320 
SILVER MEDAL PRIZE ESSAY, 1898. 
defenders* fire should therefore be as rapid and well sustained as 
circumstances permit. For this purpose the quick firer is admirably 
adapted. It may well happen that the additional strength thus given 
may, in a hardly-fought, contest, save the defenders from defeat, for be 
it remembered, some of the greatest victories that history can name 
have narrowly escaped being great disasters. 
If the assailants are repulsed the defenders in their turn will become 
assailants, and in the counter attack they make opportunities will not 
be wanting in which rapid fire can be advantageously employed. 
Thus, in the defence as in the attack, the quick firer confers little ad¬ 
vantage during the opening scenes of the battle. Its employment as 
a rapid firer is restricted to the period when the hostile forces are 
within medium or decisive range of each other ; but whatever opinion 
may be held as to the actual rate of fire that will be possible at the 
various stages of the struggle, it must be conceded that the balance 
of efficiency will, at these critical periods, when very rapid shooting 
may be freely resorted to, lie with the Artillery capable of firing with 
the greatest rapidity. 
We have not mentioned all the circumstances under which Q.F. 
guns can be employed, neither does the space at our disposal admit of 
our doing so in detail. Artillery may be sent with rear guards, 
advance guards, or on outpost duty, and although the facilities for the 
effective use of quick firers on these occasions will be restricted, 
opportunities may present themselves for their employment with very 
great advantage. The Artillery Commander should bear in mind, that 
the sphere of the quick firers* utility is, as a rule, limited to occasions, 
when the range is close, when a considerable effect can be produced in 
a short space of time, and when the target is an easy one. In such 
cases only is great rapidity of fire allowable. The circumstances under 
which our army fights are so different to those under which Continenal 
nations do so, that we must without hesitation modify the conclusion 
arrived at, wherever the conditions under which we are fighting render 
it desirable to do so. It is our lot, often to engage in warfare 
with savage nations, and with those only partially civilized. In such 
fighting, the tactics suitable to civilised warfare are not necessarily the 
best that can be employed. It must depend upon the nature of 
the country we are operating in, and the enemy*s method of 
fighting, whether Q.F. guns are likely to be of great use or not. 
Generally, savages attack in large numbers and come to fairly close 
quarters, and so frequently against them Q.F. guns should prove very 
effective. 
As Q.F. guns have been considered for Mountain Artillery, a word 
concerning their use for this purpose seems desirable. It is very 
doubtful if they would confer any advantage at all. The so-called 
Q.F. mountain guns already brought out, are not really quick firers, 
inasmuch as they recoil. If that recoil is altogether checked they are 
apt to turn over.* Thus they are not quick firers, though they may 
be quick loaders. Under normal conditions they cannot fire more than 
three rounds per minute,* but they have this advantage, that for their 
* “ Revue d'artillerie,” January, 1898, page 356, 357. 
