5- 
(c.) On even ground only hand horses to be in draught with a view to saving 
the riding horses, which should be in draught only on bad or heavy ground, or 
on ascents or descents. These regulations should also settle the paces applicable 
to Field Artillery under different circumstances of drill movements and road 
marches ; and, lastly, the conditions under which Field Batteries may employ the 
rapid trot * * * 
* * * * * & 
Marches may be prolonged and continued for several consecutive days, and it is, 
therefore, very necessary that they should be carried out without forcing the pace so 
asto save the horses. But, on the other hand, it is a very good thing to lessen the 
duration of a march, as the strain on the horses when the pace is not forced 
depends principally on the weight they carry and the length of time they are kept 
in draught. The. happy mean is. best obtained by the alternation of long walks 
with gentle trots, kept up for a considerable time. It has been established by 
numerous experiments' that the pace'at a walk is 115 yards, and at a trot 230 
yards a minute. A trot at this rate can easily be maintained by artillery for two 
miles at a time. Horses, even when unused to being ridden, can 'thus' under all 
normal conditions of temperature on ground of ^average'[profile'do 5*3 miles in 
an hour including halts. Batteries which train their horses 1 methodically-, and 
progressively.can. easily," even on long marches, keep up 5’9 miles an hour. In 
circumstances when it is necessary to increase the "rapidity of the march it is best 
done by increasing the length of the trots with a corresponding increase of the 
intervals between .-them. Field Artillery can arrive at keeping up a trot on the 
march to the .'extent of-’two-arid-a-half or even three miles, and on good roads 
with this":change of pace move for two hours between > halts and without' undue 
strain on the horses. ■ * A ■ -s - ? ’ r • ■ '* '" 
The closing up of carriages on the top of each-mother, jerky- starts, and sudden 
halts, are the principle causes that exhaust draught horses.' *r 
4. —The present regulations for our Field Artillel\t tor gun and battfery drill 
give the following measurements for horse guns': in Field Artillery-24‘paces and 
in Horse Artillery with detachment rear 34 paces. The intervals between two 
guns in line is the same for Horse; arid Field Artillery, 27 paces, i.e., the length 
of a gun plus a distance of three "paces to the gun in front when moving from 
line into. column of sub-division. ■ The interval of 27 paces must be considered 
a very large one, and renders the command of an 8-gun battery very difficult. 
If the No. 1 is placed along side of the lead driver we may lessen the length of a 
sub-division by four-paces, and by shortening the traces'to nine feet lessen it yet 
another pace and a half—this would enable us to fix the interval in line at 21 or 
22 paces, allowing one or two paces distance from horses’ heads to gun muzzle in 
column of sub-divisions. 
Full intervals reduced to this limit are much more convenient. They are large 
enough to lessen the effect of the enemy’s projectiles, and, at the same time, 
make the battery more' handy and easily commanded in line. Besides full inter¬ 
vals, we should have close intervals of five paces and various reduced intervals. 
At full or close intervals: Section Commanders should be in front of the line of 
their Nos. 1. 
5. —In order to enable the fire to be quickly concentrated, flexibility in the 
direction of the flanks is necessary. If the guns are placed at equal intervals 
the fire of the battery cannot be much inclined to the flank, as the fire of each 
gun would" be dangerous to its neighbour. But if, on the other hand, the guns 
of each section are closed as much as possible and the intervals between the 
sections increased, a considerable inclination can be given to the fire without any 
danger to the neighbouring sections by a slight change in the direction of the front 
of each section. Such a fighting arrangement of the section at close intervals 
presents also other advantages, viz.:— 
