496 
MINUTES OE PROCEEDINGS OF 
A SKETCH 
OF 
THE AUTUMN MANffiUYBES OP 1871* 
BY 
CAPTAIN W. S. M. WOLFE, B.A., 
B HIGAD E-MAJOR, SCHOOL OF GTJNNEEY. 
“ L’Artillerie prend sa place .”—Napoleon I. 
The motto before you was one of the tersest, and most comprehensive 
of the military aphorisms that Napoleon I. ever uttered; and now,, at a 
time when the power of artillery has increased so immeasurably, and 
the results of the recent campaign were mainly attributable to the 
scientific use of artillery, its repetition comes somewhat strangely ; 
more especially as the motto, in French, was to. be seen emblazoned on 
the triumphal arches that were erected to welcome home the victorious 
army of Germany, after the conquest of the descendants of that army, 
with the ancestors of whom, the originator of the maxim had crushed 
their forefathers. 
Let us see how the motto applies to the recent campaign at Aldershot. 
For years, a constant agitation had been kept up by artillery officers 
as to the greater development of their arm, but unsuccessfully, and up 
to this summer was to be seen the senseless practice of what was called 
“ artillery conforming to infantry.” No one knew what was meant by 
this process, and the result was that field artillery with accurate and 
long shooting rifled guns were “ sentenced” (and I use the word 
“sentenced” advisedly, as it meant complete destruction), to march 
side by side— i.e., the leaders' heads in line with the front rank of the 
lines of infantry; halt when they halted, and move when they moved* 
This pernicious system had become so fixed, that no ordinary authority 
had apparently the power of changing it; but at the outset of the cam¬ 
paign, the “cry of lamentation” from captains of batteries and others “went 
up,” and on the recommendation of Sir Collingwood Dickson, K.C.B., V C, 
who was appointed Major-General Commanding the Artillery for the 
manoeuvres, His Royal Highness the Field-Marshal Commanding-in- 
Chief was pleased to cause the following order to be promulgated to the 
commanders of corps, divisions, and brigades. 
* Lecture at Shoelmryiiess on the 2nd October, 1871. 
