NOTES ON ARTILLERY. 
579 
Theory and the old orders demand that the 8 guns should be first, 
in order to come into* action with the utmost rapidity after passing a 
defile, so as to open fire and extinguish that of the enemy ; before the 
limbers are empty the waggons come and take their place. Successive 
fire after the passage of a defile may indeed allow the enemy to dis¬ 
mount the first guns, and give him for the moment a superiority which 
may cause the loss of'many men. 
In general, artillery "officers prefer that the waggon should follow the 
gun. They fear the waggon may make a mistake and get lost amid 
the perplexities and circumstances of a battle. They feel the want of 
obtaining every possible security that the waggon shall not be far from 
its gun, and they can find no other means than by keeping the waggon 
always under the eye of the No. 1 of the gun. 
A limber, containing but 15 rounds of 6 pr. and 6 rounds of shell, is 
a very slight provision. 
It is thought that the waggons of a battery should follow the guns, 
to obviate the inconvenience of successive fire on issuing from a defile. 
Two pack-mules, carrying 2 boxes of 12 pr. ammunition or 15 
rounds of 6 pr. each, or ... of shells, could follow a gun without 
being in the way or retarding the movement of the other guns. 
Every 6 pr. would thus find itself with 60 rounds including the con¬ 
tents of its limber, before the arrival of the waggon. 
The advantages of two pack-mules per gun or howitzer are numerous. 
The supply of the 6 pr. can thus be carried to 200 rounds, and that 
with a single waggon. The waggon might keep out of fire, lessen the 
number of accidents which throw disorder into a battery, and save the 
lives of many men and horses. As every mule carries 24 rounds, 
these would be the first source of supply, and the limber would remain 
untouched, as it should be, for the moment of retreat or as a last re¬ 
source. The fire-worker would take the ammunition from a mule within 
reach of the gun, but out of the line of fire; the other mule would be 
furtherAn [rear. These mules might pass to and fro, deposit their 
boxes and go to the waggon for new ones, an arrangement which 
would require that the shells should be carried ready fuzed in the 
waggons. It would be an advantage for the artillery and for the army 
to keep the^waggons far from the enemy's fire, in ditches, ravines or 
defiles, which would cause an army to be much lighter in its move¬ 
ments and upon the field of battle. The disadvantage would be 
inappreciable in retreat, since as soon as its boxes were empty the 
waggon might commence its retreat 4 or 5 hours before the end of the 
day. 
Every division ( battery ) should also have 4 pack-horses or mules 
loaded with infantry ammunition, so as to be able to supply the 
skirmishers without having recourse to the waggons. The places 
where the most infantry ammunition will be consumed will be woods, 
andffiillocks”where^waggons could not get and where pack-animals are 
of very great service. 
Often even on plains the waggon meets with many difficulties : it 
cannot move because the ground is too soft, and when after much 
