549 
THE EQUIPMENT OF FIELD AKTILLEM. 
BY 
CAPT. J. E. J. JOCELYN, E.A. 
(The P. A. Institution Gold Medal Prize Essay, 1881.) 
ic The first essential of an efficient field artillery is to shoot well—everything else is but a 
means to an end .”—Colonel Pox Strangways, JR.A. 
1. We should possess three kinds of equipments for field purposes, 
namely :—one so light that the speed of the horse can be utilized up 
to the highest rate that mounted troops can employ; a second of the 
greatest weight (and therefore possessing the greatest shell-power) 
that can be brought into the field; and a third that shall combine a 
moderate mobility with the greatest shell-power the weight will admit 
of: that is to say, we should have a horse artillery equipment drawn by 
six horses, as that is the greatest number that can be usefully 
employed together in a team where great speed is a desideratum; 
a field artillery equipment drawn by eight horses, for a team of eight 
horses can be employed where the trot is the normal pace; and an 
equipment for guns of position drawn by twelve horses four abreast, such 
a combination being admissible where transport at a slow pace is all 
that is necessary. Two of these equipments are provided for in all 
European army corps, but of late years the gun of position has been 
neglected, though thereby the artillery has given up a sure source of 
power and effect; it is strange, however, that the good work done 
by 18-prs. in the Crimea should be, by us at least, so soon forgotten. 
Taking for granted that these three equipments are necessary, we will 
proceed to discuss them in detail, first determining the greatest weight 
of metal that can be assigned to each. This being fixed, we can take 
each item separately and consider what alterations can be suggested 
therein; and in this we shall be greatly assisted by a study of the 
improvements lately introduced into foreign artilleries, most of which 
have been remodelled in the light of modern experience : we can then 
judge how the total weights arrived at satisfy the requirements of 
mobility. 
2. The weights of these guns depend upon the amount a horse 
can draw at different speeds. Now traction is a subject upon which 
authorities differ, and, indeed, it is almost impossible to theorise upon 
a matter into which such a variable and delicate factor as a horse's 
strength enters; but as calculations on this subject are usually based 
68 
Three equip¬ 
ments neces¬ 
sary for field 
purposes. 
The question 
of the weight 
of metal per¬ 
missible in 
the guns of 
the three 
equipments, 
