IMPENDING REVOLUTION, PRODUCED BY ART AND SCIENCE IN WAR.
Tun art of war, it is now admitted, is under an impending revo- lution, from clearly decided advances of mechanical art and sci- ence. We shall endeavour to state how those advances have been made. And first, as to the weapon for the use of the private foot soldier. About four years ago, Lord Hardinge accepted the gra- tuitous services of Mr. Whitworth, whose workmanship as a me- chanist is acknowleged to be unsurpassed in Europe, to ascertain what improvements might be effected in the manufacture or the construction of the rifle. At that time, it was deemed first-rate workmanship in their construction if the deviations from the me- chanical accuracy of the barrel did not exceed one in three hun- dred. Mr. Whitworth achieved the result, that at the expense of about a shilling each the deviation from accuracy might be re- duced to one in ten thousand. But he very early improved the construction. Previously, the best shooting from fixed rests with the rifle, abroad as well as at home, had given an average of shots within a circle of twenty-eight inches in diameter at five hundred feet of distance. Upon numerous trials, the improved rifle gave an average of shots within a circle of four inches at this same distance. On previous very early trials, the advantage of the old rifle over the ' Brown Bess" was more than as five to two. The advantage of the Whitworth was as fifty to one over the old rifle. " Science" had previously been applied to war, but it was abstract science, which assumed that the projeetiles were in vacuo. It Was in practice found out, however, that the air consists of materialparticles, and a French officer, Colonel Minix, invented a pointed or conical bullet, which cleaved them more easily, and the old rifle was made to carry the conical bullet fur- ther. But one disadvantage of the old rifle was, that in driving down the bullet the lead had to be forcedto fit the ridges and into the furrows or the grooves, which gave by their twist the rotatory motion of the ball, in which process of hammering down the lead was apt to strip and the missile to be deranged. One improve- ment of the Whitworth consisted in making the barrel of a poly- gonal or hexagonal form, into which was inserted at the breech a hexagonal-shaped shot, which fits the barrel accurately, saving the loss of power to expand the leaden ball to the grooves of the rifle, and also the loss from the gases rushing past through the interstices between the ball and the barrel. y making the pro- jectile of the same hexagonal shape externally, as the bore of the barrel internally,—that is to say with a perfect mechanical fit,— metals of all degrees of hardness, from lead or lead and tin up to hardened steel, may be employed with a suitable powder. The shot employed is a hexagonal or cylindrical shot, with a conical point, like some old arrow-heads, of two and a half the length of the diameter, giving more than one and a half of additional density and momentum to the shot, with more than one and a half less of resistance in passing through the air than the old bullet. By a screw plug at the breech, which is in part driven out by the explosion, the " kick " of the piece is reduced, and a far heavier ball than! heretofore may, when there is need, be fired from the shoulder. The result of the improvements combined in the Whitworth rifle is to give a more correct range, one-half fur- ther than even the Millie with one-third less of powder. The extreme range of the Millie as now made is fourteen hundred yards ; but the range of the Whitworth is two thousand yards. On careful trials from fixed rests, at targets five hundred arch distance, the accuracy of the shooting with the English it.-1
worth was more than ten to one compared with the best of the French Minies as now made.
To give an idea of the advance made by the new implement it may be stated, that the common rule of working with the brown begs, is never to attempt to fire until you see the features and the eyes of the enemy,—that is to say at about eighty yards. And even at that distance, such is the wildness of the firing that scarcely one shot in a thousand hits. At the battle of Salamanca, three millions and a half of musket shot were served out and ex- pended ; there were besides 6000 cannon shot fired, and charges of infantry and cavalry, and yet only 8000 of the enemy were put hors de combat ; so that if all the destruction had been due to the " dreadful volleys " of the infantry only one in some 456 shots could have hit, and this is a general aver- age. As a rule, a weight of lead equal to that of each enemy laid low, is fired to achieve that object. The art of the present English General is to bring the men up so close that they cannot miss with the brown bess. Sir Collin Campbell, it is said, made
his brigade reserve their fire until they were within ten yards of the Russian ranks. A witness who was present at the battle of Balaclava, and observed the effect of the "dreadful volley" of Sir Collin's brigade upon the advancing body of the Russian ca- valry, and which made them turn tail, declared to us, that he could not see that half a dozen men fell. A friend who was at Waterloo, says that he could not see more than three or four saddles emptied, by the fire of one side of a square of British in- fantry, upon a body of French cavalry close to them, yet Bona- parte is said to have complimented our infantry on the superior steadiness of their fire. The charging distance for cavalry is two hundred yards, beyond which they deem themselves out of reach of any serious mischief from the infantry. Grape and canister, are held to be of no effect unless upon an enemy within 350 yards of distance. During the Continental campaigns, Bonaparte and his Marshals in their practice held that 450 yards were a safe dis- tance from all small arms, the rifle included. The light field artillery is regularly used at not more than five or six hundred yards, and heavier artillery at 1100 yards. Reserves are con- sidered to be practically out of the reach of regular action from any arms at about half a mile from the enemy. The common bullet rarely does any damage beyond the first rank, but the Minis goes through two ranks, and there is no doubt that the Whitworth at the same distances will go clear through three. A hard steel pointed ball from it, has penetrated an iron plate five-eighths of an inch in thickness, and there is little doubt that it would pass through two cuirassiers or men in ancient ordin- ary armour. A body of cavalry which approached a body of in- fantry well trained to the use even of the Minie, would breathe its last if it oame within 300 yards. The small proportion of Minies, interspersed in the ranks of our infantry, has been declared to have turned the battle in our favour at Inkermann, and repeatedly in India. In India, artillery has been silenced by them at up- wards of 700 yards distance. But by the Whitworth the whole ordinary field apace may be kept clear of all the common field artillery as well as of cavalry. Sir Charles Shaw provides for the most improved rifle a platform of twenty-five pieces, a la Fiesohi, on a carriage, lighter than that of the lightest field piece, and en- abling a telescopic sight to be used, with micrometrioal adjustments of the elevations so as to wield the Whitworth with unprecedented accuracy at its longest range and with heavier shot than can be projected from the shoulder. On any hosts within a mile the death storm
" begins to lour, (Haste the loom of Hell prepare) Iron sleet of arrowy shower, Hurtles in the darkened air."
But the air would not be darkened by them, and death comes from them invisibly, whereas, as was soon a matter of common expe- rience in the Crimea, the heavier the old cannon ball used and the longer the range, the better could the track of the ball be per- ceived, and the more easily could it be avoided. Less than one in a thousand of the cannon shot of the Russians, whose artillery was not ill served, took effect upon our ranks. There is no seeing the Whitworth bullets or dodging the death shower sent by Sir Charles Shaw's implement, at four or five times the range of the common grape and canister shot. This implement, worked by six or eight men, will throw in a more deadly fire than 300 of the best infantry soldiers as at present armed; and whilst they can only change position at the rate of two miles an hour, the new imple- ment may be moved about at the rate of six. Dieu aime les gros bataillons, was a favourite maxim of the French Marshals. But that love if it ever existed is now withdrawn ; the existence of heavy formations on the battle field will be shorter before these new small arms than was the existence of the gros battalions of the French chivalry before the English long bows. Before the new small arms the whole of our field artillery, in its present shape, and cavalry too, as at present organized, is doomed to dis- appear. Whilst, however, these improvements in small arms were being accomplished by the labour of Mr. Whitworth, improvements were prosecuted in large arms by the art and science of another emi- nent northern mechanical engineer, Mr. Armstrong, with entire success. Whilst Mr. Whitworth was in progress with the appli- cation of his principle to cannon, Mr. Armstrong brought out a cannon on the same principle, completely applied, and complete and improved in all, its accessaries. The principle, we say, was the same, namely the use of an elongated cylindrical shot- breech loading in a rifled cannon. The main difference in the
construction of the Armstrong shot, is that it is prepared with a coating of lead to fit into the grooves of the rifled wrought iron barrel which are small and more numerous than any in any pre- vious constructions. It is asserted, that the Whitworth system of rifling causes less strain on the gun than any other because the shot is rifled mechanically before it is put into the gun, whilst with the compound Armstrong shot, the lead is made to take the rifling. by the force of the explosion. About a year and a half ago, six brass howitzers of the old construction were rifled in this mode, and they are reported to answer completely. Since then, three cast-iron cannon of the old construction sent by the Govern- ment were rifled in the new manner, and they have burst. But whether the Whitworth principle will not be available for cannon of wrought iron on the new and stronger construction, is yet to be determined, and it is confidently expected they will. In the mean time, however, Mr. Armstrong has produced various sizes of can- non complete in all points of construction and of proved powers, exceeding all other complete cannon. Breech-loading nine- pounders of wrought-iron have done marvellously good execution at a target nine feet square at two miles distance, eighteen- pounders at four miles, and thirty-two-pounders at five miles and a quarter range. At these ranges, too, it throws shells with fuses, of a superior construction, graduated to burst at given inter- mediate distances, or to explode upon percussion and to spread around between four and five hundred iron fragments. The ad- vance made by this complete cannon may be described in the words of General Peel- " The great advantages of this gun were its extreme lightness, the extent of its range and its accuracy. An Armstrong gun, throwing a projectile of eighteen pounds, weighed one-third as much as the guns now in use dis- charging shot of that weight. The range of a thirty-two pound gun fired with a charge of more than five pounds of powder was a little more than five miles and a quarter, while the precision of the gun was still more extraor- dinary. The accuracy of the Armstrong gun, at 3000 yards, was as seven to one as compared with that of the common gun at 1000 yards, while at 1000 yards it would hit an object every time, which was struck by the com- mon gun only once in fifty-seven times ; therefore at equal distances the Armstrong was fifty-seven times as accurate as the common. artillery. Its destructive effect also exceeded anything which had been witnessed. The gun had very great durability. He had himself seen one which had been fired 1300 times without the smallest injurious effect being produced upon it."
This advance of mechanical science further clears away from the field armies equipped with any and every description of the old armament. It reduces to the mere value of the metal such accumulations of artillery as those at Gibraltar or Cherbourg, as against those who avail themselves of the improvement. Then what it will be asked is the gain if all have recourse to the new arms ? The first gain is, that they give the battle to advanced science and civilization ; they reduce the uncertainty and the glory and the inducements to war, and give advantages to small defensive over large offensive armaments. But like other im- proved machinery it will require increased intelligence, in the commands as well as in the rank and file, to wield it efficiently. Clearer and quicker perceptions will be needed for that purpose than those which have been driven to the tardy and yet partial adoption of the improvements described. For although they have just come upon the House of Commons and the general public with the impression of sudden novelty, the principles of the im- provements of cannon by Armstrong were demonstrated to com- petent observers sufficiently clearly for immediate practical ap- plication two years ago ; and the improvements of Whitworth in small arms even for a longer period. Under competent percep- tions and directions, one or both of the improvements would have been in the field and demonstrated upon the enemy early in the Indian outbreak. Imagine the effect of the application of either improvement, especially of the Armstrong shells at Lucknow, or afterwards in pursuit ? Whilst science increases the defensive powers of the more civilized na- tions as against each other, it increases their offensive powers over barbarous or semi-barbarous populations. Delay in the application of demonstrated results to our defence in India is a serious offence, and that offence will be found to have been committed. As illustrative of the loss incurred by such delay, we cite from the correspondent of the Times the following de- scription given of the operations of our army in Oude on the day after Christmas day.
"At about 1800 yards the enemy opened fire from four guns. None of their balls came up to our line, which advanced till it was nearly in range. The cavalry were rapidly advancing directed by Lord Clyde, but as they could do nothing against an enemy covered in dense trees, they were di- rected to make a wide sweep to the right round the village. All this time the enemy fired briskly, but ineffectually. They actually tried grape shot at half a mile. They were, however, breaking away very fast as we after- wards discovered, and the moment the cavalry turned the village, per- ceiving their retreat endangered, they dashed off in two bodies through the dell field. Our guns now opened on the enemy, they were pursued by Sir William Mansfield until darkness came on, but we inflicted no loss. Com- mon domestic case shot,' as Mr. William Russell calls that aggregated missile when delivered at 200 yards, had of course no effect on men who were nearly a mile a head."
Those dense trees would have afforded no defence against showers of balls from Armstrong's shells, which would have car- ried havoc into their innermost recesses. Fly as they might, inevit- able destruction would have followed them, and Tantia Topee would not have escaped the new projectiles itrom guns one-third as light as the ordinary field artillery, and moveable, with the speed of the enemy's cavalry. Speaking of the mud forts of the enemy, the Times correspondent says, "To any infantry they would be serious obstacles, never to be taken without serious loss, but they are mere shell traps.' There are no defences against vertical fire, and a few mortars could at any time empty them completely." We believe that our heavy mortars in India are no better than those in use-in France, and it is stated that the French consider, as the result of their practice up to 1856, that only ten per cent of the shells fired at 650yards can be made to fall within a circle of twenty-one feet in diameter. The state- ment made as to the general accuracy of the fire of the rifled gun, is applicable to the partionlar service of throwing shells, against a vertical fire from which there is scarcely any power of resist- ance. It was immediately proclaimed in India that our dominion was everywhere confined to the range of our guns. What is due to the governing authority, which having had demonstrated to them in time for use on the field more than a year and a half ago, in fact two years, an implement which extended the range .from the sweep of a circle of one mile of diameter to one of four, then of eight, and now of more than ten miles diameter, neglected to apply it ?
We must now shortly advert to the proved advance of art and science as applicable to naval warfare. Assuming that the ad- vance of other nations in naval gunnery is equal to our own, it is admitted that Nelson must have been destroyed under such gun- nery in an advance like that at Trafalgar upon the French and Spanish combined fleets. At the commencement of the century, first-rate ships battered each other for four hours, not unfre- quently without deciding the contest. Now it is admitted that, at the same distance, one or both of two first-rates, like the Wel- lington or the Napoleon, would be sunk in ten minutes. The Americans have well decided that the continuance of large float- ing batteries of numerous guns is mere waste, and they have de- termined upon having war vessels, with few and almost single guns of the longest range, and the most rapid movement by steam, as being the most efficient as well as the most economical. The new rifled English cannon and the new cylindrical shot, however, go beyond anything which they have .yet produced, and in one new fatal effect especially, namely, of going through water, whereas the common spherical shot rebounds from the surface of the wave, and shots " between wind and water" were almost accidental. Old naval men were dismayed to see one of the cannon rifled with the Whitworth rifle send a 24-pound shot thirty feet through water and into eight inches of solid oak with a charge of only 21- pounds of povider, and another, at four hundred and fifty yards, send a 68-pound shot through the four-inch iron plate armature and the side of the ship Alfred.
The Armstrong rifled cannon have also afforded demonstrations of the like decided character, with the superaddition of the de- structive power of the new percussion and fuse shells. There are men in the service who treat these demonstrations, as they treated the demonstrations of the power of the improved small armsyears ago, when attention was called to them by Sir Francis Head. and Sir Charles Shaw ; but we repeat the expressed convictions of competent and 'impartial officers, of the naval as well as of the military service, as to the vast changes which these applications of mechanical art and science must occasion in war, and interna- tional relations. We say nothing of other improvements, which may be for ought we know as great or greater. We confine the statement to those of which the most numerous and authentic trials have long been made. The relative merits of the Arm- strong and the Whitworth shot and mode of rifling cannon have yet to be determined. But of the positive and vast achieve- ments of the Armstrong rifled cannon, shell as well as shot, there can be no doubt. Old admirals, who had been in the heaviest engagements of the last war, did not conceal their convictions, after witnessing the latest trials of the Armstrong shot and shell, that there must be an end of all the pomp and circumstance of the naval warfare up to the time of the Crimean conflict, there must be an end of the large men of war, whether moved by steam or by wind, for they could only become large marks against small ones ; unwieldy. hulks as against quick moving small vessels, which, could give fatal blows at long ranges. The imagina- tion of these admirals could only conceive future naval tactics as a sort of long range duel between vessels, with pent house covers (which trial proves to be penetrable) gaining such positions as to present the least surface to the adversary. But these demonstrations as to the changes required in naval warfare were offered to competent officers nearly three years ago, sufficiently clear for immediate practical application. Then why had we not the benefit of practical experience of their use in the Chinese waters? Why is the nation put to the expense not only of maintaining, but of extending, naval armaments at variance with these demonstrations ? What is the responsibility of those who proceed, with the manufacture of small arms, as against which, it has been proved, that an enemy may come with others, possessing an accuracy of ten to one over those given to our soldiers ?
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