338 
GOLD MEDAL PRIZE ESSAY, 1894. 
Great im- During the past 10 years, thanks to the untiring efforts of some of 
P thlt ha?e S our ablest officers, whose names are too well known to the Regiment to 
our n “tmery require any mention here, great improvements have been made in our 
of late years. Horse and Field Artillery. The batteries have been completely re¬ 
armed with a powerful breech-loading gun, and the ammunition supply 
simplified by the introduction of a uniform calibre. Numerous practice 
camps have been established in the United Kingdom and in India, and 
the high standard of the shooting of our batteries has advanced beyond 
the most sanguine expectations. The Brigade Division system of com¬ 
mand has been firmly established, both in the field and on the range; 
and the supply of ammunition in the field from Ammunition Columns 
tested. 
Lastly, the handling of artillery in masses has received much atten¬ 
tion. Great, however, as our progress has been, much remains to be 
done before we can honestly claim that superiority which we once 
undoubtedly possessed, and which the quality of our personnel and 
materiel justifies us in hoping that we may some day regain. 
The training of Horse and Field Artillery may be said to be divided 
under 3 main headings :—• 
(1.) Drill, which includes the performance of battery and brigade 
regulation movements, and has for some of its chief objects 
the training of the men and horses, and the perfection of 
the mobility and marching power of the batteries. 
(2.) Shooting and exercises at the Practice Camp for the practical 
testing of our materiel, the training of our officers and 
men in Fire Discipline, and the improvement of the 
accuracy and rapidity of fire. 
(3.) Tactical manoeuvres in the field, in Brigade Divisions or 
larger bodies, either alone or in combination with the other 
arms of the service. 
(i) and (2) The training in the first two cases comes under the heading of 
th junior ° f technical instruction, and chiefly concerns ourselves as a Regiment, 
officers. Success in these being mainly dependent on the exertions of the officers, 
from Lieut.-Colonel downwards. 
(3) the duty In the third we take our place as a portion of an army unit, when 
officers.* our success mainly depends upon the ability with which the commands, 
from Lieut.-Colonel upwards, are exercised. The fact that it is not 
fair to demand of these officers in time of war services which they have 
had no opportunities of practising in peace has now been fully recognised, 
and we are under a deep obligation to Sir Evelyn Wood for the lasting 
benefit he has conferred on our Horse and Field Artillery, by bringing 
them in closer touch with the rest of the army, and in affording them 
opportunities of practising manoeuvring, in combination with the other 
arms, under probable service conditions. 
With the first two headings we are not at present closely concerned, 
but, in so far as they are steps towards the attainment of the third, they 
cannot be passed over without some brief comments. 
In order to exclude from the parade ground all movements which 
cannot justify their existence, by giving proof of their necessity, let 
Subdivision 
of training 
of Horse and 
Field 
Artillery. 
