199 
APPENDIX B 
OP 
PROPOSED LIMBER SYSTEM FOR FIELD ARTILLERY. 
BY 
MAJOE W. B. E. ELLIS, E.A. 
TRANSPORT AND SUPPLY OF LIGHT ARTILLERY AMMUNITION. 
Perhaps there is no subject more important than the constant and 
ready supply and facile transport of ammunition in the field. Without 
offering any opinion one way or the other on the present or wagon 
system, it may not be too much to say that there have been occasions 
when difficulties of ground have been met with on active service which 
have been surmounted only by the timely aid given to the artillery 
by men of other arms (generally infantry) ; and that the wagon body 
has been found to be the most awkward part (as it is indeed the 
weightiest) of the equipment. The gun and carriage of the 9-pr. are 
more manageable over rugged country than the wagon body. Should 
it then be found possible so to modify the present material that nothing 
shall be lost in efficiency, while greater handiness is obtained, and light 
artillery could get along without ever, or very rarely, being forced to 
call for extraneous assistance, would there not be an advantage gained ? 
Time is a very cogent factor in field operations, and minutes, nay, even 
seconds, may tell very much in particular cases; and though the 
present ammunition wagon has been pulled through many a fearful 
place by sheer force, much delay has been caused by that operation. 
Taking the 9-pr. equipment as it stands, 2 small boxes, each con¬ 
taining 6 shells and 6 cartridges, can be placed and secured on the 
platform board of a limber, immediately in front of the limber boxes, 
without in the least interfering with the conveyance of all the stores, 
&c., at present carried. This would bring up the number of rounds on 
each limber from 36 to 48, or a gain of 12 rounds per gun in action. 
The limber boxes can be shifted a little back, so as to prevent any 
increase of weight on the shaft horse. Picket posts can be conveniently 
stowed under the platform boards of limbers. The extra weight for a 
gun-team to pull would be almost nominal, or little more than 1 cwt., 
while the possession of 12 more rounds with every piece in position 
might be of supreme importance in an action. 
In order to carry a spare wheel and a pair of spare shafts with every 
division of a battery, one of the service limbers of each division can be 
fitted with a moveable frame and platform at the rear of the axletree, 
