E - A R M S AND O R D N A N C E AND T H E I R R E L A T I O N TO A D V A N C I N G

C I V I L I Z A T I O N .

BY GI~N~RAL JOSEPH WHEELER, U. S. A.

During the ages prior to the invent ion of pr in t ing and the mak ing of books, the world seemed almost to s tand still. I t is t rue that grea t minds have exis ted in all ages as they do to-day. T h e y were mani fes ted by superb excellence in music, paint ing, archi tecture , and in l i terature, both poe t ry and prose ; bu t when one mind was so for tuna te as to make its impress upon the world, millions of equal ly grea t intel lects l ived and died wi thou t adding to the intel- ligence, happiness and well-being of mankind.

Great Thinkers in all Ages . - -Ev idence is abundan t tha t inchoate though t s and marvelous invent ions were evolved and partly, if not wholly, developed dur ing every century in the far-back, a lmost hidden ages of the past, most of them dying wi th the mind that conceived, and others re- corded only so imperfec t ly tha t the g rea tes t ideas were soon neglec ted and forgotten.

Each new thinker commenced at the foot of the ladder, and, though he reached a high eminence, he died and left no be t t e r s ta r t ing poin t than he en joyed when he commenced his work of invest igat ion.

It is t rue that accidental observat ion puts thoughts in people 's minds which we call inventions. Newton saw an apple fall to the ground, and the t hough t of g rav i ty was impressed upon him. Ano the r saw the lid of a teapot forced up by the confined steam, and the power thus mani- fested t a u g h t him the principle of the steam-engine.

Gunpowder : How Invented.--I t is said that gunpowder was first invented in China and India many centur ies before the Christ ian era. In many localities in those countr ies VOL. CLIII. No. 915. 13

I94 Wheeler ." [J. F. I.,

the soil is impregna ted with nitre. All cooking at tha t t ime was by wood fires, and the people lived in tents and huts with earth for their floors. Countless fires made of wood upon ground s t rongly impregna ted with ni t re mus t have existed every day, and when such fires were extin- guished, a portion of the wood mus t have been converted into charcoal, some of which would, of neeessity, become mixed with the nitre in the soil. By this means two of the most active ingredients of powder were b rough t together , and it is very na tura l tha t when another fire was kindled on the same spot a flash m i g h t follow. This would lead to invest igat ion, and then the manufac tu r e of gunpowder was conceived. W h e t h e r this be t rue or not, we have abundan t evidence tha t the origin of gunpowder and art i l lery goes far back in the dim ages of the past.

Fire-Arms before Christian E r a . - - T h e Hindoo code, com- piled long before the Chris t ian era, prohibi ted the mak ing of war with cannon and guns or any kind of fire-arms. Quintus Curt ius informs us tha t Alexander the Great met with fire weapons in Asia, and Phi!os t ra tus says Alexander 's conquests were arrested by the use of gunpowder .

I t is also wri t ten tha t those wise men who lived in cities on the G a n g e s " over threw their enemies wi th tempests and thunderbol t s shot from the walls." Jul ius _A_frieanus men- tions shoot ing powder in the year 275. I t was used in the siege of Constant inople in 668 ; by the Arabs in 690 ; at Thes- salonica, in 904; at the siege of Belgrade, lO73; by the Greeks in naval bat t les in io98 ; by the Arabs agains t the Iberians in I147; and at Toulouse, in I218. It appears to have been general ly known th roughou t civilized Europe as early as 1300, and soon thereaf ter it made its way into Eng- land, where it was manufac tu red dur ing the reign of Eliza- beth, and we learn tha t a few arms were possessed by the Engl ish in 13IO, and tha t they were used at Crecy in 1346.

Guns Used against English, 1327 . - -Greener says (page 5) : " Barbour, in his life of Bruce, informs us tha t guns were first employed by the Engl i sh at the bat t le of Werewater , which was fought in 1327, about forty years af ter the death of Fr iar Bacon, and there is no doubt tha t four guns were

Mar., I9o2.] Evolution o f Fire-Arms and Ordnance. 195

used at the bat t le of Crecy, fough t in 1346, when they were supposed to have been qui te unknown to the French, and aided in obta in ing the victory for Brit ish arms. Froissar t gives an excellent representa t ion of a cannon and cannon- eers in I39O."

Formidable Wea2ons in ])re-Historic Age. - -We have much evidence to prove tha t far back in the pre-historic age weap- ons existed of a most formidable character. T h a t they were effective at a long dis tance is well established, and tha t the mastodon, the cave bear, and other powerful ani- mals were killed by them is evidence of their deadly nature .

The boomerang and the th rowing stick found in the hands of the Aus t ra l i an savage could hard ly be improved upon or even equalled at the present t ime, and it is doubtful if any mater ia l improvement was made in weapons of war dur ing the m a n y centuries from the earliest h i s to r i c age down to the t ime when fire-arms became genera l ly used as instru- ments of warfare.

Long-Bow and Cross-Bow were Destructive.--The long-bow and cross-bow were very formidable and destruct ive weapons. The bat t les of Poictiers and Agincour t were won almost ent i re ly by soldiers armed with the bow, its length being about the he igh t of a man, and the greater part of the vic- torious a rmy at Crecy were armed with the same weapon. Marvelous stories come to us as to their range, but probably 6oo yards is the longest au thent ic fl ight of an arrow from bows of tha t character, and 400 yards was regarded as an exhibi t ion of great skill.

The cross-bow is of very ancient origin. I t is ment ioned in the Bible and by Josephus. Pope Innocent I I I forbade the use of so cruel and barbarous a weapon as the cross-bow agains t Christians, bu t sanct ioned its use agains t infidels. Cont ra ry to the orders of the Pope, K i n g Richard I intro- duced the cross-bow in England, but its use was discouraged by Henry VII , Elizabeth, James, and Charles I, a l though in 1572 cross-bowmen were sought to engage in the service of Charles IX. The first guns used by soldiers seem to have been called hand-cannon.

196 Wheeler : [J. F. I.,

Hand-Cannon and M~atcMock.--The " hand-cannon," as first used by the French, I tal ians, and Nether landers , con- sisted of a small bombarde affixed to a s t ra igh t piece of wood, and fired from the shoulder by means of a match.

The first account of the use of hand-cannon in Germany was in 138i , and at the close of the f i f teenth cen tury hand- cannon or small fire-arms were in use t h roughou t Europe as mi l i ta ry weapons.

The matchlock was in use in 146o, bu t the opposi t ion to the use of guns, especially hand-guns, was very determined. Armored kn igh t s clamored loudly agains t the use of fire- arms. Thick armor would genera l ly repel arrows which so' often glanced, and knights were seldom ki l led; bu t the advent of guns and bul lets made the armor of l i t t le value as a protection. Gunsho t wounds were regarded as cer- ta inly mortal , and much opposit ion to the use of guns was manifested. Small cannon were used at Crecy, their first certain employmen t on the field of battle.

An old French wri ter says: " N o use has yet been made in France, in 1547, of tha t

terrible weapon agains t men. The French used it wi th good effect agains t some castles in 1338 , bu t they would blush to employ it agains t their fellow-creatures. The Engl ish, less humane , w i thou t doubt outs t r ipped us, and made use of some at the celebrated bat t le of Crecy, which took place agains t the troops of K i n g Edward III , of England, who was so spiteful and t reacherous tha t he p lagued Phil ip de Valois and his troops to the last ; and the grea ter par t of the terror and confusion was occasioned by the cannon, which the Engl ish used for the first t ime, and had placed upon a knoll near the village of Crecy, and to which the French assign their defeat."

Skill o f English Archers.--The skill of the archers of Eng- land with the long-bow and the lack of skill wi th the gun caused m a n y to prefer the bow to the gun as a weapon of warfare.

In the reign of Queen Elizabeth, Sir John Smith, a gen- eral of much experience, s ta ted tha t the bow was the supe- rior of the hand-gun, and a l though he was taken up sharply

Mar., I9o2. ] Evolution of Fire-Arms and Ordnance. 197

by Mr. W. Barwick, Gent., he s tuck to his contention. " I will never doubt to adventure my life," he writes, " or as m a n y lives (if I had them) amongs t 8,0o0 archers complete, well chosen and appointed, and therewi tha l provided and furn ished with a great store of cheaves of arrows, as also a good overplus of bows and bow strings, agains t 2%ooo of the best harquebusiers and musketeers there are in Christ- endom."

Several compet i t ive trials between the gun and the bow are on record, the resul ts general ly showing mi l i ta ry advan. tages to the latter. A reliable match decided at Pacton Green, Cumberland, in Augus t , I792, resul ted in a grand victory for the bow. The dis tance was ioo yards, the bow placing sixteen arrows out of twen ty into the target , and the ordinary muske t twelve balls only.

Perceiving such results as these so late as the e igh teen th century, it is not surpr is ing t h a t in its earlier days the gun proved an inferior weapon to the bow when in the hands of a good archer.

This bad shoot ing with the gun and its unpopular i ty was due to the recoil. A few shots so bruised the soldier's arm tha t his t h o u g h t was on his shoulder more than his aim, and in spite of h imself he would cringe or wince at the momen t of firing, and thus deflect the gun.

There is no record of the muskets used at the trials above quoted, bu t in all probabi l i ty the " Brown Bess " would be the one chosen, it being the s tandard mi l i ta ry arm at that period.

Opposition to Improved Metttods in Military Service.--What is politely called conservatism, in other words, an adher- ence to ideas or any th ing else which is old and established, is not as deeply rooted in the minds of people to-day as it was years ago.

Learned men ridiculed the idea of the practical use of s teamboats and railroads, and Fernando Wood was ridiculed off the s tump when beaten for re-election to Congress, being charged wi th vot ing to appropriate $25,000 of the peo- ple's money to be used by a crank who claimed tha t he could hold communica t ion between W a s h i n g t o n and Balti

I98 IVhee/er : [J. F. I.,

more by means of wires s t re tched between the two places. Officers of the a rmy and navy of all countr ies have been even more conservative than the mass of the people.

Many writers have dwel t upon the fact t ha t among mili- tary men there has always seemed'to be an in tangible some- th ing which caused them to oppose improved methods or im- proved weapons, no mat te r how superior they may have been shown to be.

Napoleon I I I says, in his valuable t reat ise on the "Pas t and Fu ture of Art i l lery :"

" Invent ions which are before their age remain useless unt i l the stock of general knowledge comes up to the level." The Emperor also speaks of " b e i n g enamored of old ways and of present ing for ages practices tha t are most stupid. ~ * ~ And not only does routine scrupulously observe, like some sacred deposit, the errors of ant iqui ty , but it ac tual ly opposes, m i g h t and main, the most legi t imate and the most evident improvements ."

An Engl i sh writer says : " On looking now at the speci- mens of early small arms and art i l lery preserved in museums and arsenals, it is surpr is ing how l i t t le change has been undergone, ei ther by ordnance or musketry , dur ing tha t long period of comparat ive inaction. Except in the superior composit ion of the metal, cannon cast in the reigns of the Georges exhibi ted little a l terat ion or improvement beyond their condit ion in the t ime of Elizabeth. The muske ts borne by our soldiers in the Peninsula and at Water loo dif- fered in no essential par t icular from those wi th which their ancestors fough t at Blenheim, A u g u s t I7, 17o4, and Rami- l ies; and the subs t i tu t ion of the percussion cap for a flint-lock took place at a still la ter period."

t~ven Napoleon and ]zis Marsha l s were Unprogressive in A r m a m e n t . - - N o r was this display of apa thy confined to Eng- land alone. Almos t every other na t ion in Europe concurred in mani fes t ing the same contented indifference. Marmont , to the close of his life, upheld the old muske t as the most formidable and effective of all possible weapons; and Napo- leon wi thdrew the rifle from the imperial troops, to whom it had been part ial ly issued dur ing the wars of the Republ ic :

Mar., I9O2. ] Evolutiou of Fire-Arms and Ordnance. I99

nor was it restored to the French armies till af ter the inva- sion of Algeria, in 183o, when it was adopted for the equip- men t of the Chasseurs d'Orleans.

The Duke of Wel l ing ton was often heard to say that , " l o o k i n g to the amoun t of mechanical skill in England, and the numerical weakness of the Engl ish a rmy as compared wi th those of the great Cont inenta l Powers, Brit ish troops o u g h t to be the best-armed soldiers in Europe."

Whi le duly aware of the imperfect ions both of small a rms and ordnance, the Duke was equal ly competent to form a correct es t imate of the difficulties which beset their removal ; bu t amongs t these he did not for a momen t admi t the force of mi l i ta ry routine, which, next to rash innovation, Napoleon I I I has pronounced to be the most redoubtable enemy to all improvement , regard ing errors as sacred only because they are old.

The Duke, so far from being a par t isan of " Brown Bess," gave his sanct ion to its supersession by the Minie-rifle in 185 I. But before author iz ing the adoption of the rifle, he jus- tified the measure in his own mind, not only by the example of the French and Belgian experiments , bu t by personal inspection of the ease wi th which the gun could be man- aged by the man, and the facil i ty afforded by it for loading. I t gave place a few years after to the Enfield ; and sl ight as was the superior i ty which the Minie, when first introduced, presented over the an t iqua ted muske t of the previous cen- tury, its part ial in t roduct ion by the Duke of Wel l ing ton was the only improvement tha t up to tha t t ime had been made in the construct ion of small arms.

An Engl ish au thor in reference to the period (about I83O) said: "Pr io r to tha t time, however, some perception of the super ior i ty of the r i f e had begun to be felt in Great Britain, after its efficiency had been witnessed in the hands of the Americans, whose marksmen had been indebted to its skil- ful use for their advantages over ourselves, as well as for subsequent successes in their expedit ions agains t the Mexi- cans."

Whi le the Duke of Wel l ing ton was quite inclined to the conservative idea, he was less extreme in his views than m a n y d is t inguished officers of tha t period.

2o0 Wheeler : I J. F. I.,

Excel len t b reech- loading rifles were made in England , and in use when he was a child.

Both We l l i ng t on and Napoleon were too well in fo rmed not to have known tha t ne i the r breech- loaders nor revolvers are invent ions of modern date. Both were known in Ger- many as ear ly as the close of the s ix teen th century . T h e r e are in the Mus6e d 'Ar t i l le r ie at Par is wheel- lock ha rquebuses of the s ix teen th cen t u r y which are breech-loaders; and there is, in the T o w e r Armory , a revolver with the old matchlock, the date of which is about I55o. A Ge r man h a r q u e b u s of the s ix teen th century , in the m u s e u m of S igmar ingen , is a revolver of seven barrels. Nor is rifl ing a new th ing in fire- arms, for there was a rifled va r ie ty of the old h a r q u e b u s of the s ix teen th century , in which the balls were dr iven home by a mallet, and a pa ten t was taken out in Eng land for rifl ing in I635.

Breech-Loaders a n d PercussioJl Locks O p p o s e d . - - T h e r e is now a breech- loading rifle in the W a r D e p a r t m e n t l ib rary which was inven ted in I775 and was used by the Bri t ish t roops at the ba t t le of Brandywine on S e p t e m b e r i i, I777, and excel lent breech- loaders are now at Fo r t Monroe which were made by the Chinese possibly a thousand years ago.

T h e percussion-lock was inven ted in i8oo, and was pat- en ted in Eng land in I8o7, and yet the man who is held up in Eng land as the super ior of Napoleon fough t all his wars with the muzzle- loading flint-lock.

Now, all this was bad enough ; bu t in the face of abun- dant in format ion tha t breech- loading arms had been before the publ ic t h r o u g h o u t the world for centur ies , and despi te the fact tha t the percussion-lock was publ ic ly advoca ted in I8o7, and in genera l use in Europe from t838 , and I migh t say almost universa l use in I846 , and m a n u f a c t u r e d in our arsenals in I844 and I845, I846 and i847, our a rmy fough t the Mexican W a r wi th flint-lock arms, most of t hem the old musket .

I read very recen t ly the fol lowing : " I n i842 percussion- locks were adopted, and when the Mexican W a r broke ou t there were enough to have a rmed the troops, bu t Genera l Scot t prefer red the flintlock musket . "

Mar., 19o2. ] Evolution o f Fire-Arms and Ordnance. 201

I th ink the wri ter was in error as to the quant i t ies of guns wi th percussion-locks in May, I846, bu t wi th energy every soldier of General Scott 's a rmy could have been given a gun of tha t character.

Percussion muskets were manufac tu red at the Spring- field Armory in I844. The records of the W a r Depar tment show tha t dur ing tha t and the next four years the percus- sion muskets manufac tu red by the government were as follows :

1844 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 , 9 5 6

1845 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 ,332 1846 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 ,468

1847 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 ,3o0

~848 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26,o17

Infantry in Civil War Armed witA 3/[uzzle-Loaders.--But worse than all that, the W a r of the States came on in ~86i, and this grea t government , with its ports open and unl im- i ted resources, and with inventors of excellent breach-load- ing arms begg ing the government to purchase, the old muzzle-loader was kept in use.

These efforts were so pers is tent tha t Floyd, a civilian Secretary of War, in his report wri t ten dur ing the summer of I859 in referr ing to breach-loading arms, said :

" U n d e r the appropriat ions heretofore made by Congress to encourage experiments in breech-loading arms, very im- por tant results have been arrived at. The ingenu i ty and invent ion displayed upon the subject are t ru ly surprising, and it is r isking li t t le to say tha t the arm has been nearly, if not entirely, perfected by several of these plans. These arms commend themselves very s t rongly for their great range and accuracy of fire at long distance; for the rapidi ty wi th which they can be fired, and their exemption from in ju ry by exposure to long-cont inued rains. W i t h the best breech-loading arm, one skilful man would be equal to two, probably three, armed with the ordinary muzzle-loading gun. True policy requires tha t steps should be taken to introduce these arms gradual ly into our service, and to this end preparat ions ought to be made for their manufac tu re in the public arsenals."--Report o f the Secretary o f War, z859.

202 W ] l c d e r ," [J. F. I.,

After the W a r of 1861 began, the gove rnmen t was in- duced to supply a portion of the cavalry wi th breech-loaders, and the fol lowing is a list of guns of tha t character pur- chased and manufac tu red dur ing the five years ending June 3o, 1866, a grea t number , probably the most of them, being supplied dur ing the last half of the period ment ioned, and m a n y even issued af ter the war had closed. The list is as follows :

1,5o 9 Ballard, 20,002 Maynard, 1,oo2 Ball, I,OOi Palmer,

55,567 Burnside, 2o,ooo Remington, 9,342 Cosmopolitan, 8o,512 Sharps,

22,728 Gallagher, 3o, o62 Smith, i,o52 Gibbs, 94,156 Spencer, 3,520 Halls, 25,602 Starr,

1 i, 261 Joslyn, 4,OOl Warner, 892 Lindner, 151 Wesson,

14,495 Merrill.

General Dyer, Chief of Ordinance, in his report for I864, said : " The use of breech-loading arms in our service has, wi th few exceptions, been confined to moun ted troops."

We see here tha t the infant ry received subs tant ia l ly no breech-loading arms, and it was not unt i l the war was over tha t the quest ion was " to receive early a t tent ion ."

Iudescribable Opposition to Progress.--Captain Kimbal l , of the Navy, in an article in Scribner, in 1889, in referr ing to this indescribable something, sarcast ical ly said: " T h e Eng- lish bowmen made a ga l lant s tand aga ins t the ignominy consequent upon the use of the brutal muske t ; the French bravely rejected the breech-loader in the Napoleonic wars; the Amer icans did nobly in refus ing to use percussion-lock guns in Mexico, and in g rea t ly preferr ing wonderfu l ly bad muzzle-loaders to compara t ive ly effective arms with which to kill each other du r ing the Rebel l ion ; bu t all these heroic a t t empts at s topping mi l i ta ry progress fade into insignifi- cance when one contemplates the glorious resistance to the ut i l iz ing of magaz ine mechanisms upon the rifle."

I t would seem difficult to account for these repeated anomalies, but when we reflect tha t a rmamen t s are selected by experienced soldiers, and tha t they have been indel ibly

Mar., 19o2. ] Evolutiolz o/ Fire-Arms and Ordnance. 203

impressed wi th the excel lence of weapons which they have used, and tha t t hey realize tha t any change would requi re a new course of ins t ruc t ion , and at the same t ime involve g rea t expense in the change of a rmament , some idea is conveyed as to the reasons why they desire to adhere to old sys tems and weapons.

Even in late years, when a hammer le s s gun was offered to the gove rnmen t , officers of d is t inct ion u rged as a serious ob jec t ion tha t it would be impossible for the soldier to come to suppor t arms. I t seemed not to have occur red to t he m tha t the manua l of arms could be changed and tha t there was no necess i ty for ever ho ld ing a gun in such a posi t ion.

I t is said tha t when Sir Isaac Newt on was s i t t ing at his desk near a fire-place, deeply absorbed in an in t r ica te prob- lem and the fire had become so ho t as to real ly give h im pain; he cried to his se rvan t to move the fire away. T h e se rvan t saw tha t his mas ter ' s mind was en t i re ly on his work, and as he could not move the fire-place he asked Sir Isaac if it would not do as well for h im to move his cha i r . Sir Isaac's mind r eve r t ed for a m o m e n t to th ings ter res t r ia l and said : " I had not t h o u g h t of that ."

Naval Battles at Ma~zila and SaJltiago Fought with Black Powder.--Smokeless powder was inven ted pr ior to 1886 and was in genera l use in Europe soon af ter t ha t date.

I t was adopted by us, t oge the r wi th the Krag-Jorgensen , in I892, and ye t in June, i898 , eve ry in fan t ry vo lun t ee r r e g i m e n t went to Cuba as an a rmy of invasion a rmed wi th the old Springfield rifle wi th black powder car t r idges. T h e Spanish had smokeless powder and the Mauser-rifle, which m a n y exper ienced officers regard as be t t e r than the Krag- Jorgensen . Even in the far-off Phi l ippines, the insu rgen t s were a rmed wi th the Mauser and R e m i n g t o n .

But wha t is still s t ronger evidence of this too conserva- t ive spirit, n o t w i t h s t a n d i n g tha t smokeless powder has been used for he a vy guns for ten years, black powder, wi th its clouds of smoke, was the only kind furn i shed to Dewey at Manila, or to Sampson, Schley and Clark at San t iago , and the " Brooklyn " was so enveloped in a m o u n t a i n of smoke

204 VVt~eeler : [J. F. I ,

t h a t o f f i ce r s o n a d j a c e n t s h i p s o n l y k n e w t h a t t h e " B r o o k -

l y n " h a d n o t g o n e to t h e b o t t o m b y h e a r i n g t h e t h u n d e r

of h e r g u n s a s t h i s n o b l e c r u i s e r h u r l e d t o n s of i r o n m i s s i l e s

i n t o t h e S p a n i s h s h i p s . Mili t ia Laws, Antiquated and Obsolete.--But s h o u l d w e

c r i t i e i s e a r m y o f f i ce r s f o r t h i s a d h e r e n c e to t h i n g s t h a t a r e o ld , w h e n w e a r e c o n f r o n t e d w i t h t h e f a c t t h a t t h e C o n g r e s s o f

t h i s p r o g r e s s i v e c o u n t r y h a s b e e n e v e n m o r e d e r e l i c t i n t h i s

r e s p e c t t h a n i t s s e r v a n t s , t h e o f f i ce r s of t h e a r m y . D u r i n g

m y s u b s t a n t i a l l y t w e n t y y e a r s ' s e r v i c e i n C o n g r e s s , I m a d e

s e v e r a l a t t e m p t s to s e c u r e l e g i s l a t i o n w h i c h w o u l d m o d e r n -

i ze t h e l a w s r e g a r d i n g t h a t g r e a t a r m of d e f e n e e , t h e " m i l i t i a

of t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s , " b u t o w i n g to t h e i n f l e x i b l e r u l e s w h m h g o v e r n t h e H o u s e o f R e p r e s e n t a t i v e s , a l l s u c h e f f o r t s

p r o v e d to b e u n a v a i l i n g , a n d t o - d a y t h e l a w r e g a r d i n g o u r

m i l i t i a , w h i c h w a s e n a c t e d t h e 8 t h d a y of M a y , I792, a n d a m e n d e d t h e 2d d a y o f M a r c h , I8O3, w i t h a l l i t s u t t e r i n a p -

p l i c a b i l i t y to p r e s e n t c o n d i t i o n s , i s n e v e r t h e l e s s n o w t h e

l a w of t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s . T h e f o l l o w i n g is , verbatim, t h e p r e s e n t l a w w i t h r e g a r d t o

a r m i n g t h e m i l i t i a , a s i t i s s o l e m n l y r e p r o d u c e d i n t h e l a t e s t

c o p y of t h e r e v i s e d s t a t u t e s o f t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s ( p a g e z85) :

~ T H E M I L I T I A . '1

" SEC. I525. Every able-bodied male citizen of the respective states, resi- dent therein, who is the age of eighteen years, and under the age of forty-five years, shall be enrolled in the militia.

"SEc. i525. It shall be the duty of every captain or commanding officer of a company to enroll every such citizen residing within the bounds of his company, and all those who may, from time to time, arrive at the age of eighteen years, or who, being of the age of eighteen years and under the age of forty-five years, come to reside within his bounds.

"SEc. I627. Each captain or commanding officer shall, without delay, notify every such citizen of his enrollment, by a proper non-commissioned officer of his company, who may prove the notice. And any notice or warn- ing to a citizen enrolled, to attend a company, battalion or regimental muster, which is according to the laws of the state in which it is given for that pur- pose, shall be deemed a legal notice of his enrollment.

" SEC. I628. Every citizen shall, after notice of his enrollment, be con- stantly provided with a good mnsket or firelock of a bore sufficient for balls of the eighteenth part of a pound, a sufficient bayonet and belt, two slbar¢ ]~ints, and a knapsack, a pouch with a box therein to contain not less than twenty-four cartridges, suited to the bore of his musket or firelock, each car-

Mar., I9O2. j Evolution o/ Fire-Arms and Ordnance. 205

tridge to eontain a proper quatity of powder and ball; or with a good rifle, knap- sack, shot-pouch and powder-horn, twenty balls suited to the bore of his rifle, and a quarter of a pound of powder ,. and shall appear so armed, aeeoutered and provided when called out to exercise or into service, except that when called out on eompany days to exereise only, he may appear without a knap- sack. And all arms, ammunition and aeeouterments so provided and required shall be held exempted from all suits, distresses, executions, or sales for debt or for the payment of taxes. Each commissioned officer shall be armed with a sword or hanger and sponloon."

I t will thus be seen tha t eve ry m e m b e r of the mil i t ia or "s ta te organizat ions , and as to tha t mat ter , praet iea l ly all c i t izens of the Un i t ed States , who are no t exemp ted by law f rom mil i t ia duty, are viola tors of the law who have not suppl ied themse lves with a muske t or firelock, bayone t and belt, two spare flints, a knapsack, car t r idges or a good rifle wi th shot pouch, powder horn, bails, a qua r t e r of a pound of powder and var ious o the r th ings too numerous to men- tion, and at this t ime very difficult, if not imposs ib le to obtain, and abso lu te ly wor th less for batt le , if un fo r tuna t e ly they were obta inable .

As bu t few of us have ever heard of a " spon toon , " I will explain tha t it means a pike or a ha lbe rd or a long-handled weapon.

American O~cers Now Show Progressive and Commendable Sp i r i t . - - I am glad to say tha t Amer i can officers of this per iod are showing a mos t commendab le spirit , and this s t rugg le for i m p r o v e m e n t is g rowing s t ronger every day ; bu t while in m a n y th ings we lead the world, we have up to this t ime kept a l i t t le beh ind in weapons of war.

T h a t this condi t ion will no longer exist there is abun- dan t evidence. T h e " Bureau of O r d n a n c e " and the " Board of Ordnance and Fort i f icat ions," bo th of which are eomposed of ve ry able and d i s t ingu ished officers, are g iv ing most in te l l igent inves t iga t ion to new invent ions, and every pos- sible e n c o u r a g e m e n t to inventors who have a n y t h i n g of real mer i t to p resen t .

W h a t is t rue of the a r m y is equa l ly t rue of the navy. Both services seek to do full jus t ice to invent ions by civil- ians, and this wise and in te l l igen t act ion on the i r par t will p rove of g rea t benefi t to the a rm y and navy.

206 ~V/zecler : [J. F. I.,

Non-Recoil amt Automatic Gu~¢s.--For several years invent- ors have devoted much effort towards cont r iv ing me thods by which recoils of guns could be lessened, and, if possible , ent i rely neutralized. The advan tage of this would be qui te apparent to spor t smen as well as to soldiers.

Af te r several shots with ordinary guns the recoil so bruises the arm that the soldier 's mind is largely d is t rac ted from his du ty by the an t ic ipa ted shock, and a lmost uncon- sciously cringes as he pulis the tr igger, thus very mater ia l ly d i s tu rb ing the aim.

A gun wi thou t any recoil, and which could be fired several t imes wi thou t be ing taken from the shoulder would, therefore, have an advan tage over the old arm which, it is no exaggera t ion to say, would double the efficiency of the soldier.

The effect of the operat ion of such a gun would be some- wha t like the column of water from a hose-pipe. T he eye of the fireman is cons tan t ly upon the point he wishes to strike, and by the s l ight m o v e m e n t of the nozzle he changes the direction until the flow of wa te r is upon the desired point. If the fireman were compel led to look down upon the pipe every other moment , he would be cons tan t ly los ing his bearing, and would be obl iged to regain it every t ime he looked up, and would be cons tan t ly commenc ing a n e w .

So wi th this new fire.arm, the soldier 's eye be ing con- s tant ly upon the posi t ion of the enemy, and very of ten b y the cu t t ing of twigs, or th rowing up dust, he can tell how far he has shot to the r ight or left, or if too low, and like the fireman wi th the hose, by the s l ightes t change of his aim, he will be be t t e r able to hi t in the succeeding shots, while the chance would be much less if the gun was taken from the shoulder and the eye taken off the enemy after each shot.

To Neutralize Recoil o f CannoJz Very Advmztageous.--Also, a device which would neutra l ize the recoil in cannon would be even a grea ter advan tage than in small arms. Especia l ly would this be true in the navy, where the recoil of heavy guns proves very in jur ious to a ship. Thus, the in ju ry to

Mar., I9o2.] Evolution of Fire-Arms and Ordnance. 207

the " Iowa , " " T e x a s " and " Brooklyn " in firing dur ing t h e Sant iago campaign was such tha t much t ime and money had to be spent to repair the damage.

The devices heretofore exis t ing to neutral ize the recoil of heavy guns have involved the use of weights, m a n y of them as heavy as fifteen tons and some exceeding th i r ty tons. I t will therefore readi ly be unders tood tha t an inven- t ion by which the recoil if neutra l ized by the energy of the expansion of the same gas as is used to throw the projecti le should be h igh ly appreciated.

Greener says, page 337 : " T h e recoil of an ordinary 12-bore gun, loaded at the muzzle, varies from 40 to 48 pounds, seldom exceeding the la t ter ; tha t of a breech-loader varies from 68 to 76. ''

Exper iments with the 45 caliber Springfield rifle showed a free recoil of I9"84 foot-pounds energy for black or ordi- nary gunpowder , while exper iments with smokeless powder give a recoil of I7"o6 foot-pounds. In this exper iment a 5oo-grain bul let was used and the muzzle velocity was 1,259 feet per second.

Other exper iments have shown tha t the ratio of recoil energies of black and smokeless powders have been found for general practical purposes as I ' i8 to I.

The recoil of a gun measured in pounds means that the" gun in recoil ing compresses a spr ing by the same amoun t tha t it would have been compressed if a dead load of the same number of pounds had been placed on the spring in a vertical position.

Captain Dunn, of the Ordnance Depar tment , in discuss- ing this subject, uses these words : " I t has been a general ly accepted opinion tha t the fur ther development of power in the rifle mus t be a t tended by increased recoil and tha t the la t ter was al ready equal to the average soldier's endurance."

Importance of Skilful t:iring.--There is one and but one purpose in engag ing in battle, and tha t is to gain the vic- tory over the enemy.

There is one and only one purpose in placing arms in the hands of the soldiers composing the army, and tha t is to enable him to shoot, and ei ther kill or disable soldiers

208 I/Vlteeler : [J. F. I.,

of the oppos ing army, and the cons t ruc t ion and use of fire- a rms should all be of a cha rac t e r to bes t a t t a in tha t purpose, while at the same t ime the soldier is as far as possible screened f rom the enemy ' s fire.

T h e t endency of soldiers has been to fire so h igh tha t ful ly 95 per cent. of the i r charges were ineffective.

Dur ing the ba t t les of the Civil War , which occurred in a wooded country , the tops of the h i ghes t t rees were cu t to pieces, and in all e n g a g e m e n t s at n igh t or even in twil ight , it was very plain to see t ha t mos t of the guns were fired at too g rea t an elevat ion. Th i s was due in a g rea t measure to the fact t ha t f rom three to five t imes as much t ime was occupied in loading as in firing, and the a t t en t ion of the soldier was in tha t way la rge ly d iver ted f rom the one essen- tial purpose for which he had been pu t in action.

All this was t rue when the main l ine of the a rmy was engaged, bu t its impor t ance became m u c h intensif ied in the case of soldiers firing upon the ski rmish line. Dur ing the Civil War , on bo th sides much a t t en t ion was paid to t each ing the skirmish l ine to never fire ~nt i l an enemy was visible against whom t hey could di rect a shot.

Now, subs tan t ia l ly all ba t t les are fough t in open order, and all th ings be ing equal, the successful a rmy will be the one whose soldiers are so a rmed and dri l led tha t the i r en t i re a t t en t ion and t h o u g h t can be d i rec ted upon the one main objec t of the i r presence on the field.

Th i s cannot be done wi th any gun which requi res the soldier af ter firing to take his gun from his shoulder , take his eyes off the enemy, th row out the shell, p lace a car- t r idge in posi t ion and then r e tu rn the gun to the shoulder r eady for firing. T h e ve ry fact of his doing all this while under fire tends to create a ne rvousness which would not exist if his eyes and a t t en t ion had been cons tan t ly upon the enemy.

T h e t endency in the bat t les of the p resen t day is to f ight at a ve ry long range, and especial ly is this t rue when armies are fo rming and mak ing prepara t ions for an at tack. T h e ski rmishers are genera l ly ly ing down, and wi th the shel ter of grass or a small bush or a loft or s tone can ve ry genera l ly

Mar., 19o2. ] Evolution of Fire-Arms and Ordnance. 209

be so concealed tha t it is difficult for the enemy to distin- guish them from someth ing inanimate .

Officers who have served on the skirmish line have often found soldiers ins is t ing tha t cer tain objects before them were the enemy's skirmishers, when careful observation would show tha t the object referred to was a log or s tump or someth ing of tha t character.

Again, they have often seen the soldier on the enemy's skirmish line remain so quiet tha t it took careful observa- t ion to discern a movemen t by which his real character could be determined, and this movement was very general ly the movement of the arm necessary to prepare the gun for firing.

Non-Recoil Semi-Automatic Gun is EssentiaL--It will be easily unders tood what a grea t advantage it would be for a soldier to have a gun which could be fired repeatedly with- out, or subs tan t ia l ly without , any movements of the arms or hands, thus enabl ing h im to keep his eyes constant ly upon the object agains t which tie was di rect ing his fire.

Dur ing campaigns it is often the case tha t both armies place their advance lines in ent renchments , and each side is cons tant ly wa tch ing an oppor tuni ty to fire when the oppos- ing soldiers show their heads or shoulders above the breast- works.

In such case it would be a grea t advantage to have a gun which could be fired wi th accuracy several t imes wi thout tak ing the eye from the enemy and wi thout removing the gun from the shoulder. He would have his eye constant ly upon the enemy's parapet, and every exposure above the parapet would enable h im to make an effective shot.

Officers have often heard the idea advanced tha t in order to enable a soldier to fire del iberately it is necessary for him to take his gun from his shoulder af ter firing, and go th rough the several mot ions which are necessary in most modern guns to throw out the shell and place another cartr idge in position. I th ink this is a great mistake. There is now no quest ion bu t tha t if a soldier is saved this in terrupt ion he can, wi th proper t raining, be made to fire wi th more deadly del iberat ion and with much more accuracy. VOL. CLII. No. 915. I4

elo Wheeler : [J. F. 1..

Marksmanship little Considered up to Tkirty Years AKo.-- Unti l wi th in the last th i r ty years very li t t le a t ten t ion was paid to marksmansh ip .

I,ord Rober ts said tha t when he first entered the army, wi th the exception of a few scat tered skirmishers, opposing lines had to approach to wi th in some e igh ty yards of each other before they could open fire wi th any chance of h i t t i ng one another. There was then much to be u rged in suppor t of the theory tha t marksmansh ip was but a small ma t t e r in comparison with drill. Lord Rober t s also remarked tha t it f requent ly happened in our conservat ive a rmy (the Engl ish army) tha t theory long out l ived the condi t ions which had given it birth, and as la te ly as twen ty years ago there were m a n y command ing officers who looked upon ta rge t practice as an unnecessary nuisance forced upon them by the author- ities to the de t r iment of drill, and therefore of service effi- ciency.

Range of Old Musket and Bad Marksmanship.--The range of the old muske t was very uncertain, and m a n y writers of tha t period contended, tha t a l though officially said to be effective at a range of 200 yards, it was the working rule of the soldier to reserve his shot till he saw the whites of his enemy's eyes, and even then it was said tha t before he could br ing down his man he mus t fire a full weight of his body in lead.

Less than for ty years ago, a well- trained marksman, provided wi th an old regula t ion musket , was placed to fire at a ta rge t 18 feet square, from a dis tance of 3oo yards, and found tha t he could not even put into tha t spacious area one bullet out of twenty. At 20o yards his success was no greater, and yet, the fire-arm thus tested, was the regular weapon of the British soldier, so late as the year 1852.

In I838, a series of exper iments were under taken by the officers of the Royal Engineers , at Chatham. The ta rge t first employed was 3 feet wide and 11 feet 6 inches high, and was s truck by about three-fourths of the balls at 15o yards, fired wi th full cha rges - -wi th reduced charges only about one-half hit. Abou t this dis tance the difficulty of h i t t i ng was so great tha t the wid th of the ta rge t had to be

Mar., I9O2. ] Evolution o f F i re -Arms and Ordnance. 2Ix

increased to 6 feet ; and, at 250 yards, of ten shots fired wi th full charges, not one hi t the ta rge t ; at 300 yards, shot after shot was fired wi thou t one h i t t i ng the object a imed at or its whereabouts being aseer ta ined.

The amoun t of ammuni t i on fired from large guns with- out effect has been very great .

In siege operat ions and in naval warfare the ammuni- tion wasted is far in excess of the in ju ry done to the enemy ; so much so, tha t after the fall of Sebastopol, the surface of the plateau in the vic ini ty of the captured citadel was s trewn with balls as though with the products of a mine of ready-wrought iron.

An officer who saw this, wrote : " I hard ly exaggera te in saying tha t over some dozen acres a smar t fellow migh t have crossed every yard of g round upon iron wi thout laying a foot on the earth. The cannon balls were thick in some places, and scat tered in others, bu t the coup d'oeil was inde- scribable."

Americans the Best M a r k s m e n . - - O n the other hand, the accuracy of fire by Amer ican riflemen has often a t t rac ted at tent ion, instances being given in which ten consecutive shots at 220 yards were planted within a space no lar~er than a s m a l l p l a y i n g card- -a feat which up to tha t period was considered unequaled.

I t is, I think, general ly admi t ted tha t the victory of Jackson, at New Orleans, was largely due to the accurate fire of what were called " backwoods riflemen." Jackson's entire army, inc luding himself, were contemptuous ly al luded to by the Brit ish as men of tha t character as d is t inguished from t ra ined soldiers. In fact, Packenham himself, while dying, expressed chagrin tha t he should lose his life in bat t le wi th men so different from the trained soldiers he commanded. The same soldiers tha t fought in New Orleans, on J a n u a r y 8, I815, fought under Wel l ing ton five months and ten days later at Waterloo. In tha t bat t le the French and Engl ish armies were at first nearly 1,2oo yards apart, bu t as musketry , as well as grape shot, were at tha t t ime unavai l ing at such a range, the a rmy under Napoleon approached wi thin 200 or 300 yards of the Engl ish lines

212 Wkeeler : [J. F. I.,

w i thou t suffering serious loss. In bat t les fought before tha t time, it was the practice of opposing forces to array themselves at dis tances va ry ing from 500 to I,OOO and some- t imes 1,5oo yards.

" B r o w n Bess," the Brit ish gun from 1734 to I839, weighed I I½ pounds and was 75 caliber. I t was then changed to per- cussion lock, bu t was not much improved, as a report of British Engineers in 1846 uses these words:

" I t appears from their exper iments tha t as a general rule muske t ry fire should never be opened beyond 150 yards, and certainly not beyond 2o0 yards ; at this dis tance half the number of shots missed the target , i I x 6 feet.

This is all changed by the long range and accuracy of fire at the present time.

A t the bat t le of Las Guasunas the Amer ican line was formed about 750 yards from the Spanish en t renchment . This approximat ion was made necessary on account of the format ion of the ground. For the same reason the Ameri- can line was formed at San J u a n from 500 to 700 yards from the enemy's en t renchments , which were on the San J u a n bridge, at which place the Spaniards were well entrenched. I t may general ly be assumed tha t where the coun t ry is fair ly open and bare of trees lines will be formed a l i t t le beyond the range of fire-arms.

The Gun oJ the F u t u r e . - - T h e fu ture gun will be au tomat ic or semi-automatic, worked by the force genera ted by the expansion of the same gas which causes the f l ight of the projectile, and the same gas will apply and exercise a force push ing the gun forward jus t sufficient to neutral ize the recoil. Such a gun, beside possessing the advantages before mentioned, can be made very l ight, and tha t means much, especially for arti l lery.

A gun embody ing this i m p o r t a n t fea ture has been devised by Mr. Samuel N. McClean, and signalizes an advance in arms more impor tan t and of grea ter value t han any th ing which has been invented for a th i rd of a century.

The old rifle, as is well known, was made very heavy in order to lessen the recoil, and for the same reason much meta l was put in cannon tha t wi th the McClean invent ion, can be el iminated.

Mar., 19o2. ] Evolution of Fire-ArJtts and Ordnance. 2I 3

A navy I2-inch gun weighs abo~xt fifty-three tons, and its carr iage abou t twenty-seven tons.

An a rmy I2-inch d isappear ing carr iage weighs abou t 500,0o0 pounds, the coun te rwe igh t s we igh ing I5o,ooo pounds.

If t h e M c C l e a n sys tem could be appl ied to at ta in the pur- pose that is now effected by the d isappear ing carr iage an immense amoun t of ponderous weights could be el iminated.

P R O G R E S S OF I M P R O V E M E N T S IN W E A P O N S .

W e a p o n s of warfare and for the chase have been of two dis t inct types.

Fi rs t : swords, javel ins and batt le-axes to be held in the hand ; and

Second, weapons by or wi th which missiles are hur led or projected.

The var ious s tages in the la t te r type of weapons may be s ta ted as follows :

(I) The pr imi t ive use of s tones and sticks thrown by the hand as a means of a t tack or defense.

(2) The sl ing by which s tones were huf fed wi th accuracy for long distances.

(3) The spear thrown wi th skill and force. (4) The long-bow. (5) The cross-bow, the principle of which was applied to

large guns called art i l lery as well as to weapons held in the hand. Dur ing the ages when these var ious improvemen t s were be ing made, certain devia t ions from those most com- monly used, such as the boomerang, were very skilfully made and used by the people of savage nations, and, in some localities, especial ly in Assyria , India and China invent ions were developed far in advance of the period when they became genera l ly known to the world.

(6) The mos t impor tan t change was early in the four- t een th century, viz.: The use of elastic gases to drive a project i le from a long tube which was called a gun, the elastic gases be ing created by the explosion of gunpowder . At first the guns were fired by igni t ing the powder with a torch held in the hand.

214 IVheeler : [J. F. [.,

(7) The (8) The (9) The

(IO) The (I I) The (12) The (I3) The (I4) The (I5) The (16) The

matchlock. wheel-lock. more modern flint-lock. percuss ion lock. rifle-bore. breech-loader. magazine gun. percuss ion tape. hammer less gun and firing-pin. use of a contr ivance b y which, wi th a m o v e m e n t

of the hand after each shot, the empty shell was thrown out and the new cartridge placed in position. Each of the above were deemed to be marked advances upon preceding methods.

(17) The McClean invention, by the use of which, aftor the elastic gas has performed its work in driving the pro- jectile, a portion is captured and used to convert the ordi- nary rifle or field-gun or siege-piece into a machine gun, in which a section of the barrel is made to perform the func- tion of the steam-chest of the steam-engine, and the bullet is made to become both the valve and the cut-off, and the explosive force of the gas is made to press the gun forward the m o m e n t the project i le leaves the muzzle, jus t sufficient to counterac t the recoil, while at the same t ime it operates a wonderfu l ly simple mechanism, throws ou t the e m p t y shell, ins tant ly reloads the piece, and if desired, repea ts the operat ion in an inconceivably short t ime unti l the magazine of the piece is emptied.

The McClean mechan i sm and invent ions apply wi th equal ut i l i ty to all classes of fire-arms and ordnance from the smalles t pistol, mi l i tary rifle and spor t ing arm, to field- guns, s iege-guns and to naval guns of largest caliber.

In speaking of the McClean inventions, an eminen t mil i tary engineer, of a lmost fifty years ' devot ion to his pro- fession, said :

" T h e work of res is t ing the recoil and re loading the piece, especial ly in the case of small arms, becomes a seri- ous tax upon the s t rength of t h e ' m a n behind the gun, ' and its per formance by the surplus energy of the gas is a

Mar., I9o2. ] Evolution of Fire-Arms and Ordnance. 2I 5

most impor tan t aid, whe ther employed by soldier or sports- man. The effect of all this upon the general accuracy of fire can hard ly fail to be beneficial. The use of this device in art i l lery would tend to reduce the weight necessary for carriages, and thus add grea t ly to the faci l i ty and rapidi ty of t ranspor ta t ion upon the field."

W h e n we consider the s implici ty of mechanism, the great durabi l i ty of the parts and the few parts involved, I do not th ink it is going too far to say tha t the McClean invent ions mark an advance in fire-arms more useful and valuable than a n y t h i n g tha t has ever preceded them.

In all engagements in which I have ever been a partici- pant, the a rmamen t ,of the soldiers associated with me, unfor tuna te ly , has been inferior to t h a t of the opposing forces.

In Cuba and in the Phil ippines our troops came nearest to en joy ing an equal i ty in tha t respect. There we had the Krag-Jorgensen and the Springfield rifles. We were opposed in Cuba by the Mauser rifle, and while there is a difference of opinion among officers, I am inclined to regard the Mauser as possessing certain special advantages .

In the Philippines, most of the insurgent f ight ing force were also armed with the Mauser, t hough many were armed with the R e m i n g t o n and a few with inferior guns of various description.

These experiences very forcibly impressed me with the pa ramoun t importance of our government , by the most searching and thorough inves t iga t ions and experiments, seeing to it t ha t beyond quest ion of doubt our superb sol- diers be furnished with the best possible weapons. This was the main incentive which caused me to become inter- ested in the McClean inventions. My s tudy of this subject convinces me tha t warfare in the fu ture will be conducted upon scientific principles. I t will become an exact science, and we mus t have scientifically constructed weapons.

Naval Marksmanshiio.--A great deal has been said in commend ing the action of our naval officials in what is called lavish expendi ture of money for t a rge t practice on our naval ships, and the victories at Manila and Sant iago

216 IU,heder : [J. F. I.,

were a t t r ibu ted in a grea t measure to the vast ly superior skill in marksmansh ip of our cannoneers over those of the Spanish navy.

Whi le this is all true, the facts r egard ing our marks- mansh ip on those occasions show tha t wi th improved guns much bet ter results could be obtained. The report of Admira l O'Neil, Chief of the Bureau of Ordnance of the Navy, dated October I, IgoI (page 35) says :

" I f the lessons of the naval bat t le of Sant iago de Cuba, the ' Bellisle ' exper iment off the Isle of Wigh t , the ' Scor- p ion ' exper iment at Bermuda, and the reeent record of target practice of the Nor th At lan t ic fleet teach anyth ing , it is tha t very few hits are made wi th large caliber guns, even under the most favorable conditions. A t Sant iago de Cuba, out of eighty-six shots fired from 12- and 13-inch guns, at distances not exceeding 3,5oo yards, bu t three hi ts were recorded. In t h e ' B e l l i s l e ' exper iments but five hi ts out of fifteen shots fired from I2-inch guns were recorded, the distance being from 1,3oo to 1,7oo yards.

" In the Nor th At lan t ic squadron, out of twenty-six I3- inch shots fired, none hi t the target , which was of large dimensions, the dis tances being from 2,ooo to 4,000 yards.

" A t the bat t le of Sant iago de Cuba, 3I 9 8-inch projecti les were fired by the Uni ted States vessels, the number of guns engaged being presumably eighteen, the number of h i ts recorded being thir teen, or less than one per g'an, the aver- age number of shots per gun being e ighteen."

A more detai led s t a t emen t regard ing the ammuni t i on expended and hits in these naval actions is in the record of the Navy Depar tment , and was kindly furn ished me by Admira l O'Neil.

His le t ter is as follows : " D e c e m b e r i2~ 19oi.

" M y dear Genera l Whee l e r ." " I enc lose m e m o r a n d u m of a m m u n i t i o n e x p e n d e d by t h e U n i t e d S ta tes

vesse l s at San t i ago de C uba a n d at Mani la , w i th m e m o r a n d u m s h o w i n g t h e n u m b e r of h i t s r ecb rded by a board w h i c h e x a m i n e d t h e wrecks of t h e S p a n i s h sh ips a f te r t h e ac t ion a t San t i ago .

" As t h e vesse l s were s u n k a t Mani l a , no record of h i t s cou ld be m a d e a t that place. Vours truly,

" CHARLES O'NE:EI~."

Mar. , 19o2. ] E v o l u t i o n o f F i r e - A r m s a n d O r d n a n c e . 2I 7

H I T S A T S A N T I A G O .

Oquendo ." I 1 2 o r I 3 - i n e h . ] 5 8 - in ch . !

I I 4, 5 or 6 - ineh . 44 6 - p o u n d e r s . J

Viscaya : 5 8-inch. }

IO 4, 5 or 6-inch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 13 6 - p o u n d e r s .

Maria Teresa ." 2 12 O r I3- ineh. 3 8 - inch . I /

5 4, 5 or 6 - inch . ~ . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 9 17 6 - p o u n d e r s . j

2 i - p o u n d e r s . J

Colon .. 3 4 , 5 or 6-ineh. ). . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 3 6 - p o u n d e r s . J

T o t a l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 4

A M M U N I T I O N E X P E N D E D I N T H E N A V A L A C T I O N S O F F S A N T I A G O A N D M A N I L A .

S a n t i a g o .

! I n d i a n a . . . . . . [

O r e g o n . . . . . . .

T e x a s . . . . . . .

B r o o k l y n . . . . . . ]

I o w a . . . . . . . .

G l o u c e s t e r . . . . .

v i x e n . . . . . . . I

, 3 - inch . t 2 - i 7 h .

x3

34

8

31

47 39

8- inch . . . . . [ 6 - inch . i---5"ineh 4 - inch . I t 6 -pdr . ~i 3-pdr .

] 4 7 m m .

6i

I23

ioo

35

319

~-pdr .

3 7 r a m .

25

141

] I

33 !

97 ] I

473

25I

t ! I--

,7~ 473 i 2s, ! I

*,744

L56~

4 °0 330

1,2oo 200

1,056 100 I

589 780 I

27 I8

6,58o 780 814

M a n i l a . I [ i i i

O l y m p i a . . . . . 36 ] 28i i 1,ooo 360

C o n c o r d . . . . . . : I82 220 i2o i 60

P e t r e l . . . . . . . I16 313

R a l e i g h . . . . . 53 ] 34I 137 ioo

B o s t o n . . . . . . . : 48 I62 ] 220 256 , 420 t

B a l t i m o r e . . . . . [ 73 i22 , 547 i 692

i . . . . . 157 635 622 1,978 826 1,632

2t8 Wheeler : [J. F. 1

At Sant iago, 1,3oo large cal iber and 8,x74 small cal iber , in all 9,474 shots, out of which 124 hi ts were recorded, less than one hi t out of seventy-s ix shots. Th i s resu l t was applauded by naval officers as well as the people at large, both in Europe and America . Now, if one h i t out of seventy-s ix shots is app lauded as good marksmansh ip , one can eonceive of the fearful was te of a m m u n i t i o n which has here to fore been to lera ted.

About One Out o f 2,000 Shots Effective wi th Recoil G u n . - - T o persons who crit icise this ra t io as bad marksmansh ip , I would recall t ha t mi l i t a ry wri ters have asser ted t ha t since the use of fire-arms in ba t t le it has taken, upon an average, enough meta l in the form of shot to equal the we igh t of a man to secure one effect ive shot. Th i s would mean abou t one effect ive shot out of 2,000.

Such criminal waste of a m m u n i t i o n seems a lmost incred- ible, and this ve ry unbus iness l ike condi t ion is due largely to the kind of gun which has been used. T h e recoil has had muc h to do with the inaccuracy ; and the necess i ty for tak ing the gun from the shoulder, the eye off the object , and the mind off the purpose, is responsible for much of the balance.

In the future , war mus t be conduc ted upon business principles. T h e use of a non-recoil, semi-au tomat ic rifle, and tho rough drill and ins t ruc t ion of the soldier, will en t i re ly change this very unsa t i s fac tory condit ion. T h e effort should be to so t ra in an a rmy tha t the miss ing of a shot would be the except ion and not the rule, as it has been with the old recoil gun. We ma y not reach such a per fec t degree of excellence, bu t we can and cer ta in ly will approach it.

I have seen the McClean one-pounder cannon fired fif teen t imes into a bank wi thou t re-aiming, and every shot wen t into the same hole. I t was m o u n t e d upon l igh t wheels wi thou t lock, res ted loosely on the t runions, and there was not a part icle of recoil. I t was this which secured such accuracy.

Science and Sk i l l to Wiu Future Utctories.--Science and scientific skill now en te r into eve ry civil vocat ion. W h a t has he re to fore been accompl ished by the exercise of manua l

Mar., 19o2.] Evolution of Fire-Arms and Ordnance. 2I 9

s t reng th is now done with a thousand or more t imes the ease with which it was formerly done by h u m a n effort. To-day, one man by the control of s team or electric power

d o e s work which a few years ago required the combined s t r eng th and exert ion of a thousand or more h u m a n beings . '

The nat ions which will win victories in the fu ture will be those who use the most skill in the application of scien- tific methods and scientifically made arms, ordnance and o ther machines of war.

The lessons t a u g h t by the campaigns of Alexander , Hannibal , Caesar and Napoleon will not be discarded or minimized, bu t the victorious generals of the fu ture will still s tudy and adhere to the essence of the principles t augh t by the great commanders of all ages, in te l l igent ly applying them to modern conditions, modern methods, modern weapons and modern science.

Celerity of movement , and s t ra tegy and tactics, by which the plan of campaign and plan of bat t le will be nearly accomplished before the enemy can discern the real purpose of the assai l ing enemy; the concentrat ion of force at the point of battle, the protect ion of flanks and lines of com- municat ion, and assai l ing those of the enemy, and much else tha t was impor tan t to victory in the past, will be equally impor tan t in the future.

In the days of Greece and Rome much was a t ta ined by individual s t rength and indiv idual prowess, and throwing masses upon the enemy; and it was much the same in the kn igh thood days of the Middle Ages; and Napoleon owed m a n y a victory to his skilful concentra t ion of masses of soldiery. Now it will be concentra t ion and accuracy of fire. The t ra in ing and drill of the soldier will be carried to a h igh s tandard of perfection, and he will be t augh t tha t every shot mus t be well directed and count for a purpose. W i t h such soldiers, a rmed wi th the best guns and with skilful generals, victory will be certain.

The A, B and C of warfare is to know all about your own army, all about tha t of the enemy, and all about the country, and also to know when it is best to use cavalry, when best to use artillery, and when best to rely upon infantry, and

220 Notes and Comments : [J. F. I.,

when to use two or even th ree of these arms at the same t ime.

Government Should Giz, e Soldier the Best A r m s . - - E v e r y gov- e r n m e n t should seek to provide those whom they send for- ward to ba t t le wi th the bes t possible weapons for defense or for attack. To fail in this is a cr ime of the first magn i tude . Especia l ly is it a c r ime in a coun t ry like ours, where the bes t blood of the land a lways has tens to the count ry ' s s tandard when its prest ige, sa fe ty or honor is imperi led. All good cit izens desire peace wi th all the world ; b u t there is no t rue r say ing than tha t to preserve peace is to be always p repared for war.

We do not need and should not have a large army, bu t the a rmy and navy we have should be the bes t a rmed and equ ipped and ins t ruc ted of any on ear th .

Eve ry inven t ion of war weapons should be t h o r o u g h l y tes ted by skilful officers, and Congress should appropr ia te l iberal ly for this purpose, and we should see to it tha t no na t ion has an a r m a m e n t in any respec t super ior to our own.

ELECTROLYTIC SEPARATION OF TIN.

A curious parallelism is presented between the well-known Hoepfner proc- ess for the extraction of copper from its ores and compounds, and a method just patented to Paul Bergsoe, of Copenhagen, for the electrolytic recovery of tin from scrap and waste alloys. The Hoepfner process, it will be recalled, depends upon the varying valence of copper, and consists in bringing a salt of copper in its h igher state of oxidation into contact with the ore, whereupon copper passes into solution and the solvent is reduced from the cupric to the cuprous condition ; this solution is then electrolyzed with insoluble anodes to deposit one-half of itl metal, restoring the remainder to its original valence and reconstituting the solvent. Bergsoe reacts upon tin-bearing materials with stannic chloride, and subjects the stannous salts formed to electrolytic t reatment as above, restoring its valence and solvent power, and recovering an amount of metal equivalent to that dissolved. Both methods are simple, and indeed identical in theory. The Hoepfuer process has encountered in practice the very serious obstacle of a low-reaction veloci ty--a solvent action so slow as to render its application to the most commonly occurring ores of copper, the sulphides, of doubtful practicability. From this defect the new process is free, for the stannic salts are energetic solvents. The successful t rea tment of tin scrap, however, has proven in the past a difficult problem, not only on account of its very low tin content, but because of the tendency of the iron to pass with the tin into solution. As applied to this purpose, therefore, the industrial value of the new process is yet to be demons t ra ted . - - Electr ical World.