THE FIELD ARTILLERY OF ITALY* 
233 
different calibres than three. Anyhow, it appears to ns that the extra 
tronble and complications which would arise from having a third calibre 
could never be compensated by the advantages it would give; unless 
the theatre of war were exceptionally covered with obstacles of the 
class of solid masonry, &c., and then it would be advisable to enter on 
the campaign provided with a special gun to meet a case of that sort* 
The same would be necessary if the enemy on the defensive were 
known to have entrenched himself behind solid field fortifications. 
If we consider lightness—which has such an important influence on 
mobility—Italy stands in the front rank with her gun of 7’5 C , weighing 
6 cwt.* 
The lightness of the projectile is a natural consequence of the small- 
ness of the calibre. (Query, is that an advantage ?) 
All the other states seem to have settled on 9 lbs. as the minimum 
weight for the projectile; but considering that the Italian projectile 
breaks up into 24 fragments of a mean weight each of 3| ozs., whilst 
the projectiles of the other powers break up into a much greater 
number, but with a mean weight each of If ozs. (which would in many 
cases be harmless), the advantage in this particular appears to be on 
the side of the Italian gun. On the other hand, with the same gun, the 
weight of the projectile could without great difficulty be increased to 
9 lbs. 
Italian Field Artillery. 
The Italian field artillery consists of 10 regiments, each composed of 
10 batteries. These are in each regiment numbered from 1 to 10, and 
form three brigades—the two first of three batteries each, and the 
third of four. The third battery of each brigade is at present armed 
with the 12° gun, but will soon have the new gun of 8*7°. 
All batteries have a peace and a war establishment. On the former, 
each battery has 6 guns, 6 wagons, 1 forge, and 2 general service 
wagons; on the latter, 8 guns, 8 wagons, 1 forge, and 3 general 
service wagons—total 20 carriages. The batteries of 7‘5 C on this 
establishment are provided with 1280 rounds, carried as follows :— 
In the gun limber 32 common shell, 12 shrapnel, and 2 case shot. 
The wagon limber is packed similar to the gun limber, and in the 
wagon body boxes are 48 common shell and 18 shrapnel. In addition 
to this, each gun-carriage carries 2 case shot; therefore each piece 
carries 160 rounds, of which 112 are common shell, 42 are shrapnel, 
and 6 case shot. 
The 7'5 C batteries have a complement of 164 men and 109 horses (on 
war footing). The 12° batteries on war footing carry 768 rounds, or 
96 per gun—viz., 88 common and shrapnel shell, and 8 case shot. 
The 7 C batteries are called light batteries, and the 12 c heavy. Each 
regiment contains 6 of the former, and 4 of the latter—that is, in the 
proportion of 3 : 2. 
* When this was written, the English 9-pr. gun of 6 cwt. was evidently not known of. The 9-pr. 
gun originally mentioned in the tables was that of 8 cwt., and I made the alteration and substituted 
the description of the 6-cwt. gun.—J. C, D. 
