898 
MINUTES OF PItOCEEDINGS OF 
as at Waterloo, numbers and weight of metal were against us, has produced 
more marked and decided effects upon the enemy than theirs upon us. 
It acts in a four-fold manner : the direct loss and the unsteadiness it 
creates in the enemy, and the transfer of strength, and moral support it 
gives to its own side. For example, at the battle of Maida, July 4, 1806, the 
French, full of confidence, quitted a very strong position to attack the British, 
“ and now our artillery began to open with an effect which contrasted strongly 
with that produced by the enemy's cannonade. In general the French 
gunners are excellent; they have given us ample reason for allowing this, 
and we have never denied it; but to day their fire was as worthless as ever 
came from the merest recruit. Not one shot out of fifty took effect; almost 
all passing over our first line, and falling short of the second. It was not 
so with our pieces. Every shot told, and grape, shrapnel, and canister 
swept away whole sections from the ranks that received it. You all know the 
effect which is produced upon an infantry line, when it witnesses the able 
practice of its own artillery * * * and loud and frequent were 
the plaudits bestowed upon the gallant blue coats who so ably supported 
them. Nor was this the only circumstance from which our regiments, 
especially such as had hitherto seen no service, began to draw the most 
favourable auguries," &c .—Chelsea Pensioners. 
Again, during Sir David ‘Baird's advance to the attack of General 
Janssens force at the Cape of Good Hope. “ The British must have 
suffered severely, had the enemy's artillery (to whose fire they were unavoid¬ 
ably much exposed) been better directed." Just the whole gist of the 
matter. Further reference will be made to this action, 
A contrast,— 
A prisoner in the castle of St Sebastian, the late gallant General Sir 
Harry Jones, Boyal Engineers, says, describing our artillery practice, 
“ Nothing could surpass the precision with which the shells were thrown, 
and the accuracy with which the fuzes were cut. It is only those who have 
had the opportunity of witnessing their fire, and comparing it with that of 
the French, that can speak of its superiority. When the sound of an 
English shell was heard in the castle, or when the man stationed on the 
Donjon called out, Garde la bombe, every body was on the alert. The 
velocity of its flight far exceeded that of the French; touching the ground 
and bursting were almost simultaneous, and then the havoc and destruction 
caused by the splinters were tremendous," &c. 
Again, u the whole line of light troops commenced a most spirited fire on 
those of the enemy, who tenaciously contested every hedge and bank that 
afforded shelter from our fire, and from whence they could take deliberate 
aim at our men. The artillery posted themselves along the eminences along 
the whole line, and by a fire of shells greatly aided in dislodging the French 
tirailleurs from behind the hedges and banks," &c .—Colonel Batty. 
Perhaps the most marked testimony to the exertions and actions of the 
artillery on that occasion, Nivelle, Nov. 10, 1813, was given by Sir Howard 
Douglas when in Committee on the Ordnance estimates, in 1845 ; he says, 
i( Clausel was strongly posted on a ridge, having the village of Sarre in front, 
covered by two formidable redoubts, San Barbe, and Grenada. He thought 
