General Instructions.
Formation of a Rocket Troop.
PLATE 1.-- The Equipment of a Rocket Trooper.
PLATE 2.-- The Equipment of a Rocket Ammunition Horse.
PLATE 3.-- Fig. 1.--A Sub-division of Rocket Cavalry, in Line of
March.
Fig. 2.--A Sub-division of Rocket Cavalry, in Action.
PLATE 4.-- Fig. 1.--Rocket Cars, in Line of March.
Fig. 2.--Rocket Cars, in Action.
PLATE 5.-- Fig. 1.--Rocket Infantry, in Line of March.
Fig. 2.--Rocket Infantry, in Action.
PLATE 6.-- Fig. 1.--The Conveyance of the Apparatus and Rocket
Ammunition for Bombardment.
Fig. 2.--The Firing of Rockets, in Bombardment.
PLATE 7.-- Fig. 1, and 2.--The Projecting of Rockets from different
Descriptions of Earth Works, in Bombardment.
PLATE 8.-- Fig. 1.--A Rocket Ambuscade.
Fig. 2.--The Use of Rockets for the Defence of a Post.
PLATE 9.-- Fig. 1.--The Use of Rockets, in the Attack of a Fortress.
Fig. 2.--The Use of Rockets, in the Defense of a Fortress.
PLATE 10.--Fig. 1.--A Repulse of Cavalry by Infantry, with Rockets.
Fig. 2.--Preparation for storming, by Means of Rockets.
PLATE 11.--The Throwing of Rockets from Men of War’s Boats.
PLATE 12.--Fig. 1.--The Use of Rockets in Fire Ships.
Fig. 2, 3, and 4.--The Equipment of a Rocket Ship, with
Scuttles for throwing Rockets from her Broadside.
PLATE 13.--The different Natures of Rocket Ammunition, and the
Implements used for fixing the Sticks.
CONCLUSION--containing Calculations, proving the great comparative
Economy of the Rocket System in all its Branches.
GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS for the Use of ROCKETS, both in the FIELD and in
BOMBARDMENT, shewing the Spirit of the System, and its comparative
Powers and Facilities.
It must be laid down as a maxim, that “the very essence and spirit
of the Rocket System is the facility of firing a great number of
rounds in a short time, or even instantaneously, with small means,”
arising from this circumstance, that the Rocket is a species of fixed
ammunition which does not require ordnance to project it; and which,
where apparatus is required, admits of that apparatus being of the most
simple and portable kind.
An officer, therefore, having the use of this weapon under his
direction, must ever bear this maxim in mind--and his first
consideration must be--to make his discharges against the enemy in as
powerful vollies as he possibly can.
Thus--if the defence of a post be entrusted to him, and the ground be
at all favourable, he will, independent of the regular apparatus he
may have at his disposal, prepare what may be called Rocket Batteries,
consisting of as many embrasures as his ground will admit; these
embrasures being formed by turning up the sod, so as to give channels
of direction four or five feet long, and three feet apart: by which a
great number of Rockets in a volley may evidently be arranged to defend
any assailable point. In these embrasures, if liable to surprise, the
Rockets may be placed in readiness the vents _not_ uncovered; though
generally speaking, this is not necessary, as so short a time is
required to place them--here and there one, only being in its embrasure.
In battle also, where there is not, of course, time to prepare the
ground as above stated, but where it is tolerably level, he may, in
addition to the apparatus he possesses, add to his fire by discharging,
from the intervals of his frames or cars, Rockets merely laid on the
ground in the direction required: and, if an enemy be advancing upon
him, there is, in fact, no limit to the volley he may be prepared thus
to give, when at a proper distance, but the quantity of ammunition he
possesses, the extension of his own ground, and the importance of the
object to be fired at. Under these limits, he may chuse his volley from
50 to 500--a fire which, if judiciously laid in, must nearly annihilate
his enemy: for this purpose trains are provided. This practice also
requires the exposure of only one or two men, who are to fire the
volley, as the remainder, with the ammunition, may be under cover.
And here it should be remarked, that the length of ranges, and the
height of the curve of the recochét, in this mode of firing, depend
on the length of the stick--the stick of the full length giving the
longest range, but rising the highest from the ground; the reduced
stick giving a shorter range, but keeping closer to the ground. From
this application, therefore, where practicable, by carrying a certain
number of the 12-pounder pouches in the ammunition waggon, an officer,
even with a dismounted brigade, may always manœuvre and detach parties
to get upon the flanks of any approaching or fixed column, square, or
battalion, while he himself remains with the heavier ammunition and
cars in front.
This mode of firing from the ground of course applies only for moderate
distances; the limits of which, with the smaller natures of Rockets,
may be considered from 800 to 1,000 yards, and for the larger from
1,000 to 1,200; where therefore greater ranges are required, the
apparatus must be resorted to. And here it is proper to remark, that
in the use of the Rocket, at least in the present state of the system,
no certain increase of range can be depended upon by increasing the
elevations from the ground-ranges up to 15°, for the smaller Rockets;
and 20 to 25° for the larger; for in the intermediate angles, the
Rocket is apt to drop in going off, and graze near the frame; but at
the above angles it will always proceed in a single curve to very
greatly increased ranges from 1,500 to 2,000 yards.
In bombardment, as well as in the field, the quantity of instantaneous
fire is equally important, and the greater number of Rockets that can
be thrown, not only increase the number of fires, but, by distracting
the enemy’s attention, prevent their extinction. To this end,
therefore, an officer should always employ as many bombarding frames as
possible; and here again he will find, that in bombardment, as well as
in the field, the weapon affords him the means of extending his fire
beyond the compass of his apparatus.
Thus, he may form a Rocket Battery of any common epaulement, parallel
to the face of the town to be bombarded, by digging a trench in the
rear of it to admit the stick, so as to lay the Rocket and stick
against the slope of the epaulement, that slope being brought to the
desired elevation for projecting the Rocket, or by boring holes to
receive the stick; or he may construct a slope expressly as a Rocket
Battery; and as, in firing these vollies, his Rockets need not be
more than three feet apart, it follows, that from an epaulement or
battery of this description, fifty yards in length, he may keep up this
bombardment by a discharge of fifty Rockets in a volley, and repeat
these vollies every five minutes if desirable; a rate of firing which
must inevitably baffle all attempts of the most active and numerous
enemy to prevent its effect.
It is obvious, therefore, that in any comparison made of the powers
of the Rocket with those of common artillery, whether an officer be
called on merely to demonstrate its powers, or to carry it actually
against an enemy, the foregoing maxim must be his rule; in fact, every
thing should be demonstrated according to the spirit of its use; a
single Rocket is not to be compared with a single gun shot, by firing
it at a target. But the consideration is, whether for general service,
the power of quantity in the fire of Rockets does not _at least_
counterbalance the greater accuracy of the gun? and for this purpose
the spirit of the demonstration of the Rocket system is to shew how
few men are required to produce the most powerful vollies with this
arm. No demonstration should be made with less than twenty rounds in a
volley; to maintain which, in any fixed position, at the rate of two or
even three vollies a minute, twenty men may be said to be sufficient,
and this with Rockets projecting cohorn, or 5½-inch howitzer shells,
or even 18 and 24-pounder solid shot. The first point of comparison,
therefore, is--How many rounds of _such_ ammunition in the minute could
twenty men project by the ordinary means of artillery?--or how many in
a volley, even if they had all the means at hand?--And the next point
is--what are the comparative facilities in bringing these different
means into action, where the one system requires only the transport of
the ammunition--the other, not only that of the ammunition, but of the
most massive ordnance, without which it is entirely useless?
But independent of this comparison as to quantity, there are others
in which the Rocket has advantages exclusively its own: there are
situations where artillery cannot by any means be brought into action,
while there is no situation, no nature of ground, which is passable
to an infantry soldier with his musket in his hand, that is not
equally to be passed by the Rocketteer with _his_ arm and ammunition.
For the accomplishment of any particular service, he may dispense
entirely with wheel carriages or even horses; there is nothing which
the men themselves cannot transport and bring into action; and if any
bombardment were required by a _coup de main_, 1,000 men would not
only convey 1,000 rounds of the heaviest Carcass Rockets, a number
sufficient to destroy any place within the compass of their range, but
would perform that service in a few hours, having neither batteries or
platforms to erect, nor mortars to convey.
Such are the true principles of this new system of artillery, for
(projecting the same ammunition) so it may be called, and the greater
the scale of equipment, the greater in proportion will its powers
appear; thus, if an establishment were formed on the strength of a
cavalry regiment, if 600 mounted men were equipped on the principles of
the present detachment, they would take into action, without ammunition
horses or wheel carriages, 2,400 rounds of ammunition, and 200 abouches
a féu; and if 100 ammunition horses were attached to this corps, it
would further possess a reserve of nearly 2,000 rounds more: the whole
capable of every movement and service practicable by any other regiment
of heavy cavalry; and the same proportionate power would be found to
attach to every other mode of equipment.
In addition to this view of the powers of the weapon, it is important
to state, that the detail of the service is most extraordinarily
simple; that there are but a few points to be attended to in its
application; and those such as may be most easily acquired; the
principal ones are, that care must be taken to fix the sticks very
firmly to the Rocket, and in the true direction of the axis of the
Rocket, to prevent aberration of flight.
That, at high angles, the frame must always be elevated for the large
Rockets from 5° to 10° more than the elevation at which the Rocket is
intended to be projected, and in the small Rockets from 2½° to 5°; for,
as the Rocket leaves the frame before it has obtained its full force,
it drops a certain number of degrees in proportion to its weight at
going off. Thus the longest ranges of the 32-pounder Carcass Rockets
are obtained at about 55°, or rather more, if the Rockets have been
long made. An officer, however, being prepared for this circumstance,
will soon discover the maximum range of the Rockets he may have to
discharge.
Some allowance in elevation also must be made for the direction of the
wind: if it is powerful, and blows in a contrary direction to that in
which the Rocket is projected, the frame requires _more_ elevation;
for the wind acting more on the stick than the body of the Rocket,
depresses the elevation in its rising. If, on the contrary, it blows
in the direction of the Rocket’s flight, _less_ elevation is required;
for, in this case, the Rocket mounts by the wind’s action on the
stick. So, from the same cause, if the wind be strong, and across
the range, though no difference of elevation is necessary, still an
allowance must be made to leeward; for the Rocket, contrary to the
course of ordinary projectiles, has a tendency to draw to windward: a
few rounds, however, in all these cases, will immediately point out to
the observant officer what is the required allowance. These remarks
refer only to high angles; for no effect whatever is produced by the
wind in the ground-ranges: in these the only caution necessary to be
attended to is, to chuse the most smooth and level spot for the first
100 yards in front of the point from which it is intended to discharge
these Rockets, as they generally travel in contact with the surface for
this distance, not having acquired their full force, and are therefore
more liable to deflection; but having at this point acquired a velocity
not much less than the mean velocity of a cannon ball, they are not to
be more easily deflected: at this distance also they rise a few feet
from the ground, so as to clear any ordinary obstacles that may occur;
insomuch that, if it were desired to fire Rockets at low angles into a
besieged town, from the third parallel, these Rockets, having a clear
space to acquire their velocity, in front of the parallel, would run up
the glacis, clear the ditch, and skim over the parapet into the town;
and would no doubt be of great use in a variety of cases, particularly
in discomfiting and rendering the enemy unsteady, by pouring in
vollies of some hundreds or even thousands on this principle, previous
to an assault or escalade: indeed, knowing the effect, I do not
hesitate to affirm that this manœuvre, practised _on the great scale_,
would infallibly dislodge any enemy posted for the protection of a
breach.
Sufficient has, I conceive, now been stated, to give the officer such a
general view of the power and spirit of the weapon, as may enable him
to apply it in all possible cases to the best advantage; and if he will
but constantly bear in view that maxim which I have laid down as the
fundamental principle of this system, I will confidently pledge myself
that it will never disappoint him, either as to the physical or _moral_
effect which he may calculate on producing upon his enemy; since, he
must recollect, that for this latter effect, it adds all the terrors of
_visibility_ to every species of that destructive ammunition introduced
by the use of gunpowder, but by every one admitted hitherto to have
been qualified, as to moral effect, by its _invisibility_.
_25th October, 1813._