Distribution 
of personnel. 
374, COMMENDED EssAy, 1895. 
A Fortress ORGANISATION WHICH witL Facruivare TRrArnina. 
Now the question arises how we are to maintain in every fortress a 
complete organisation for war and adapt to it a satisfactory system of 
training the several components of the Artillery Garrison. 
How best to apply an Artillery Garrison which has been selected by 
administrative units to a fortress, the duties of which must be classified 
in fighting departments, is a problem to which no general solution can 
be dogmatically insisted upon. What ought to be done exactly is 
difficult to say; what ought not to be done is very certain. For 
example, any Defence Scheme which disposes of the manning. details 
of the Artillery by the assignment to forts and batteries of regimental 
units and arbitrary complements of specialists, is not merely absolutely 
worthless but positively harmful. 
Probably the best way to deal with the artillery portion of a Defence 
Scheme is to draw up a schedule of a typical or a normal garrison for 
a fortress, assuming that the fixed armament, movable armament, and 
auxiliary appliances are all to be brought into simultaneous operation, 
and that the Personnel is to work in one relief with a suitable propor- 
tion of each department in reserve. Side by side with this may then 
be placed the schedule of the actual artillery garrison according to the 
mobilisation scheme, due allowance being made for casualties, especially 
those caused by deficiencies in the numbers of the auxiliary units. It 
will then be seen what the possibilities of the defence are, and how the 
distribution of the Garrison must be actually made. Asarulea limited 
number of Battery Commands will have to be selected in each Fire 
Command, to be brought into activity at the outbreak of war, and in 
the same way, in each Battery Command so selected, there will be a 
limited number of groups chosen for activity :—the principle being to 
attend to the essential points first, leaving certain portions of the 
defence to be dealt with as opportunities occur. It will have, kowever, 
to be always remembered that whatever works are selected for activity, 
they must be completely garrisoned, that is to say, for every duty, 
however trifling, there must be a qualified man, and deliberate provision 
must be made to replace him by a man of similar qualifications in case 
of accidents. In thus fitting the Garrison, so to speak, to the fortress 
which has been made for it, a good many more or less conflicting 
conditions will have to be satisfied. 
For instance, the most important groups should obviously be 
assigned to the regimental units most certainly able to man them 
properly, nevertheless the sentiment of esprit de corps in these several 
branches should be respected, or trouble will ensue. 
The task will be no easy one, but its worst difficulties will be escaped 
wherever a complete and efficient District Hstablishment has been kept 
up in time of peace. 
Beyond this, the most serious and certainly the most delicate matter 
to be faced, is the distribution of the officers, but here the observance 
-of certain general rules will probably smooth the way. It should 
clearly be laid down that under no circumstances should any person be 
