126 
ACHIEVEMENTS OF FIELD ARTILLERY. 
merits. So far as the necessities of our vast colonial Empire are 
concerned, the dictum may possibly be accepted as correct. But, if 
we are to possess an artillery capable of taking a full and effective share 
n a continental campaign, it would seem desirable to invest officers in 
the higher ranks with the complete responsibility which is attached to 
the office of command in every other portion of our service. 
If men are to accept responsibility on active service, and assume the 
initiative on occasions, they must assert themselves in times of peace 
also, and the just exercise of their authority will no longer be regarded 
as interference, if it is recognised that they are measured by, and stand 
or fall with, the state of their commands. 
The success of artillery has been chiefly dependant on the manner in 
which it has been led, and the importance and authority with which its 
superior officers have been invested in the eyes of the other arms—a 
system which encourages a man, who, as he nears the top, to relinquish 
rather than practice his habits of command, is not calculated to develop 
independance and decision on the battle-field, and there are not wanting 
indications that if manoeuvring power were formerly one of the first 
qualifications of a commander, the same qualities that brought that 
power about will still be required, although they will not be evidenced 
in precisely the same manner as they formerly were. 
There can be little doubt that position will be one of the main factors 
that will render the fire of artillery effective or otherwise in the future. 
A quick eye for country, a knowledge of the benefit the conformation 
of ground may be turned to, only to be acquired by habits of observa¬ 
tion and practice in the field, and the ready obedience of those he leads, 
are essential to the leader who attempts to place his guns so as to 
derive the full benefit it is intended they should gain from his know¬ 
ledge. Likewise he should be possessed of a sympathetic appreciation 
of the limitations and necessities of the other arms, and be capable of 
entering into and assisting the tactical problem in the solution of which 
he is to aid. 
The side issue, however, presented by the consideration of this part 
of the subject as affecting our own service will not here be followed up. 
That there are difficulties other than those due to custom and prejudice 
in the way is admitted, but, nevertheless, when we are on the subject 
of the command of artillery, it is impossible wholly to disregard the 
state of things we see around us. 
In conclusion a few words concerning our earlier pages seem called 
for. 
We feel that it may be objected that some of these stories we have 
been busied with are but old world tales, pale shreds of ancient history, 
and valueless as lessons to guide us in the future. What are Nelson’s 
and St. Vincent’s tactics to the mastless ironclads of to-day, and what 
does Frederick’s artillery teach modern batteries? Are the details of 
a scuffle in Servia or Chili seriously to engage the attention of those 
who have studied and taken advantage of the progress in science of 
the last twenty years with regard to the vast organisations of to-day ? 
The reply we make is that in war the human element can never be 
disregarded, that the effect of the most perfect weapon in the world is 
