THE EQUIPMENT OF FIELD ARTILLERY. 
557 
The bars should be screwed in tight on the march or during movement, 
but should be loosened by a key provided for the purpose as the gun 
was halting previous to unlimbering; there should also be a recess, 
provided with a washer, to receive the base of each projectile, and 
there should be two cartouches with each limber for the purpose of 
carrying, if necessary, several rounds at once to the gun. 
19. The remaining carriages of the battery are so intimately con- 
nected with the ammunition supply, that it is necessary to discuss the nition. 
relation of the latter to them. The mode laid down in our drill book 
for the supply of ammunition in the field is hardly suitable under 
a heavy fire; that the German system was imperfect a glance at the 
war of 1870— 1 will amply show, and it is to the cumbrous ammunition See Note 
wagons, we think, that this failure may be fairly attributed, and 
indeed it seems absurd that any carriage which is not supposed to be 
taken at a gallop should have to go under fire; and as ammunition will 
probably be in future much heavier than it is at present, the giving up 
of the wagon will almost be forced upon us. 
20. It seems a practical proposal to substitute two limbers for the Themodified 
wagon, these limbers to be larger than the gun limbers, but suitable, system pro- 
if necessary, to be used in place of them*; in the horse batteries the Seut.GooM- 
front line of these limbers would have teams of four horses, the second Adams, 
line teams of two; in the field batteries both lines would have four 
horse teams. The number of horses at present allowed would there¬ 
fore not be exceeded. Then in case the ammunition in the gun limber 
were expended, an ammunition limber of the first line should be sent 
forward at a gallop to take its place, the gun limber retiring also at a 
gallop to where the limbers of the second line were placed out of fire, 
there to be re-filled, after which it would return to its gun. 
21. For use in the ammunition columns a wagon might be adopted Proposed 
which should consist merely of a framework on wheels, fitted to carry wagon. 1 
a certain number of boxes, capable of sliding on and off in the same 
manner as our present limber boxes do, these boxes should correspond 
exactly to those of the ammunition limbers, so that when one of the 
latter became empty, it could be removed from the limber, placed on 
the wagon, and a full one fixed in its place. The Divisional Ammunition 
Columns, which as a rule will be close up to the front, should mainly 
consist of ammunition limbers, but an arrangement could be made by 
which two of these could be locked up together, so as to form 
one four-wheeled carriage; the ammunition wagon would be found 
principally in the Army Corps Ammunition Column, and to prevent 
mistakes it would be advisable to adopt a different colour for the 
carriages, &c., appertaining to the different kinds of guns. 
22. The spare wheels could be carried underneath the ammunition 
limbers on a similar plan to that in use in Austriaf. 
* Vido E. A. I. Prize Essay, 1879. 
f Yide Dr. Beekerheim’s “ Field Artillery,” p. 11. 
69 
