Horses, 
316 SILVER MEDAL PRIZE ESSAY, 1896, 
at a pinch. Now including sergeants, corporals and bombardiers a 
British battery at war strength abroad 
Has 93 gunners in the R.H.A. 
9 95 4 4 FA. 
and including grooms 
15 spare drivers in R.H.A. 
8 9 ia Ith 
Therefore a loss of 830 men would certainly not make a battery un- 
serviceable, provided it was not already much below strength from 
sickness. 
It would be the duty of Column and Park to fill up, so far as they 
could, sick casualties day by day, filling themselves up from the base, 
but they should not have a spare establishment larger than for their 
own needs. In cases of great need the Park would have to become 
temporarily unserviceable, entrusting the supply department of the 
army with its stores, or being recruited from hired transport. 
It is evident that any battery suffering abnormal loss in men and 
horses, or material, cannot be expected to resume the field for some 
time. Arrangements for supply can only be calculated on average 
wants. 
Where a battery or brigade division had suffered so heavily that its 
own Columns and Park sections could not possibly bring it up to an 
effective strength, it must either await drafts or be recruited from more 
fortunate batteries. 
Horses. 
Almost the same remarks would apply to horses, as an army cannot 
feed any large number of spare horses, but must look to a well- 
organized line of remount depdts, to prevent its falling below the 
minimum of efficiency. 
Horses would be forthcoming if needed from the 6-horse wagons 
which, especially in the Park, could be worked for a time with 4, while 
empty wagons instead of returning to the Parks would be left behind 
and their horses sent to the front. 
A similar proportion of spare horses should then accompany each 
Column and Park Section as in a battery with a view to replacing the 
ordinary casualties of the march. 
To refer to Major Stone again we see that the mean loss in horses 
per battery per battle for the three battles is 15, and for the four 
batteries taking part in all three, 17 per battery per battle, total of 51. 
With such heavy casualties as this it would remain with the officer 
commanding Royal Artillery and the officer commanding the army 
corps to say if the battery should stay behind to refit or if the Park 
Section should be the unit to suffer in the end. 
Interior ARRANGEMENT or Unit with REFERENCE TC SUPPLY OF 
Ammunition to Figurine Linz. 
Reasons have been discussed for organizing each unit as a battery 
with six or less sub-divisions if the number of wagons will allow of it. 
It should now be stated that, as it may often occur, when the artillery 
or infantry ammunition is wanted in separate parts of the field and 
