156 
SIEGE TRAINS, 
Direct over- 
bank fire at 
long ranges. 
Curved fire, 
necessity for 
providing 
other means of 
breeching. 
New designs 
of carriages 
on Moncrieff 
principle. 
THE 8-Inch R.M.L. HOWITZER. 
Cwt. Cwt. 
8-inch Howitzer .46 \ 
Wrought-iron Travelling Carriage 43 j 102 
,, Limber, Siege.13 ) 
Wrought-iron bed*.251 
Compressor bar * . 8 | 
Platform, special * .. 15 105 
Ordinary ground Platform, large f 35 j 
Platform Wagon .22J 
Cwt. Cwt. 
8-inch Howitzer.461 
Platform Wagon .. 22$ w 
Wrought-iron bed .. 25 ) 
,., Slide, with compressor 20 ( 
Special ground Platform .17 f * 
Travelling arrangement, with Dilly 17') 
Total ... 207 
Total ... 147 
Difference in favour of the proposed plan—3 Tons = at \ a ton per horse, to 6 horseg 
per piece, or the power of 84 horses, for 14 howitzers in each unit. 
Total saving in each heavy unit of the Siege Train—116 horses. 
Elevated Wheeled Carriages on the German Model. 
It was found at the Eastbourne experiments last autumn, that 
at a thousand yards, guns thus mounted could be very quickly 
disabled by guns fired on the same level, and the conclusion 
arrived at was, “that a gun in a fixed position for over-bank fire is 
too exposed, unless it has a command of fire.” But it by no 
means follows, that, because two guns were so disabled at this 
short range, under most favourable circumstances, the barbette 
system may not be found thoroughly effective at longer distances; 
indeed, such would appear to be the general opinion abroad, as 
elevated carriages for direct over-bank fire are being extensively 
adopted by foreign artillerists. 
As, however, the same cover can be obtained with a low carriage 
( v . Diagram II.) by placing the gun on a high level and sinking 
the detachment, the necessity for these special carriages is not 
apparent. 
Moncrieff Carriages. 
Breaching by “ curved fire ” from behind unbroken parapets 
has not as yet been practised in this country, and little is known 
on the subject beyond reports from abroad, but however effective 
it may prove on trial, it is not considered desirable to abandon the 
use of direct fire for breaching, and the majority of opinions are 
favourable to the introduction of carriages which “will allow a 
gun to be raised into the firing position from cover.” 
The adoption of Moncrieff carriages^ for siege purposes, worked 
on the hydro-pneumatic principle, has for several years been under 
consideration, and new designs have lately been called for. Two 
* The 8-inch howitzer on a travelling carriage is unmanageable, with charges over 
5 lbs. and a bed with special platform, the latter, differing from that used with it when 
firing from its travelling carriage, has to be provided, in addition, for firing at high 
angles and with increased charges. It will be observed that the weights, 102 and 105 
cwt., are excessive for a travelling siege train. 
f For the weight of these platforms, v. page 37, ‘R. C. D. Notes,’ of 31st July, 1869. 
% The Moncrieff counterweight carriages, introduced for the 12 and 7-ton M.L. 
guns, are no doubt unnecessarily complicated, but they have been made so by a num¬ 
ber of mechanical contrivances fordoing what, in action, or when firing service charges, 
is the work of recoil, and which could be equally well performed, as a mere drill 
