THE EMPLOYMENT OF THE $" B.L. HOWITZER. 
503 
the Army. This suggestion is only a reversion, somewhat modified to 
be in keeping with modern requirements, to the methods adopted in 
the Peninsular War which after all was the last great campaign in which 
the British Army took part, for the Crimean War can be considered 
little more than a siege. During that war the Duke of Wellington 
generally kept a portion of his Siege Train two or three days march in 
rear of the army ready to come up as required, and though walled towns 
and fortresses such as were then attacked are not now to be found, still 
every important battle will in effect consist of the Attack or Defence 
of a carefully selected and prepared position fortified and strengthened 
by art; such a position will not be attacked without a careful reconnais¬ 
sance, and examination of it which will take time. The defence of a 
similar position also requires time to prepare and fortify it. In each 
case the action is deliberate, in each case Field Howitzers could be use¬ 
fully employed, but the time available admits of their being there when 
wanted without necessarily placing thm in such a forward position in 
the line of march as is usually assigned to the Corps Artillery. 
To conclude. The contentions that have been put f01 ward in this 
paper are: — 
(1) .—That since the Siege Companies are equipped with the 
5-inch B.L. Howitzers and are capable of using them 
effectively under all the conditions of their employment 
they should be allowed to do so because— 
(a) The Siege Artillery must use this howitzer in siege work and 
the conditions of its employment then are often exactly similar to those 
of its employment in the field. 
( b ) The Siege Artillery are better fitted by their training to get 
full fire effect from these howitzers. 
(i c ) The conditions of tactical employment of Howitzer Batteries 
only call for the simplest movements in the field which could easily be 
performed by the Siege Artillery. 
(2) .—That there is no necessity to employ two different bran¬ 
ches of the Artillery with these howitzers, and that the 
Field Artillery should not be so employed because— 
(a) The employment of the 5-inch B.L. Howitzer in siege work 
and in field work must so frequently be under similar conditions that 
the arm that will be called upon to work it in a siege will equally be able 
to work it in the field. 
(b) The general training of the Field Artillery being in the use 
and employment of field guns , prevents them from fully recognising 
and using the peculiar properties of the howitzer. 
(c ) The special training and aptitude of the Field Artillery in 
moving and manoeuvring is not wanted in handling Howitzer Batteries, 
and would only be thrown away or even at times perhaps lead to a 
wrong tactical employment of these batteries. 
These are the technical grounds on which it seems to me desirable 
to give the Field Howitzers exclusively to the Siege Companies and the 
only objections that I can see that have weight and might be put for¬ 
ward to this proposal are— 
