380 COMMENDED ESSAY, 1894 . 
their positions than there is in the case of a Brigadier and his Battalion 
Commanders. 
In organising artillery masses we have, therefore, first to legislate 
for unity of command, and that is the chief essential to success. It, 
however, also forms the most difficult portion of our task. 1 We must 
endeavour to build up the mass from below. The battery leaders 
understanding and being uninterfered with in their sphere; the Brigade 
Division being held together, if possible trained together, and worked 
together in action; and its commanders, in turn, looking to a higher 
leader still when larger combinations are necessary. To this end it is 
desirable that in times of peace, whenever possible, such higher leader 
should assume direction of a mass, and it is especially desirable that he 
should do so at practice. It is only when guns are actually firing at 
targets, and can see tangible proof of the efficiency, or otherwise, of 
their handling, that lessons are appreciated. Moreover, on such occa¬ 
sions the necessity for a uniform system of direction becomes evident. 
All batteries and Brigade Divisions should speak the same tactical 
language. Then when on service, as must happen sometimes, batteries 
or Brigade Divisions have to be brought into position wherever space 
may be forthcoming, and they stand, perhaps, beside those which have 
been trained under other eyes, or are all at some eventuality taken in 
hand by a supreme leader, there must be no misunderstandings, no 
feeling of strangeness, and no lack of union. 2 3 
SECTION III. 
System of Training. 
“ En fait T instruction, on nest riche au jour de V action que lorsqu on est 
trop riche.”•—de Brack. 2, 
It will be admitted that the role of him who guides a vast line of guns 
is one of such exceeding difficulty that it demands the very highest mili¬ 
tary qualities on the part of anyone who undertakes it. Not only should 
he display a complete grasp of general tactics, but he must have that 
facility in the compilation and issue of orders, on the ground itself, 
which is only to be acquired by constant practice. 4 
It is not merely a question of manoeuvring a great number of bat¬ 
teries. The following duties are what he will have greater need to 
excel in:—He must direct the preparatory reconnaissances, must define 
their special object, must be able quickly to satisfy himself as to their 
correctness, must form a decision rapidly, must write or edit the neces¬ 
sary orders, and must finally see that they are despatched sufficiently 
early to ensure their due performance. To conceive, be able to for¬ 
mulate and appreciate the full significance of what is ordered. These 
1 “ Tlie first difficulty of the application of artillery in masses lies in the system of command.”— 
yon Kohne, Professor of Artillery at Berlin. 
2 During the last manoeuvres at Swindon, batteries not belonging to the same Brigade Division 
were, on at least one occasion, observed to come into, and remain in action perhaps as much as 100 
yards apart. The practice provoked the criticism of the Chief Umpire, who ordered that under 
such circumstances the senior officer present should assume command of all the guns, and work 
them in combination. 
3 Introduction to his book on “ Light Cavalry Outposts.” 
