24 
MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS OF 
Lieut. Bucknill’s ingenious system of firing through a false parapet or screen, 
&c., &c. have each and all their advantages for certain positions, but with one 
exception viz. the cupola, they all curtail the power of the gun by contracting its 
free range; and, therefore, with that exception, what they gain in safety they lose 
in efficiency, where range is required. My system has the happy peculiarity of 
combining these two conflicting elements in a high degree. 
“ The embrasure necessitates the breaking and weakening of the parapet. It also 
restricts its thickness for a given number of guns, not to speak of the mark which 
these embrasures present to the enemy. Armour-plating on land works, at great 
expenditure of money, reduces these evils considerably, but by no means entirely 
removes them; so that on reviewing the position of my invention in this respect, 
I feel my only competitor to be, the cupola. What can be said in favour of the 
cupola nearly applies to my system. We are equal in our power of traversing; 
and in the matter of protection, you will have to decide, after I have stated the 
exposure in each case. 
“The cupola is always a mark, and is always exposed, and to very heavy 
ordnance, its invulnerability is still problematical. Its port, though small, is 
liable to be hit for a certain time. Its gun detachments are annoyed, if not hurt, 
by the concussion of heavy projectiles. It is of enormous weight, and to avoid a 
shot in the port, it requires to turn its cheek on the enemy after each round, 
involving a good deal of labour. On the other hand, my gun, and the men serving 
it, are absolutely protected from direct fire, except that the gun and one man are 
exposed while aim is being taken. 
“ When the gun is up to be aimed, it is more exposed than the cupola gun, but 
the moment it is fired, it is safe. 
“If a screen be used, the enemy cannot see whether the gun is up or down; 
I thus draw his fire, the correctness of which must be materially affected by having 
no definite object to aim at. 
“ The best way perhaps of putting the question is this : Would gunners prefer to 
be shut up in an iron box, only penetrable by the enemy’s shot through the port, 
but liable to injury, in other parts; or would they prefer to fight their guns in the 
open air, and all under cover, except the man who aims, he being only exposed for 
a very short time and partially protected by the massive breech of the gun ? Are 
the chances of injury greater in my case, where the gun is only liable to be hit 
during the few seconds required to lay it, and is in absolute safety the moment it 
is discharged—or, as in the other case, where the cupola remains a constant mark 
for heavy projectiles, and runs a continual chance (though a small one) of receiving 
a shot through the port itself? 
“ It is obvious that the possibility of dispensing with a parapet without losing 
command of the front of the battery, would give an advantage of an important 
kind. This advantage I seek to obtain in its greatest degree by employing gun- 
pits, in which all the vital parts of the carriage remain below the level of the 
surface, and the gun itself is only exposed when it is going to be fired. 
“ For coast batteries liable to be opposed to the heaviest artillery in ships, a very 
strong work is now absolutely required to protect the guns from the terribly 
destructive effects of modern projectiles, which have a penetration far beyond what 
was dreamed of w 7 hen most of the existing fortresses were built; and as accuracy 
of fire has increased, as well as its power, the guns cannot be mounted en 
barbette. 
“In order therefore to be efficient, coast batteries must be of great strength, and 
proportionately expensive, especially when iron is used in their construction. 
“ I wish this to be borne in mind, while I point out that by taking advantage of 
the natural undulations of the ground, scarping down the rear of hillocks to make 
them into batteries, and applying the skill of our military engineers to use whatever 
