294 
SILVER MEDAL PRIZE ESSAY, 1898. 
5. The possible sacrifice of mobility owing not only to the greater 
amount of ammunition to be transported but to the possibly greater 
weight of gun and carriage. 
6. The possible loss of shell power due to modification in calibre of 
gun, weight of projectile, and muzzle velocity. 
7. The necessity for still higher training of personnel—officers and 
men. 
1. The Expenditure of Ammunition. —It is of course obvious, 
that guns of the type under discussion will, from their very nature and 
properties, demand a very large supply of ammunition. But how 
much ? Will the amount required be within practical limits, or are the 
dreams of those who picture the field battery of the future as consisting 
of two Q.F. guns and twelve or more ammunition waggons, actually 
near the truth. 
How many rounds per gun will be required in the field for a Q.F. 
field equipment ? This must form the very basis upon which the 
whole design and organization of such an armament must be founded. 
The question, vitally important as it is, is unfortunately one as to which 
practically no reliable data appear to exist, and the true answer must be 
left to the matured judgment of our most experienced officers. But as 
for the purposes of this memorandum, it is necessary to have some 
figures to go upon, it has to be discussed. 
If we examine the expenditure of ammunition by the German 
batteries in 1870, as given by Hoffbauer, it becomes clear that no general 
law can be deduced, even from this large record of actual experiences. 
The expenditure is dependent upon so many circumstances. Some 
batteries come into action much earlier than others, some find them¬ 
selves in the very focus of the struggle, while others find their allotted 
part on some comparatively distant eminence. The very combat itself 
may be short and decisive or lengthy and protracted. We thus find 
such discrepancies as the following :—On August 14th, at Worth, of 
the Artillery of the 1st Army corps, the 1st light field battery fired 302 
shell and six case, while on the same occasion the 3rd light and 4th 
light batteries only fired one shell each. The general averages on 
this day were :— 
1st A.C. and 1st Cavl. Dn. (15 batts.), 137 rounds per battery. 
7th A.C.( 9 „ ), 75 „ 
9th A.C.( 2 „ ), 51 „ 
General average of the 26 batteries engaged, 110 rounds per battery. 
On August 16th, at Vionville, the expenditure of individual batteries 
varied between 1,164 rounds by the 3rd Horse Artillery Battery of 3rd 
Corps, and 1,148 of 1st H.A. of same corps, down to 38 and 41 respec¬ 
tively by 2nd heavy and 1st light of the 9th Corps. The 15 batteries 
of the 3rd A.C. averaged 768 rounds each, and the general average of 
36 batteries engaged works out at 545 rounds each. 
On August the 18th, the great day of Gravelotte, while two batteries 
of the 9th Corps fired close on 1,000 rounds each, no less than eight 
batteries fired less than 10 rounds each.* The average expenditure of 
the 9th A.C. was 526 rounds per battery, and the general average of 109 
batteries works out at 318 rounds each. Although at first glance such 
variation even of large averages appears somewhat hopeless, yet it 
* Three batteries only fired one round each, one fired two rounds and two only three 
rounds each. 
