SILVER MEDAL PRIZE ESSAY, 1879 . 
569 
The very small amount of damage*' done to the materiel in the battles 
of Mars-la-Tour and Gravelotte proves that the object in view should 
be to disable men and horses, and not materiel; consequently, we 
should endeavour to protect men and horses, as far as possible, from 
the fire of shrapnel and infantry—in both cases bullets.t Now, it 
seems by no means impracticable to afford considerable protection 
without much loss of mobility. Mobility is, no doubt, a most important 
point; but where is your mobility after a battery has been for anytime 
exposed to fire ? Having got your batteries into position, the great 
object is to enable them to continue their fire as long as possible. I 
cannot see that it is impracticable to use steel shields for both gun 
and limber, which would afford very considerable protection to the men 
serving the gun, and in a lesser degree to the limber horses. 
Steel plates T 3 g- in. thick are bullet proof; that being the thickness 
of the “ sap shields ” in the service. 
This gives a weight of about 7 lbs. 10 ozs. per square foot. (See 
diagram.) 
bT.B.—•The upper shield could be made more rigid by a couple of stays attached to the cheeks of 
the trail. 
The total weight for the gun would be about—* 
2 x 3 x 2i x 7f lbs., above axletree. 
4-2 X 2 x 2 x 7Jibs., below „ 
Total weight = (13| + 8) x 7J- 
= 167 lbs. 
The gun must of course be a breech-loader; it is then merely im* 
proving the protection naturally afforded by the gun-carriage to the 
* See Hoffbauer. Returns from batteries of damages sustained. 
f Shrapnel shell with time fuzes will be the projectile chiefly used by the artillery of the 
defenders, and common shell with percussion fuzes by the attackers of an entrenched position. 
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