HELD ARTILLERY POSITIONS, 
379 
But you can no more hope to tell a man what is best to do, until you 
stand on the ground with him, than you can tell him he is always to 
move his battery in a certain formation. I am only saying now what I am 
confident the majority of Field Artillery officers feel, and I do not be¬ 
lieve they have any prejudice against “ creeping” or any other useful 
expedient, at the period of the engagement I have referred to. But 
subsequently when you have to move in, determined to subdue the 
enemy's guns, or be destroyed in the attempt to do so, the conditions 
are widely different, and then there are objections to (c creeping,” 
which should not be lost sight.of, if we are to nicely balance pros and 
cons. 
Again, I think it is only in the case of the attack that we need 
discuss the matter at all. On the defensive what was done would be a 
matter of time and opportunity, and every conceivable means of keeping 
guns concealed would, and often could, be adopted. 
Further, it is only as regards the position from which artillery is 
going to prepare the infantry attack by subduing the hostile guns that 
we need compare the relative advantages of “ creeping,” or of bringing 
up guns by means of horses, or perhaps of laying from behind cover. 
Positions taken up previous to this phase would be merely 
temporary ones for reconnoitring or other purposes and at distant 
ranges. 
Between 2500-1500 yards, however, we may anticipate that the 
effect of modern shrapnel will be pronounced, and the cost of exposing 
men or horses has to be carefully examined. Now at this stage of the 
fight I think it may be quite wise to ff cr6ep ” if the ground be hard 
and smooth and the reverse slope not unduly steep. Each detachment 
might then run its own gun up until the target were just visible over 
the sights. 
You could act in that way, for example, on parts of the Berkshire 
Downs and, if you do, the presence of your guns, until they open, will 
be unrevealed. That fact is quite well known at Aldershot, and on one 
position the old hands will even show you the exact stick to which the 
guns must be pushed. But the ground on the spot I have in mind is 
like a cricket pitch. 
Consider however how infinitely more arduous the operation would be 
in a strange country ! A commanding officer would then be in doubt 
as to how much or how little to go on before unlimbering. If he 
went too far, he might show the horses ; if he were over-cautious, his 
men might have an altogether unnecessary strain put upon them. He 
would, in fact, have to take up two positions : one for unlimbering and 
another for the guns alone. Not only that, but the steepness of the 
slope or the nature and state of the soil might render the task of man¬ 
handling guns most trying. I have not seen ff creeping ” practically 
carried out in Germany, but I have just read views expressed in “ The 
Militar-Wochenblatt” on the subject, and these difficulties are clearly 
by no means unrecognised there. So much so in fact that one school 
contends that, while you are about it, it is better to adopt the hidden 
