I.--HOW POSTED WITH RESPECT TO THE GROUND.
II.--HOW POSTED WITH RESPECT TO OUR OWN TROOPS.
III.--HOW POSTED WITH RESPECT TO THE ENEMY.
IV.--POSTING OF BATTERIES AND PIECES AS BETWEEN THEMSELVES.
V.--HOW USED.
VI.--ITS FIRE.
VII.--ITS SUPPORTS.
I.--How posted with respect to the Ground.
1. Artillery has a much longer range than musketry. In order to avail
ourselves of this advantage, we must so post it as to overlook all the
ground to which its utmost range extends. It therefore requires _an
elevated position_.
2. It has been considered an additional advantage of a commanding
position for artillery, that it enables our guns to cover our infantry,
attacking or attacked, by _firing over their heads_.
This was done by the French at Waterloo, apparently with great effect.
But the advantage is a doubtful one; for firing over our own troops,
especially with cast-shot or shell, is very dangerous to them, and is
apt to intimidate them. It moreover furnishes to the enemy a double
target. The shot which miss our troops will be apt to fall among the
guns behind them; and some of those which do not reach the guns, will
probably take effect among the troops in front of them.
3. But _very high_ points are unfavorable positions for batteries.
Batteries so placed would not command the ground immediately below them;
as guns cannot be depressed to fire below a certain angle without soon
destroying their carriages. And this would facilitate their capture;
for, once arrived on the ground near them, the assailants could not be
injured by their fire. It has been estimated that the slope in front of
a battery should not exceed one perpendicular to fifteen base.
4. When guns have to be used as a support to other parts of the line,
which is often the case, their capture might lead to serious
consequences. They should therefore have the ground clear of all
obstacles which may _mask their fire_, not only in front, but to their
right and left.
5. Although the most favorable position for guns is an eminence sloping
gradually towards the enemy, an _open and level plain_ is by no means an
unfavorable one; for, on such ground, the enemy will be visible at a
great distance, and our shot may act by ricochet, which causes more
destruction than ordinary point-blank firing.
For ricochet, firm and even ground is requisite; on soft or rough ground
it is not attainable.
6. In enfilading the enemy's position, or in raking his advancing
columns from head to rear, a _grazing fire_ is the most destructive that
can be used. This consists of a long succession of ricochets at low
heights. Where the ground is level and firm, we can obtain this fire at
a short distance from the enemy; as, on such ground, ricochet shots do
not rise much. But where the ground is uneven, to obtain such a fire, a
more distant position will be requisite.
7. _Muddy_ ground is unfavorable for artillery. Over such ground, its
carriages move slowly, and its fire is less effective. Balls cannot
ricochet; and shells often sink into the mud, and thus are either
extinguished or explode with but little effect.
Napoleon depended so much on his artillery at Waterloo that, although
every moment was precious, he delayed commencing the battle till his
chief of artillery had reported the ground, which had been covered by a
soaking rain, to be sufficiently dry for the movements and effectiveness
of that arm. The three hours' delay thus caused, would have sufficed him
to crush Wellington's army before the arrival of the Prussians.
8. _Stony_ ground is a bad location for a battery; for the enemy's shot
will scatter the stones around it with more or less fatal effect.
9. _Rough_ or _uneven_ ground immediately in front of a battery is not
objectionable, as it will stop the enemy's shot.
10. A battery, when it is possible to avoid it, should not be posted
within musket range of _woods_, _bushes_, _ravines_, _hedges_,
_ditches_, or other cover from which the enemy's sharpshooters might
kill off the gunners, or, by a sudden dash, capture the guns.
11. To prevent the enemy from approaching a battery under cover, it
should be so placed as to be able to sweep all _villages_, _hollows_,
and _woods_, in front and in flank.
12. In taking up a position, a battery should avail itself of all
_inequalities of the ground_, for the shelter of its pieces and gunners,
or of its limbers and caissons, at least.
For the same purpose, a battery posted on an eminence should have its
pieces some ten paces behind its crest.
13. Where the ground affords no shelter, and where the position of the
guns is not likely to be changed, it may be worth while to cover them by
an _epaulement_ or breastwork, some three feet, or more, high.
II.--How posted with respect to our own Troops.
1. In order to be ready to support the flanks of our attacking columns,
and to aid in the defence in every part of the field, batteries should
be placed at _several different points_ in the line of battle.
2. In a defensive battle especially, as it is uncertain on what point
the enemy will mass his principal attack, the artillery should usually
be distributed _through the whole line_.
3. A line of battle has been compared to the _front of a fortification_,
of which the infantry is the curtain, and the artillery batteries the
bastions.
4. The _lighter_ guns should be placed on the _salient_ points of our
line, from which they can be more easily withdrawn; the heavier guns,
constituting the stationary batteries, on the more retired points.
5. Pieces should not be placed _in prolongation with troops_; for this
would be giving the enemy a double mark. Artillery posted in front of
other troops will draw a fire on them. When a battery must be placed in
front of the line, let the infantry in rear of it clear the ground by
ploying into double columns.
6. Never place artillery so as to _impede the movements of the other two
arms_. A battery posted in front of the centre would often hamper the
movements of the infantry; besides being peculiarly exposed to a
converging fire from the enemy's batteries.
7. The safest position for a battery is on that wing which is most
secure from a flank attack.
But guns should re-enforce the weaker points, thus making the enemy
attack the strongest ones.
Therefore, _where a wing is weak_, place the largest number of guns
there, to support it. If we have one wing entirely uncovered, of four
batteries, for instance, we should give three to the uncovered wing.
8. Of the heavy batteries, one, at least, should be placed in the first
line, so that we may be able to open an effective fire on the enemy at
the _earliest possible moment_.
9. The prompt use, at the proper moment, of the reserve, may decide the
battle. The movements of heavy artillery, therefore, are too slow for
the reserve, which should have most of the light pieces. _Horse
artillery_ is especially suitable for it.
10. Guns near an infantry square should be posted at its _angles_. If
the square is charged by cavalry, the gunners run into the square, after
filling their ammunition pouches, which they take in with them, as well
as their sponges and other equipments. The limbers and caissons are sent
to the rear; or, if there is no time to do this, they may be brought
into the square. If this is impossible, they may be formed into a
barricade.
At Waterloo, on the French cavalry's retiring from their charges on the
enemy's squares, the British gunners rushed out from the squares in
which they had taken refuge, and plied their guns on the retiring
squadrons.
III.--How posted with respect to the Enemy.
1. If the enemy's batteries are concentrated in one position, by placing
our own batteries properly we may obtain a powerful _cross-fire_ on
them.
2. It is always advantageous to so dispose our batteries as to take
those of the enemy _in enfilade_, or obliquely (_en echarpe_, as it is
called).
At the battle of Murfreesboro', in December, 1862, a rebel battery,
being taken in enfilade by one of our own, was silenced in about five
minutes.
3. So, also, if we can obtain an oblique or enfilading fire _on his
troops_, it will be very destructive. A flanking battery, raking the
enemy's position, is often enough, of itself, to decide a battle.
Thus, the battle of Chippewa was finally decided by our getting a gun or
two in a flanking position, enabling us to enfilade the British line.
So, at the battle of Shiloh, the rebels' triumphant advance on the
evening of the first day was effectually checked by the fire of our
gun-boats Tyler and Lexington, which had taken an enfilading position
opposite their right flank.
4. For this reason, we must never post one of our own batteries so that
the enemy's guns will take it _obliquely_, or _in flank_; unless,
indeed, by doing so, we may probably obtain some important and decisive
effect before it can be destroyed, or made unserviceable.
5. Batteries should be so placed as to _command the whole ground in our
front_, even almost up to our bayonets, and so as to be able to direct
their fire towards every point; at all events, so that a fire can be
kept up on the enemy till he is within short musket-range.
It is manifest that the best position for a battery, to enable it to
effectually cover the entire ground in our front, would not be in our
line of battle, but in advance of one of its flanks, from which it could
take the enemy's troops advancing over it, in enfilade.
6. Artillery fire from _an unexpected quarter_ always has a powerful
moral effect. Two guns, even, hoisted up to a place where the enemy does
not dream of there being any, may have a decisive effect.
IV.--Posting of Batteries and of Pieces as between themselves.
1. The best mode of posting batteries is in the form of a crescent, its
horns pointing towards the enemy, or forming the sides of a re-entering
angle; for this gives a _convergent fire_ to the enemy's divergent one.
Its inconvenience is, the exposure of its flanks to attack, or to
enfilade. Therefore, when such a position is adopted, its flanks must be
protected by natural obstacles or by artificial defences.
2. Batteries, or parts of batteries, should be at _supporting distances_
from each other; that is, not over six hundred yards apart, so as to
effectually cover the whole ground between them, in case of need, with
grape and canister. When rifled guns are used, this distance may be
increased.
3. _A long line of guns_ in our line of battle is objectionable; for, if
it should become necessary to withdraw them, they would leave a
dangerous interval.
4. It is dangerous to collect _a great many pieces in one battery_,
especially in the beginning of an action, when the enemy is fresh, for
it strongly tempts him to capture it. When used, such a battery should
have powerful supports to protect it, or should be sheltered by a
village, a defile, or other cover, occupied beforehand.
5. Although, to be used offensively, guns should be in strong masses, in
order to strike a decisive blow on some single point; this is by no
means the case when _used defensively_; for,
(1.) It is only when guns are more or less scattered over different
parts of the field, that they can be made to give a cross-fire on the
enemy's advancing columns, or on any part of his line.
(2.) If the position where they are massed does not happen to be
attacked, they become useless, while stripping the rest of the line.
(3.) If they are captured, all the artillery is lost at once, as
happened to the Austrians at the battle of Leuthen, causing their
defeat.
6. A certain number of pieces of horse-artillery must always be _kept in
reserve_, so that, if an artillery fire at any point should be suddenly
wanted, it may be furnished with the least possible delay.
7. Guns of _various calibres_ should never be in the same battery, to
prevent confusion as to the respective ranges, and in the supply of
their ammunition.
8. An independent section or battery should never consist of _howitzers
alone_, for the proper fire of these pieces is too slow to be effective
in repulsing an attack on them.
9. There should always be _wide intervals_ between the pieces; otherwise
the battery would offer too good a mark to the enemy.
V.--How used.
First, GENERALLY.
Secondly, IN OFFENSIVE COMBAT.
Thirdly, IN DEFENSIVE COMBAT.
Fourthly, AGAINST INFANTRY.
Fifthly, AGAINST CAVALRY.
Lastly, AGAINST ARTILLERY.