THE liOYAL AKTILLEKY INSTITUTION. 
313 
NOTE 
THE EXPENDITURE OE AMMUNITION 
BY THE 
GERMAN FIELD ARTILLERY 
IN 1870-71. 
BY 
CAPTAIN HIME, R.A., F.8.S. 
From the interesting discussions that took place after the lectures 
delivered by Capts. C. Jones and Sladen, R.A., on the 16th January 
and the 17th February, 1871, respectively, it is apparent that there is 
a party of officers in the regiment who consider that, if possible, the 
number of rounds at present carried in the gun-limbers should be 
increased, and that the increase in the weight behind the horses should 
be compensated for by removing the knapsacks, camp-kettles, carbines, 
&c., from the gun-carriages and limbers to the wagons, or elsewhere. 
As I belong to this party myself, it was with no small surprise I found, 
from letters from brother officers, that by publishing the average 
number of rounds per gun fired by the Germans, 1870-71, in “The 
German Artillery,” (“Proceedings, R.A. Institution,” Vol. VIII. p. 241), 
I am supposed to have given considerable support to the opposite 
party. The average number of rounds, it is said, in all the battles, is 
much below what might have been expected, and the figures on the 
whole show that our present supply of ammunition is amply sufficient 
for all practical purposes. 
I hasten to correct the misunderstanding on which this conclusion is 
based. 
If, as Napoleon said, every contingency in war must be provided for, 
the supply of ammunition for field guns should be based on the 
maximum, not the minimum, number of rounds they may be expected 
to fire in action. There are exceptional cases, of course, which no care 
or forethought can possibly meet ; but the number of rounds available 
per gun ought undoubtedly to approach as nearly as possible to the 
maximum that would be required in the general run of cases. Now, 
