19 
A FEW FTjAJLN [REMAKES 
ON THE 
POSITIONS AND WORK OP THE 
ARTILLERY IN THE FIELD. 
BY 
BRIGADIER-GENERAL 0. H. SPRAGGE, 
Commanding Royal Artillery Bombay Army. 
(A Lecture delivered at the Loyal Artillery Theatre, KirTcee, 16th June, 1897.) 
During tlie past drill season it has fallen to my lot to be present at a 
large number of: Artillery Camps, and to see a great deal of the working 
of the various Batteries in this Command, both singly and collectively. 
It is an opportunity such as falls to the lot of few of us. Lookers- 
on proverbially see most of the game, aud 1 can only wish that it had 
come to me earlier in my service, as bad it done so, I should have 
avoided many many errors which I fell into during the time I com¬ 
manded a Battery and Brigade Division. 
With a view to helping those who have not such opportunities, I 
have thought that a few general remarks might be of use, as showing 
the light in which the various phases of Artillery work appeared to 
me. I have endeavoured to avoid details as much as possible, and to 
deal generally with the broader views of Artillery work in the field. 
In thinking over the remarks that I made on the many tactical field 
days that were carried out at our Practice Camps, I have sometimes 
been tempted to tax myself with inconsistency, in that I find myself 
condemning, here the man who screened his guns, there the one who 
exposed them—first, the one who was too slow, and even once the man 
who was too fast. I therefore took my remarks in detail, carrying, as 
far as possible, iu mind's eye, the positions themselves, the circum¬ 
stances under which they were taken up, and the general conformations 
of the country, and, having done this came to the conclusion that my 
decisions were in the main correct. 
I do not say this in the least to justify myself, but only to accentuate 
the fact which cannot be too strongly or too often drummed into all • 
concerned, that it is impossible to lay down hard and fast rules as to 
whether the forward or the concealed position is to be adopted, until 
the position be reconnoitred. It is all a matter of ground and 
circumstance. 
l. VOL. XXV, 
