GOLD MEDAL PRIZE ESSAY, 1894 . 
347 
battle, based on the opinion of those most capable of judging, no one 
supposes that this will of necessity be rigidly adhered to. One thing is, 
however, certain, that the main target for artillery fire is the infantry. 
A target whose formations, movements, positions, and tactics generally, 
we cannot study too closely in every detail. 
The extended nature of modern battle-fields, combined with the ac¬ 
cidents incidental to them, will often place artillery officers in positions 
where they must act on their own responsibility, and as military edu¬ 
cation and close observation are necessary to enable us to know where 
to seek for opportunities in the first place, and how best to profit by 
them in the second, it follows that officers who have studied the tactical 
problems, with a view to ultimate solution in actual war, will be far 
better situated than others who may have been contented to limit their 
view of the general operations, to the individual efforts of their own 
branch of the service. And while having every confidence in the un¬ 
doubted power of our artillery, let us not sacrifice one jot of its full 
effect by want of sympathy and combination with the other arms. 
The individual importance of no arm has perhaps been increased 
more by the introduction of smokeless powder than that of artillery. 
Formerly, shrouded in dense volumes of smoke it was enabled to gain but 
an imperfect view of the battle-field. The smoke has been removed, and 
we shall, in future, see clearly. If, therefore, it was formerly of im¬ 
portance for an Artillery Commander to have a complete understanding 
of the workings of the other arms, to enable him to follow their action 
through its various phases, and so to know when, where, and how to 
strike his hardest blows with most telling effect; has not the possession 
of this faculty become, in the present day, an absolute necessity ? 
It may be said that a faculty of this kind is a gift bestowed on few. 
On few perhaps to the highest degree, but, nevertheless, one which 
all to some extent possess, and which may, by cultivation, be consider¬ 
ably developed. How best to cultivate this important faculty is therefore 
the next consideration. The answer to this may be briefly stated in the 
words : Theoretical study, and practical experience. By the former 
is meant the teachings of tactics gained by experience in the past, 
tempered by the modifications which will probably be produced by 
recent inventions. By the the latter, service in the field, in the absence 
of which, manoeuvres of the most realistic kind must be substituted. 
Manoeuvres may be called a very poor substitute for actual service in 
the field, and that this is so cannot be denied; but until human in¬ 
genuity devises something more representable of actual warfare, we 
must be content with the makeshift. That, however, practical and 
well-planned manoeuvres are of great use, and that their value varies in 
proportion with the spirit in which they are entered upon by those who 
take part in them, and with the use to which they are put as an aid to 
solving tactical problems, will be generally admitted. Were proof of 
this necessary, it is amply provided by the great attention paid to them 
by all Continental nations, in spite of their comparatively recent ex¬ 
periences in modern fighting. 
The commanding position occupied by artillery affords to its officers 
exceptional opportunities of watching the progress of an action. That 
Main target 
for artillery 
is the 
infantry. 
Tactical 
knowledge 
assists bold 
and rapid 
action. 
Use of 
smokeless 
powder 
enhances im¬ 
portance of 
tactical 
knowledge. 
Necessity of 
study and 
practical ex¬ 
perience. 
Importance 
of manoeu¬ 
vres. 
Exceptional 
opportuni¬ 
ties afforded 
