EMPLOYMENT OF FIELD ARTILLERY. 347 
The guns should be so placed as to make it impossible for the enemy 
to bring them and the defile at the same moment under fire. 
In a retreat through a defile, the batteries nearest to the entrance 
should remain in action to the last, while the retreat commences from 
the flanks. The divisions* which are withdrawn first must, after 
passing the defile, take up positions suitable for firing into the defile, 
as well as on its mouth, and thus prevent the enemy from pursuing. 
Employment of Artillery in Masses. 
An artillery mass consists of any number of artillery bodies, which, 
whether separated by intervals or formed in one continuous line, are 
intended, under the direction of a single head, to concentrate their fire 
on the same object. Artillery masses must be formed where the fire of 
a single division of batteries is not sufficient, and where an efficient 
concentrated fire is required. 
To use artillery in masses will therefore be of advantage for con¬ 
centrating fire on the objective point when preparing for the infantry 
attack ; against the most important and most dangerous lines of 
approach available to an assailant, against the mouth of a defile from 
which an enemy is attempting to debouch; against positions and 
localities favourable for an obstinate defence, or when an engagement 
is to be broken off, so as to ensure an orderly retreat from the 
battlefield. 
It must be left to the officer commanding the troops to decide when the 
artillery is to be massed, with what object and in what position. He must 
consider how far the ground admits of this formation and favours its 
employment. 
The command of a mass devolves upon the senior artillery officer, 
whose duty it is to provide that any directions he may have received 
are carried out by the divisions unitedly, or, failing special directions, 
that the divisions are concentrated to further the general plan adopted 
for the battle. 
As soon as the object for which the several divisions were massed 
has been attained, the officer commanding the troops should order the 
divisional artilleries back to the troops to which they were previously 
attached. 
To facilitate this, the officer commanding an artillery mass will, when 
forming it up, and afterwards when manoeuvring it, guard against the 
batteries becoming unnecessarily mixed. 
The Employment of Horse Artillery with the Larger 
Bodies of Cavalry. 
Horse artillery must make full use of its mobility, and, coming into 
action suddenly and unexpectedly, distract the enemy’s attention from 
the cavalry and draw his fire on itself; then, by thoroughly shaking his 
* Three batteries. 
