136 
MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS OF 
the most striking proof I am acquainted with of the low position occupied 
by the artillery of the time. Had the Chevalier's theory been worked out 
secretly, had he been unsupported by a single friend, had his book been 
received from the first with contempt, had he himself at once become the 
object of public derision—then, indeed, we might have looked on the Chevalier 
as a Quixote in the fiesh, and regarded his theory as the offspring of a dis¬ 
ordered imagination. But far different was the real state of the case. 
Published in 1727, the book was soon in everyone's hands, * 1 * and gained for 
its author an immense reputation. 3 Although a costly work, within a few 
years it went through a second edition, 3 was translated into German, both at 
Berlin and Yienna, 4 and was so highly thought of in England that the 
Chevalier was made a member of the Boyal Society. 5 He was warmly 
attacked, it is true, 6 but he was as warmly defended; 7 and he was only 
finally defeated after a whole library had been written on his system of 
tactics. In what a degraded state must the artillery service have been 
when attention was paid, even for one moment, to the pedantic heresies of 
the Chevalier Eolard! 
While the Chevalier Eolard was constructing a light field artillery in 
Erance, the Germans were busying themselves at the same task. In the 
“ Maximes et Instructions sur l'Art Militaire," published at Paris in 1726, 
the Marquis de Quincy speaks of newly-invented guns, “ courtes et cara- 
binees," which were then in use east of the Bhine. 8 They were of two 
calibres, 8-prs. and 4-prs., and were mounted on carriages, without limbers, 
constructed in such a way that the guns could be fired without detaching 
the carriages from the horses. Their efficacy of fire was inferior to that of 
ordinary guns of the same calibre, and their use entailed other inconveniences; 
but the Marquis inclines to the opinion that the balance of advantages was 
in their favour, because their lightness more than compensated for the weakness 
of their fire:—■" On peut manoeuvrer ces pieces devant un ennemi sans 
avantrain, en y attelant quelques chevaux qui les traineroient avec facilite en 
quelque terrain que ce fut. . . . Cette nouvelle maniere donneroit le 
moyen a un Commandant d'Artillerie de suivre la Cavalerie, quand meme 
elle iroit au trot. . . . Ce moyen seroit encore d'une utilite merveilleuse 
machine. “ II avait fait construire une catapulte dont les experiences le transporterent d’admira- 
tion.”—Biog. Universelle. 
In the attack on Dalimkote, in Bhotan, 1864, some loss was inflicted on the British force by the 
catapults of the Bhoteahs who defended the place. The occasion was an exceptionally favourable 
one for the catapults, for the fort stands on the top of a hill, and the British force lay in a valley 
immediately beneath it. 
1 The author of the “ Essai sur l’usage de l’Art.,” speaking of Folard and his supporters, says 
(p. 3), “ Leur ouvrages sont entre les mains de tout le monde.” 
3 “Une grande reputation.”—Biog. Universelle. Art. Folard. 
s 1759. 
4 “Polybs Geschichte a. d. Gr. ubersst, mit Folard’s Anmerk a. d. Franz.” Berlin, 1755. 
“ Polybii Geschichte . . . mit Bemerkungen des Ritters von Folard.” Wien, 1760. 
5 “ Cet ouvrage le fit admettre dans la Societe Royale de Londres.”—Biog. Universelle. 
« “ Memoires Militaires,” par Col. Guischardt. Paris, 1758* “ L’Esprit du Chev. Folard,” 
Berlin, 1761; written by command of Frederick the Great* 
7 “Recherches d’antiquites militaires, avec la defense du Chev* Folard, &c,” par Loolooz. 
Paris, 1770. 
8 pp. 323, 325. 
