FIELD ARTILLERY FIRE. 
133 
objective necessary, and as it is no longer possible for gun-layers to 
observe the effect of their rounds and thus correct their elevation 
(which, owing to the improvements in projectiles, has become of 
great importance) this duty of the observation of fire and the rectifi¬ 
cation of the elevation becomes the duty of the Battery Commander. 
In order to give him time to attend to these increased duties it is 
necessary to relieve him of all, or almost all, tactical considerations, 
which now devolve upon the Officer Commanding the Brigade Division. 
Thus, the Brigade Division has become the tactical unit and the 
Battery the fighting unit. That is, with the Officer Commanding the 
Brigade Division rests the responsibility for the manoeuvring of, and 
the position taken up by the batteries, and the tactical application of 
their fire under such orders as he may receive from the Divisional 
General, while with the Battery Commander lies the responsibility for 
the technical administration of the fire of his battery. 
It is only necessary to recapitulate these onerous tactical duties to 
show how much they must have occupied the Battery Commander of 
former days to the almost total exclusion of technical affairs. 
The duties of the tactical commander, the Officer Commanding the 
Brigade Division, are now as follows: 
1. To consider the tactical situation not only of his own troops 
but also that of the enemy. 
2. To select and reconnoitre positions. 
3. To point out the objective and divide it among the batteries 
under his command, changing it from time to time with the 
fluctuations and progress of the fight. 
4. To control the rate of fire and thus nurse the expenditure of 
ammunition against the critical period of the battle, and to 
ensure the renewal of the supply, i.e ., beyond that in the 
immediate possession of the batteries. 
5. To receive all orders from the commander of the troops and 
to keep him well informed. 
Having been relieved from his tactical responsibilities the Battery 
Commander can now turn his full attention to the technical adminis¬ 
tration of his fire. It is a question of some moment to define precisely 
how far the Commander of a Brigade Division may interfere in the 
technical working of a battery, but, it may be taken as a general rule 
that if he does so, he does it at the imminent risk of losing sight of 
the important and absorbing role that falls to his share. There are, no 
doubt, occasions when the interference of the Brigade Division Com¬ 
mander is warranted, but, except on the practice ground, it is a matter 
which involves a great possible danger, and should therefore be 
strenuously avoided. 
To enable a Battery Commander to fight his battery a sound system 
of FIBE-DISCIPLINE is necessary. 
The British has been the last artillery of the European Powers to 
adopt a definite system of fire-discipline, and this arises, perhaps, from 
the fact that we have never, since the introduction of rifled guns, been 
