530 
GOLD MEDAL PRIZE ESSAY, 1879. 
Possibility 
of realising 
expecta¬ 
tions. 
Reasons for 
introduc¬ 
tion of 
howitzers. 
Supply of 
ammuni¬ 
tion. 
Limber 
system 
recom¬ 
mended. 
would tlius be at tbe immediate disposal of tbe corps commander, who 
could use them wherever their services were especially required. In 
addition to their special qualities as throwing heavy common shells, 
their shrapnel would be of a most effective character at close range. 
As before stated, with regard to the gun proper, the possibility of 
employing weapons of this description in the Artillery of the Future, 
must be solved by our capability to produce carriages and limbers of 
sufficient strength, and yet not exceeding—or, if possible, not reaching 
—the weights given above. If not, it would appear well worth the 
money for the Government to offer a reward to private manufacturers 
if they succeeded in producing what we want. Surely the mechanical 
ingenuity of the country is equal to the demand thus made on it. 
Austria has succeeded in making a limber which only weighs 9 cwt., 
and Russia, with her new heavy gun, fires a shell 27 lbs. weight, with a 
muzzle velocity of about 1300 f.s., from a 12-cwt. gun, while the 
carriage for this gun, though of wrought-iron only, is said to weigh 
little over 10 cwt. 
The reasons above given for the introduction of howitzers might be 
greatly extended in number. Numerous instances occur in war where 
troops are sheltered by natural cover from direct, but where they may 
be greatly injured by curved or high-angle fire. To use guns with 
reduced charges for the purpose of searching them out is a waste of 
power. Their shells have not the same capacity or weight that those 
projected from a howitzer, of equal weight, would have, and the bulk 
of their ammunition (shrapnel) is not suited to this class of .fire. On 
the other hand, a shell projected with a low velocity, so as to get a large 
angle of descent, must depend mainly on its bursting charge for effect. 
Other cases where a powerful bursting charge is essential—such as 
against abattis, stockades, &c.—will present themselves to the mind of 
the reader. 
Supply oe Ammunition. 
It seems that the present method of carrying ammunition—viz., in 
wagons—is not wholly satisfactory, and that the weight of the carriage 
itself bears too large a proportion to the weights carried. 
A better method would appear to be by means of limbers. For the 
gun above advocated (24-pr.) we should propose the supply of ammuni¬ 
tion by means of two four-horse limbers. They would be heavier, and 
have more capacity than the gun-limber, but could, on an emergency, 
supply its place. The weight empty might be about 11 cwt., and they 
might be made to carry 12 cwt. of ammunition and stores. Forty 
rounds at 30 lbs. each would weigh 1200 lbs., which would allow of 
144 lbs. being carried in the shape of stores, to make up 12 cwt. The 
total weight, with two gunners mounted, would be 26 cwt., or 6J cwt. 
per horse—a not excessive weight. Such limbers could follow the 
battery anywhere, and at a good pace. They would be far more mobile 
and handy than a wagon, and if an accident was to happen to one of 
them the loss to the battery would be only 40 rounds in place of 72, as 
would be the case if a 16-pr. wagon was disabled. The damage likely 
