WAR AND ITS WEAPONS.
TRH Emperor Napoleon is building at Cherbourg a new engine of destruction, which the newspapers name vaisseau Mier. Sir Charles Shaw has invented a new battery constructed of Enfield rifles ; a new rifle, described as the Lancaster rifle, has come into play, and promises to supersede the Enfield rifle. There is also, we believe, a new French rifle. General Jacob's pistol-carbine, perhaps the most formidable firearm for cavalry yet invented, begins to find favour in military eyes. All round the world, in these piping times of peace and huge standing armies, fertile brains with mechanical gifts are engaged in devising terrific wea- pons of war.
Now, with our extended empire, vast and tempting wealth, and
comparatively small number of fighting men, we cannot afford to disregard these terrible inventions. It is remarkable how the instruments of war return to use at long intervals. In ancient naval combats the beak of the galley played a. conspicuous part. We are, it seems, about to return to beaks, as weapons of offence at sea. Steam has almost abolished sails, though not quite, as the first war will prove. Steam and iron are to abolish wooden ships, and we are to return to the an- cient teeth) of running our adversaries down. The vaisseau bilier was, it appears, suggested during the Russian war by Rear-Admiral Sartorious. lie had- observed that in collisions at sea the vessel giving the shock escaped with comparative im- munity ; and it occurred to him that vessels combining " the qualities of a shot proof battery and a rapid steamer " might be used in naval -war. He proposed to call this vessel a " steam ram" ; to encase it in four inch iron, or better, steel plates ; to fit it with low masts and double screw propellers ; to arm it with about twenty heavy guns for shot or shell ; and to build at each extremity, a massive prow or beak. Able to rush on stem or stern foremost, to turn readily, and move swiftly, he calculates that his steam-ram could be spade to resist the shot and shell of the largest man_ of war, and by dashing into her side or bow, sink her and her- crew in the sea. His project was communicated to the French during the war with Russia; and it is a machine designed on this plan that the Emperor Napoleon is constructing at Cherbourg. Now, if the thing is of any utility at all, it will be as useful for us, perhaps more destructive in our hands, than in those of the French ; and certainly as the Admiral remarks, if it eould be used at all, it could be used with an effect upon a fleet of troop transports, whether ordinary steamers or men-of- war, that would render invasion impossible. How far a protect- ing force of steam rams would operate to save the convoy must depend on the number on each side, and the skill and vigour with which they are used. If practicable, the introduction of these novel engines will vastly modify the method of maritime warfare.
As in the naval, so in the military branch of war, great changes
seem to be impending, if we may believe the eager voices of theo- retical tacticians. They tell us that henceforth, such is the ac- curacy and range of the rifle, infantry will be the arm; cavalry and artillery sinking into quite inferior positions. The new rifle is to destroy horses and gunners before they can get well within their own range, and cavalry are to be kept at such a distance as will make them useless in battle. But in opposition to these theorists there is the opinion of the chief of military commenta- tors, General Jomini, who tells us that the new rifle will not pro- duce any notable change in tactics. On the other hand the thee. rists are supported by the artillerist Paixhans, who asserts that artillery will disappear before infantry, unless a system of a lery is invented absolutely analogous to that pertaining to the new rifle. Sir Charles Shaw, who took so conspicuous a part in the introduction of the new rifle, has projected a machine that may be the precursor of a new system. He has invented a "rifle field battery." Composed of twenty-fou- rifles which can be'ele- vated or turned in any direction at once, and fired at once, sepa- rately, or in sections, this battery can be worked by six or eight men, and moved on its carriage at the rate of six miles an hour. It is protected by an iron shield, except at the moment when the barrels are elevated and pointed on the foe. This is not a wee of artillery, it is true, but cannot some inventor devise a fieldpiece as easily moved, as well protected, and capable of throwing cannon shot as far as the rifle projects the conical ball ?
The next war, whenever that evil falls upon us, will test the
value of our arms and the efficacy of the old manoeuvres. Much may be undoubtedly be done by infantry taught to shoot with sure aim at long or short distances ; and the British troops are fast acquiring a deadly proficiency. Shooting, no doubt, is our forte, as much as standing to be shot at, and charging with irre- sistible vehemence with the bayonet. But great as is our faith in the bullet, our reliance on the sabreand bayonet is still great- er, and it would be a sign of dementia in our rulers, were they to forget the uses of horsemen, and the deadly effects of lines of le- veiled bayonets directed by stalwart Britons. All the Enfield rifles in the world could never have stopped the troopers of Cotton and Le Merchant at Salamanca. The bayonet, as well as the bul- let, won the victories of the Alma, Inkerman, and the Tchernaya. The lesson taught by the new inventions is an old one. They bid us be watchful ; rather quick to test the value of new thing; than eager to adopt them ; but when we have adopted them to be indefatigable in discovering and applying all their uses. To keep abreast with science, and master effectually all its new offerings, h all that can be demanded of us ; and to do this we shall have need of every capacity and all the skill we possess. Whatever we adopt we must never fail to remember that our chief superiority lies in the born soldierly qualities of our race, and that our chief duty is to cherish, develop, and sustain these in the .amplest proportions to which they can attain. Do justice to the British soldier, and in the hour of need, whether he be defending his home or waging war abroad, he will never fail ; but to do him justice, he should have the best arms, be led by skilful officers, an be versed in the best manoeuvres.
Previous page
