(•Inrtiell Mniuetsttg ffiibraty Jtljara, Sfeni ^orU THE JAMES VERNER SCAIFE COLLECTION CIVIL WAR LITERATURE THE GIFT OF JAMES VERNER SCAIFE CLASS OF 1889 1919 olin 3 1924 030 763 654 Cornell University Library The original of tiiis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924030763654 SHRAPNEL SHELL IN ENGLAND AND IN BELGIUM. Tous droits reserves. THE SHRAPNEL SHELL m ENGLAND AND IN BELGIUM, SOME REFLECTIONS ON THE USE OF THIS PROJECTILE IN THE LATE CRIMEAN WAR. A HISTOKICO-TECHNICAL SKETCH BY c^\(J.r^«• s MAJOR-GENERAL BORIHANN, AIDE-DE-CAMP TO HIS MAJESTY THE KING OF THE BELGIANS. Die hocbste Kraft de^ Artillerie liegt zur Zeit noch in der moglichst vollkommenen Seherschiing der Feuei^ ihrer Hohl-, Hagel- und Brand-Geschosse. SECOND EDITION, REVISED AND ENLARGED. PRINTED FOR THE NAVY DEPARTMENT OF THE UNITED STATES. BRUSSELS. LOUIS TRUYTS, PRINTER. 1862 S ? ? ! ; Part of the following pages were originally written in English, having been destined to be inserted in an English military journal in order to rectify some erroneous state- ments on the Belgian metallic fuze for explosive projec- tiles. Circumstances having interfered with the execution of this purpose at the time, I was afterwards induced to extend my remarks on the use of the Shrapnel Shell in the late Crimean war, and relying on the indulgence of my readers, I have preferred leaving the ichole in English, as the most important of my q^iotations are from works in that language. Brussels, November loth, 1858. The first Edition of my historico-technical Sketch had a most fi,attering reception in the United States of Ame- rica, and was so fortunate as to meet the approval of the Government. Having been since honowed with an order for five hundred Copies from their Navy Department, through Captain Dahlgren, Chief of the Bureau of Ordinance and Hydrography, a neiv Edition has become necessary, and wishing to prove to the Government of the United States my high sense of the distinction thus conferred upon me, I have resolved to have this second Edition printed for their exclusive use, after careful revision, and with the addition of Appendix IV, entitled : "A Glance at the present state of the Shrapnel question in England"; — in the hope that this fuller development of the principles of gunnery I have advanced, may prove so much the more valuable to the younger Officers of the U. S. Navy in preparing for the service of their great country. My confidence in this result is strengthened by the ahm- dant proofs of high xalour and intelligence, which the Officers of the U. S. Navy, since its creation, have ever evinced; and hy the high talent with which the Ordnance Department of this Navy is directed by Captain Dahlgren, whose ordnance pieces have been so successfully used in the present ovar. The application of the Dahlgren Ordnance System in that war has afforded proof of an incontestable truth of the highest importance for all States, i. e. that any Ar- tillery would deprive itself — cqMrt from the economical view of the cp(,estion, — of a great amount of destrtictive power, that should hastily put aside, as tmworthy of fur- ther consideration, the use of smooth bored pieces whilst adopting that of rifled ones. This fact has been fully confirmed by the successful and brilliant results recently obtained in Shrapnel {Hail-Shell) fire from smooth bored brass field \%Pounders, at the practice groimd of Brasschaet , by the Royal Belgian Artillery, whose mastery of thai hind of fire is universally and jnsfl// acknowledged. With the permission of General H. Shelfon Sanford. Minister of Ihe United States at the Court of JlrnssC.s. — IX — / have the satisfaction to suhjoin copies of the two fol- lowing letters : LKfiATION DES ETATS-UXI.S. Bruxelles, le 27 aout 1862. General, I have the honor to enclose you herewith a letter from the Navy Department requesting the transmission of 500 copies of your valuable work on Shrapnel. I am gratified to be able to communicate to you this evidence of the high appreciation with which you and your oontributions,to the Science of War are held by my Government, and! have the honor to be, General, with sentiments of high consideration, Your Obedient Servant, (Signed) H. S. SANFORD. General Bobmann, etc., etc., etc. Bureau of Ordnance Navy Department, Washington, D. C. 29 July, 1862. General, I have the honor to inform you, that I am instructed by Captain Dahlgren, Chief of this Bureau, to request you to forward through the U. States Legation at Brussels; — (600) Five Hundred Copies of your valuable work on Shrapnel. I am General with high respect Your ObSt. (Signed) H. A. WISE, U. S. X., Assistant to Bureau. General Bobmann, etc., etc., etc. Brussels. Brussels, October 8, l.^r.2. ERRATA AND MODIFICATIONS. Page. Line. For. Read. 61 3 "artifices" fireworks. 95 17 "as largely so" so largely as. 100 4note "hut" but. 119 3 note "obout" about. 160 21 "Sachse" Sachsse. 169 11 "M." Mr. 172 15 "adressed" addressed. 200 Iand2 for "or on a coast, and on board ships" , substitute : whenever the enemy is on board ship or effecting a landing on a sea coast. I here subjoin the following report on an experiment made in England aud published in The Court Journal, May 10, 1862, p. 437- Art. "Army and Navy". — received too late for insertion in the text. " A series of artillery experiments, on a scale of unusual magnitude, have " recently taken place at Shoeburyness. The object was to ascertain the " probable effect of ordinary field batteries of 12-pounder Armstrong guns " in resisting the landing of sin invading force. For this purpose a large " number of floating targets representing boats were towed out to sea by a " steamer, and fired upon at various distances from 3,000 to 1,000 yards. " Five field batteries of Armstrong guns opened fire with shell from the " beach, and presented a magnificent spectacle. The accuracy with which " the shells burst, and their effect on the targets, were regarded with geue- ' ' ral astonishment and admiration. Hardly a vestige of any of the targets " was left. It was agreed on all hands that not a man could have reached " the shore alive, and that the protection afforded by our present field " artillery is of the most satisfactory nature. The guns fired fifty rounds " apiece, and not the smallest accident occurred". Supposing the application of fuzes of the best possible construction and quality, such a result could not possibly have been obtained by means of a concussion or a percussion fuze, but only by a timefuse; aud what is true in the case of Armstrong guns, is equally true of any System of rifled guns. CONTENTS. § 1. Introductory remarks on the object of the present memoir. 1 § 2. Alleged state of the Shrapnel question in England and Belgium until 1854 ;"> I 3. Adoption of a new Shrapnel system in England : the Boxer fuze, — the Boxer Shrapnel It § 4. Considerations on the importance of the fuze for explosive projectiles 14 i 5. The old and the new principle of fuze 17 § 6. The Belgian metallic fuze unjustly criticised in England. 19 § 7. Refutation of the critic by quotations from competent military authors 20 § 8. The Belgian metallic fuze modified by Captain Breithaupt and by Colonel Delobel 30 § 9. Facts disproving the alleged uselessness of the metallic fuze in action 41 § 10. On failures in practice with the metallic fuze 44 § 11. Remarks on the interior construction of a shell intended for Shrapnel fire, and on the manner of loading it. — Classi- fication of Shrapnel shells in use without reference to fuze... 46 § 12. Expensiveness of the new English Shrapnel shell 53 5 13. Colonel Delobel on the Boxer fuze and on the Boxer Shrap- nel shell 54 § 14. The new English Shrapnel system inferior to the Belgian system 57 XIV Page. S 15. Origin of the projectile now called Shrapnel shell and the Hagelhugel of the Germans in the 16th Century 59 s 16. General Shrapnel's spherical case-shot in the wars from 1808 to 1815 66 § 17. On the use of English spherical case-shot in the Crimean war of 1854 and 1855 70 § 18. The Hail-shell system 74 § 19. Notable service which might have been derived from the application of the Hail-shell system in the late Crimean war. 79 § 20. Shrapnel shells fired by the French and Russian Artille- ries in the Crimea 90 I 21. English national rewards for improvement of Shrapnel and shell fire 95 § 22. Inadequate estimation of the Shrapnel projectile 96 § 23. The Shrapnel compared to the common shell with respect to its absolute weight 98 § 24. On the use of Shrapnel shell and incendiary projectiles for naval purposes 102 NOTES. A. Captain Dahlgren on Artillery, and the American metallic fuze 115 B. The "Moniteur de VarmSe helge" on Captain Breithaupt's modification of the Belgian metallic fuze in reference to Ge- neral du Vignau's memoir on this subject , 119 C. Table comparing some fuzes in reference to time and labour • required for their application in action 127 XV page. D. American Report on an engagement in which the metallic fuze was used in action against a body of Chinese Imperialists.... 131 E. An effect similar to that of Shrapnel fire exhibited by nature. 134 F. Effects produced by spherical case-shot at the last siege of Badajoz and at the battles of Barrosa and Waterloo 135 G. The English policy, formerly adopted respecting the use of shell-power for naval purposes, not applicable to that of the Shrapnel projectile in the late Crimean war 145 H. French Shrapnel fire at the battle of Traitir bridge. — Eng- lish national rewards for improvement in shell and Shrap- nel practice 148 I. Dahlgren Shell-gun and Boat-howitzer, — sufficiently strong to fire Hail-shell or any other kind of Shrapnel shell 151 APPENDIX. I. Remarks on the efficacy of the Hanoverian Shrapnel fire in the Schleswig-Holstein war, — by a Danish artillery officer. 157 II. Use of English spherical case-shot at the siege of Sebastopol as described in Colonel Hamley's work 158 III. The German Hagelkugel. — Extract from the Oodex pala- tines at. the University of Heidelberg 160 IV. A glance at the present state of the Shrapnel question in England 169 THE ■ SHEAPISTEL SHELL IN ENGLAND AND IN BELGIUM, WITH SOME REFLECTIONS ON THE USE OF THIS PROJECTILE IN THE LATE CRIMEAN WAR. A HISTORICO-TECHNICAL SKETCH. ^1. — The English were the first nation who, introductory ' remarks on in modern times, employed the projectile, known tjj« "^^^senJ in England more under the name of spherical *'<'"'»"■■ case-shot than under that of Shrapnel; hence ge- nerally, — though erroneously, as we shall see here- after, — its invention is believed to be of English origin. The English also have since the battle of Vimiera (1808), or during half a century, con- tinued to make use of this projectile; meanwhile no other nation has seriously attempted to do the same until within the last twenty-five years. Tiiese circumstances naturally led to the expectation, that certain improvements, which the projectile inven- ted by General Shrapnel was judged by experienced officers still to want to render it fit for field service, would come from England rather than from any other country, but in this expectation the military world was deceived. Its latest most important improvements on the contrary, have been made on the Continent, where extended experiments from year to year prove the vast importance at- tached to the perfecting of this excellent projectile. And as it might be supposed that hardly any ar- tillery in Europe would remain ignorant of this progress, great was the astonishment to see two mighty armies and navies, those of England and France, engaged in the last Russian war, apparently despising the aid of the destructive force which the projectile in question was able to afford, especially in this particular case. Owing to this neglect not only were the allied armies deprived of an auxiliary force worthy of attention, but science also lost a valuable con fir- — 3 — mation on a grand scale of the efficiency of Shrap- nel fire; for, there are still many officers of all arms, who are and will remain incredulous as respects the importance of Shrapnel, as long as they have not yet seen this projectile subjected to the test of battle (bapteme du champ de bataille) like that which the Russian war could have shown them. I, however, must declare myself against this sort of scepticism in such a case as that un- der consideration, because it then is rather dange- rous, not for the officers alluded to, but for the government that bases its decisions on arguments of this nature in following their advice. Nobody will contradict the assertion, that in warlike ope- rations the first application of a decisive measure, which the enemy is incapable of utilizing simulta- neously, brings its assured reward, whereas science may wait for its disclosure till after the intended blow has been struck ; — no such amount of proof is necessary and the least so for artillery officers. Belgium, that comparatively small country with her but recently created artillery, having made the most laudable exertions for the rational solution of many an important problem respecting ordnance service, has lionourably distinguished herself in the prosecution of the Shrapnel question and is entitled, by virtue of extended and successful experiments, to a voice on this subject, which, at least, ought to have protected her regulations in this matter against disparaging statements ; but an article published in Colburn's United Service Magazine for February 1854 : " The Shrapnel" ; shows the contrary. This article misrepresents in its peremptory lan- guage the real stage in which the outbreak of the late Russian war found the Shrapnel question in England, and supphes, strangely enough, the want of reason for this language, by condemning the me- tallic fu%e adopted in Belgium and which 1, some twenty years ago (1835) proposed as the basis of an improved Shrapnel and shell system; I, therefore, think myself justified in founding the following con- siderations, in great part, on a portion of this ar- ticle, and so much the more as it seems to present pretty nearly the opinion which, in 1852 prevailed in the Ordnance Select Committee of Woolwich on the subject in question. The portion here referred — 5 — to, is comprised 'in pages 165 to 170; — the other portion (pages 159 to 165) contains political dis- cussions which I may pass over in silence. § 2. — The anonymous author of this article — Aiioged state ''J of the Shrap- whom I henceforth will call, and for the sake of ?«^ q^f'!™ ' ' 'in England brevity only, my opponent, — reproaches the Royal „"^i, ^gg^""" English Artillery 'With having been somewhat in- different to several military questions of the day, in consequence of which he asks. p. 165 : " Why is " there so much complication in their ammunition, " round shot, shell, case shot, spherical case, etc. ?" — He then gives some historical notices respecting Ge- neral Shrapnel's shell and explains the component parts of this projectile; — he states that " on the " fuze igniting the charge within the shell in a cer- " tain given time rests the whole secret" ; — he enumerates the qualities which he thinks this im- portant part of the projectile ought to have; ^- he gives some details respecting the wooden fuze which General Shrapnel originally made use of for his shell; — he analyses two other fuzes, the Norwe- gian pasteboard and the Belgian metallic fuze; — he condemns this metallic fuze as completely " use- less" and indicates numerous inconveniences, which, according to his own opinion and to that of some mihtary writers, arise from its use; — he points out the principal difficulties the Royal Artillery has met with when applying General Shrapnel's ori- ginal spherical case-shot, and concludes finally, p. 170 in the following terms : " These difficulties " have, however, now disappeared, and the shell " as invented by Shrapnel, and brought to perfec- " tion by Boxer, is now a most formidable pro- " jectile. Most simple in its construction, easily " fixed, and sure of accuracy in its bursting. Ar- " tillery can now dispense with common care, for " the Shrapnel can be regulated to burst any " distance from the muzzle; and thus they can go " into the field with simple solid shot, shells, and •' Shrapnels," It certainly was a meritorious deed — even as late as February 1854, — to remind the Royal English Artillery of the urgent necessity of improving their Shrapnel fire, as this kind of fire still might have been of immense advantage for the English troops who, seven months later, fought like heroes in the — 7 — bloody drama which began with the battle of Alma on the 20th. of September 18S4 and ended with the fall of Sebastopol on the 8th. of September 1855. But for so essential a purpose, as to strike a mighty, unforeseen blow in that war, the ordinary means, hitherto employed by the Royal Artillery, were evi- dently insufficient, and it was indispensably neces- sary to apply a Shrapnel system founded on more suitable, more extended principles. So far, howe- ver the foresight of my opponent certainly did not go. I have even some reason to doubt whether he ever had an idea of what may be effected with Shrapnel fire when regulated on principles like those I have advanced, but it is evident that he, at least, felt the necessity of substituting something better for the original English Shrapnel system. He decides this question in favour of Captain Boxer's Shrapnel system, and endeavours to gain the opinion Of his readers in its favour. This is not surprising, as he appears to believe in the supe- riority of Boxer's system; neither can he be blamed for having restricted himself to the few general terms above cited from p. 170, which leave no chance to tlie reader of forming his own opinion on the merits of Captain Boxer's system, nor for his having criticised other Shrapnel systems;— but I have some objections to make to the manner in which he has, on this occasion, made mention of the Belgian metallic fu%e. The details he gives of it are, in great part, taken from General von Decker's work : " Die Shrapnels" published at Berlin in 1842 and translated into French by MM. Terquem and Fave in 1847 (*). This work, indeed, contains a great number of pas- sages respecting the metallic fuze in question, but most of them are incorrect or unfavourable to its adoption. My opponent unfortunately refers prin- cipally to these passages, and overlooks those which the candour of the two French authors had ad- mitted into their translation, and finally he arbi- trarily rejects the remarks I opposed, at the time, to MM. Terquem and Fav^'s opinion on the me- tallic fuze (**). 1 must add to this : 1st. that Gene- (*) Experiences sur lea Shrapnels faites chcz la plupart des puis- sances de I' Europe; par Decker, traduit par Terq uera et Fav^. Paris,1847. (**) Experiences sur les Shraiinels,nouv20 and 0™25 or 8 and 10 inches English); and, finally, from a Belgian 48-pounder gun ( nearly of 7 i inches English ) with 8 kilogrammes of powder (17-'6«' English) or nearly one third of the weight of the projectile, the 48-pounder Shrapnel weighing in this case 22^61 or 50^ English. — 28 — The metallic fuza requires no knowledge of cal- culation, if the tangent-sight {hausse, the instru- ment) adopted, is founded on rational priiifciples as shown p. 9, in my pamphlet ''Experiences sur les Shrapnels, 1848." This operation then requires no more calculation, coolness or dexterity than that of laying a gun. Three series, inseparable from each other, are engraved on the instrument ; viz : 1st. the tangents of the angles of elevation be- longing to an adopted series of distances or ranges; these tangents are marked in real size ; 2d. the ranges expressed in numbers, at the upper end of the tangents ; and 3d. the times of flight (half-seconds, in Belgium called temps) giving the duration of the fuze, equally expressed in numbers and joined to the ranges. And on the fuze also, a scale of times {VecheUe de temps) is engraved, which corresponds with the se- ries of times No. 3 on the tangent sight. In action the officer directing the fire commands — 29 — the distance or range; the pointing gunner, pushing the visor of the tangent-sight on the transverse Hue, which is indicated by the commanded distance, finds on the very same hne the corresponding time of duration to give to the fuze, which time he, in all cases, has to pronounce with a loud, intelligible voice. He himself, therefore, or an other servant charged to regulate the fuze, has merely to choose the corresponding point on the time-scale of the fuze, to place the cutting tool on it and to lay bare the fusing composition. This operation is executed with the hand either by means of a chisel [gouge) as done in Belgium and several German States, or by means of a sort of scissars {pince] as done in Sweden and in the Uni- ted States, and, amongst these latter instruments that especially which is used in the U. S. Navy, thanks to the ingenuity of Captain Dahlgren, I be- lieve, is said to render the regulation of the fuze so exceedingly easy, that nothing more could be wished for in this respect. The best instructed Belgian gunners have already practised this regulation of the fuze, on the polygon — 30 — of Brasschaet, in the surprisingly short space of time of from 2 i to 7 seconds, the less exercised men in 15; meanwhile the operation of laying the gun required under the very same circumstances, from 13 to 30 seconds. Therefore, an additional extra allowance for the execution of each of these two operations in action may be granted without going beyond reasonable limits. Conditions for the fire on the field of battle in general, have changed so much that, at present, even a much slower rate than was formerly deemed necessary, is adviseable. l^eUfft^e § 8- — So™6 officers, however, still see difficul- ca^ainBr'elt- tlcs lu cuttlug thc metollic cover of the fusing com- haupt and by , , _ i i • i i i Colonel Deio- positiou aud cxpcct to obviate them by the use of a bel. moveable metallic covering and regulating disk, ' {disque obturateur et de reglage) which Captain Breithaupt of the Hessian, Artillery has invented for this purpose and which affords a somewhat sim- pler process for regulating the fuze (*). (*) Militdrische Zeitung published at Vienna. No. 11 et 12, February 6th 1856. Article : Der Feld-Artillerie-Ziinder des Kurhessischen Ar- tillerie Hauptmann Breithaupt. And Archil' fiir die Offlziere der Kiinigl. Preuss. Artillerie- und Ingenieur- — 31 — Colonel Delobel also is of this opinion, and pro- poses {Revue, II, p. 361. PI. V), a modification of the fuze according to this regulating principle. The objections he makes, on this occasion, to the Bel- gian fuze, require notice here on account of the position this officer occupied as Director of the Belgian "Ecole de Pyrotechnic" when he wrote. These objections are : Revue, II, p. 349 : — "The weak side of this fuze " as of all those on the Bormann principle, is the " difficulty of regulating it promptly and exactly " on the field of battle, amidst a thick cloud of " smoke and especially during the night. We shall " see farther on that Captain Breithaupt has found " means to obviate, as far as possible, this capital " deficiency of the Belgian fuze". And Revue, II, p. 352 :— 1st. "On the field of " battle it is much to be feared that the regulating " gunner, agitated by the battle and blinded by " the smoke of powder might want the time, the Corps , Berlin , 42ter Band , 2tes Heft 1857. Der Breithauptsche Zunder, etc.- (By General du Vignau.)- — 32 — ' coolness and the skill necessary for rightly regu- ' lating the fuze ; that he might cut it incompletely ' or perform that operation at some other divi- ' sion of the scale than that required for the dis- ' tance at which the firing takes place ; and that ' the result might be that the Shrapnel will not ' burst at all or will do so too soon or too late, ' sometimes even in the very bore of the piece or ' so near its muzzle, that the fragments might ' become dangerous for the friendly troops, posted ' sideways in advance of the battery". 2d. "To perform this regulation from 40 to 60 ' seconds are necessary, often even more; and that ' whether use be made of gouges {gouges), parers ' (boutoirs), punch {emporte-piece), or of so many ' other analogous tools which have been tried in ' different artilleries without excepting the scis- ' sars with a regulating dial [lapince acadran re- ' gukUeur) invented by the Swedish General Baron ' deWrede." 3d. "Every fuze, which has been regulated for a ' certain distance, indeed, may serve again after ' new regulation for a shorter distance, but not for ' a longer than that corresponding with the first — ?>3 — " regulation. Now, does it not often liappen in war, " that the distance of the mark changes during " the preparation for charging a piece, or that it " becomes needful to cease firing at the moment " when this preparation is in course of execution ? " It is then easy to conceive the serious inconve- " niences which may result in such cases from the " mode of regulation in question." 4th. "The fuzes being set {etant serties) in the " fuze-hole of the Shrapnels, they can neither be " removed without destroying them, nor without " spoiling more or less the groove made for the " setting (sertissure); without taking into account, " that the unloading is an operation slow, difficult " and even dangerous, if not executed with a par- " ticular tool." 5th. "In order to exercise the gunners in the re- " gulation of the fuze, it is necessary to send, each " year, to the regiments a certain number of " fuzes; this would cause, it may be conceived, a " considerable expense, if the number of fuzes " thus applied, was so great that the majority of " the gunners might be sufficiently exercised in " this very delicate operation, which every gunner — 34 — " may possibly be called on to perform in the " eventualities of war." The majority of these objections being already disposed of by my preceding citations, and the Belgian Artillery executing the Shrapnel fire by day and by night as well as it ever may be required, I confine myself here to a few remarks : As to the prompt and exact regulation of the fuze, there is hardly any thing gained by the Breit- haupt principle, even in the night; I readily ad- mit, however, that the power of employing a once regulated fuze for a greater distance by a second regulation, is a real advantage of the Breithaupt principle, though a much less important one, than that which it, as well as the Belgian fuze, offers in a second regulation for a smaller distance. The groove made for setting may be easily constructed more conveniently than at present. — The capa- bility of unscrewing the Breithaupt fuze from the projectile without destroying it entirely, can be also given to the Belgian fuze, but, I think, this is a doubtful gain; for little or no confidence can be placed in such removed fuzes, as they will be always more or less damaged by this operation, especially if they have been fixed for some time to the projectile. — The expenditure for Belgian fuzes for the instruction of the gunners, is not so con- siderable as it may appear/first on account of the low price of the fuze, and secondly on account of the remaining metal which may be used for other purposes; and besides this,' other expedients may be easily found by which the number of these fuzes will be considerably reduced. — The danger of removing a Belgian metallic fuze from a projectile is not greater than that in unscrewing the Breithaupt fuze if proper care be taken, but then it is a little more troublesome and the bursting charge is lost. It, therefore, yet remains to be seen, whether in rendering the regulating operation a little easier by this principle other good qualities of the Bel- gian fuze are not sacrificed, so that what is gained on the one side may be ultimately counterbalanced by a loss, perhaps of superior importance, on the other. There are still two inconveniences of the present — 36 — pattern of the Belgian metallic fuze which Colonel Delobel does not mention : 1st., the time-scale on it is too darkly coloured; 2d., if, in firing during heavy rains, the regulating gunner is not careful to cover the fuze, the small surface of the composition laid bare may be moistened and failures of ignition be the consequence. The first, no doubt, may be easily remedied, the second considerably dimi- nished, if not entirely avoided. A disk of water- proof cloth attached to the strap of the projectile so that it may be lifted up in regulating the fuze will offer some temporary shelter against the rain ; a change in the position of the surface of the time- scale, a more effective one. But the inconvenience arising from the influence of moisture exists in a much higher degree in the present pattern of the Breithaupt fuze, as water, in heavy rains, may find access to the fusing composition at any point of the perimeter of the regulating disk, and, the fuze not being air-tight, is constantly exposed to the influence of damp air, both in course of fabrication and whilst lying in store, which is not the case with the Belgian fuze. The anonymous but well informed author of an — 37 — article in the journal "Moniteur de I'armee beige" on General du Vignau's already mentioned me- moir concerning the Breithaupt fuze, expresses the opinion, which now prevails in the Belgian Artil- lery on this fuze so correctly, that I cannot help citing it in a subjoined note (*) as a piece of inte- resting information. Admitting that all inconve- niences of the Breithaupt fuze designated in this article as well as in the foregoing lines prove to be insignificant in comparison to the greater easiness obtained in the regulating operation ; admitting that the higher price of the fuze be no objection ; — yet the difficulty of applying this fuze to explosive projectiles of all kinds and calibres and especially of the greater calibres, seems still to assure the pre- ference to the simpler Belgian fu%e with fixed me- tallic cover ( "mit starrer Metal-Decke", as General du Vignau says), until further experiments prove the contrary, because this latter fuze is not, like the Breithaupt fuze, strictly confined to the circular form; the line, measuring the shortest way the fire (*) Note B. — 38 — has to run through in consuming its prism of com- position, may be indifferently a curved or a straight hne of any length, which, in some particular cases as for shells fired from rifled guns and with war- rockets, may be a matter of no small importance. I think I have no need to state here how much I feel gratified ia seeing distinguished officers de- claring themselves for the new principle of fuze exposed in § 5, and I shall be still more gratified, if such officers lend their experience and genius to improve its application. Captain Breithaupt, Co- lonel Delobel and General du Vignau, as I gather from their valuable and friendly communications, are already convinced of this truth and will, I hope, not deem me inordinately tenacious, if I am still compelled to withhold my unrestricted ap- proval of the Breithaupt regulating principle. I sincerely wish its full success and shall be glad to find two modes of regulation, equally efficient, either of which may be advantageously used. Such a favourable result, however, will not be at- tainable without sensibly modifying the case of — 39 — the fu%e proposed by Captain Breithaupt or by Colonel Delobel. This modification, I think, ought to have in view : 1st., to protect the fuzing composition and the priming [amorce] completely against all influence of moisture, water and sparks; M, to avoid the loosening and the tightening of a screw; and 3d., to have the priming chamber uncapped and the quickmatch, contained in it, ignited by the charge of the piece (see Experiences sur les Shrapnels, 1848, p. 21); — including suitable dispositions to ensure, as far as possible, the mobility of the regulating disk during a long lapse of time, as required for fuzes left for years in store or fixed to projectiles. Not considering the difficulty of applying this fuze to shells of the greater calibres, these modifi- cations, which I think practicable, would, if suc- cessfully effected, leave the following difference between the two compared patterns : A. The metallic fuze with fixed time-scale — being of moderate price; requiring a certain skill in cutting it open, but which any person with or- — 40 — dinary readiness and perception may soon acquire; being once regulated, may be regulated a second time but only for a shorter distance, and being perfectly air and water-tight to the moment in which it is cut open ; B. The metallic fu%e with moveable regulating disk — being of a higher price (perhaps triple or fourfold); requiring still less skill to regulate it, as this movement will consist simply in turning the disk round its pivot; being once regulated, may be regulated a second time for a greater as well as for a shorter distance; and being completely air and water-tight even in firing during heavy rains, — con- stituting, so to speak, the beau ideal of a time-fuze. It is obvious that of these two fuzes, A and B, the former less perfectly agrees with the principle, which I always have had in view in my proposi- tions, viz : to reduce the duty of the serving gun- ners on the field of battle to its simplest degree possible; — but that different motives may yet exist, to make it preferable to the latter (*). Proposi- (■*) If tho fuze (B) be desirable for tiring common and Shrapnel — 41 — tions for modifying the external shape of the fuze not being in their place here, I have contented my- self with indicating them; the essential point for me is, to establish the fact, that the metallic fuze, all its modifications and also that operated by Breithaupt included, has found a favourable recep- tion in many countries. § 9. — As to the alleged uselessness of the me- p^ts dispro- ving the al- tallic fuze "as a fu%e to fire Shrapnels in the hurry iege or four balls of " 6 ft"! §14. — These considerations, I hope, will be suf- ThenewEng- ^ ' f ' lish Shrapnel ficient to establish the conviction, that the new 7''*" "fr ' nor to tne English Shrapnel system, compared to the Bel- ^^s'"" 'y'" gian, is inferior in its principal points; viz : 1st, with respect to the fuze; 2d, with respect to the construction of the shell ; 3d, with respect to the manner of transforming the shell into a Shrapnel; and 4th, with respect to the monetary sacrifices neces- sary for its application. I do not mean to say, that no good effect at all might be obtained with the Boxer fuze and with the Boxer Shrapnel; some excellent execution may be done with one and the other, especially on the practice ground and even in the field, as was the case with General Shrapnel's spherical case- shot and as it may be still with any of the fuzes and shells of the other mentioned systems; but in — 58 — war operations the essential point is certainty of efficient execution. Moreover, it must be noticed that, of course, different combinations may be applied in making use of the elements of one system with those of another, and that accordingly more or less may be effected with such a disposition. The Belgian metallic fuze, for instance, may be used with the shell or the Shrapnel of any other system, the Boxer fuze with General Shrapnel's original pro- jectile and with any common shell, but not to any advantage with the Belgian Shrapnel. We may add to this that the diaphragm may find its use- ful application in particular cases, as well as the imbedding of the bullets in sulphur, pitch or plas- ter of Paris. And after all, wood being a body which easily absorbs and readily yields moisture, fuzes with wooden cases, will be always inferior to those having metallic ones hermetically closed, especially if the fusing composition is in immediate contact with the wood, as in the old common and in the — 59 — Boxer fuze. The importance of this remark will be felt particularly on board war-steamers, stationed in hot climates (*). § 15.— In reference to the origin of the projectile p^'^j"ti,f„o^ now called Shrapnel shell, it is generally believed ^'If ""^i to be an Enghsh mvention, m which sense conse- gei oi the aer- _ . mans in the quently my opponent also states page 165 : "It is leth century. " about fifty years ago, that Henry Shrapnel, then " a captain of artillery, invented the shell, which " has since become of European reputation. His " idea, a simple one, when explained, was yet " one of those simplicities which only strike a " genius, and which are based on extensive know- " ledge." — This, however, requires some rectifica- tion. (*) As to the common fuze with metallic case, adopted by the Eng- lish Navy and in which the fusing composition is equally in immediate contact with the metal, they also are liable to be easily damkged by mois- ture. Captain Dahlgren ( Shells and Shell-guns, p. 142) says in that respect : "The decided affinity between the nitre and sulphur of the " latter (viz. the composition), and the bronze is quickly developed by " the moisture of the sea air, to the detriment and final destruction of " the composition, — and this cause is rendered still more active in stea- " mers, by the escape of the hot and moist vapour from the machine > •' which pervades every part of the vessel; so that, without extraordi- — 60 — The Shrapnel shell is a German invention of the sixteenth Century, as has lately been discovered. — For this discovery, the Germans are indebted to a distinguished officer of the Royal Prussian Artil- lery, Captain Toll, who in his historical researches found, in the library of the Heidelberg University, a manuscript of the year 1573, which incontestably proves that the German artillerists of that epoch knew perfectly well the principle on which the present Shrapnel fire is founded, and that notwith- standing their rather limited means, they had even succeeded in the application of this projectile, which then was called "Hagelkugel" (hail-shot). This interesting manuscript, of which Captain Toll published in 1852 an extract in the Prussian Archiv (*), forms part of the "Codex palatinus", No. 258, folio 32 et 33, and bears the title of "Dia- " logus or discourse between two persons, viz : " nary care, all kinds of laboratory stores are liable to speedy deterio- " ration in such shi])s, as I have had occasion to notice in those returned " from service." (*) Archiv fur die Offiziere dor Konigl. Prouss. Artillerie- und Ingc- nieur-Corps. Berlin 1852, 32ter Band, p. KiO. — 61 — " a Biichsenmaister (an artillery officer) and an " Artificer in reference to the art and true use of " projectiles and artifices, etc. By Samuel Zim- " mermann, of Augsburg 1573 (**)." On the margin of it is noted the characteristic passage : "Hagel- " kugel die sich iiber ettlich hundert schritt " aufthuet;" that is to say : "Hail-shot which dis- " closes itself at some hundred paces distance " (from the piece)"; which phrase alone indicates the knowledge of the principle under considera- tion. This Hagelkugel consisted of a leaden shell or rather box of cylindrical form; its fuze was the old common fuze placed in the axis of the shell and at one end of the cylinder, the bursting powder surrounded and covered the fuze in the interior of the shell; the rest of the empty space of the shell was filled up with "hail" — pieces of iron, bullets (**) In its original old German language : " Dialogus oder Ge- sprach zwayer Personen, nemlich aines Biichsenmaisters mit ain€m Fewerwerkher von der Khunst vnd rechten Gebrauch des Buchsenge- schosz vnd Fewerwerkhs, etc., durch Samuelen Zimmermann, von Augspurg. 1573." — m — or even pebbles — and lastly the shell was suitably closed up at the other end. This projectile was introduced into the gun so that its fuze was turned towards the charge of the piece; the fire with it seems to have been successful to such a degree that it was employed in action. As a proof of this latter circumstance, Captain Toll refers also to the siege of Gennep (on the Maes) which took place in 164'!. (Vol. 24, p. 185. Prussian Archiv. Berhn 1849). As to the reasons which may have contributed to the oblivion into which this projectile had fal- len, Captain Toll establishes the following suppo- sitions : "At first sight it may strike the reader " that in the contemporary printed works on " artillery this invention is not mentioned; but " this is easily explained, considering : first, that " artillery had always secrets which, at that lime, " when artillerists formed a distinct corporation " and arcana especially stood high in price, were " concealed from the public with still more care " than at present; next, that the authors of those " printed books, particularly German, were chiefly — 63 — " bunglers or no professional artillerists at all, " as may be said even of the often quoted Frons- " perger, who being only a compiler (and a very " uncritical one too, respecting artillery) had " gained, without any right, the renown of one of " the creators (Altvater) of the German Artillery. " At all events it must be granted that, as long as " the contrary is not proved, it is to the German " artillerists that the honour is. due of having had " the first idea of the Shrapnel and of having in- " troduced this projectile into practice. It is not " entirely their fault, that they have not improved " it farther, that they, after having let it sink into " oblivion, have not been the first to take it up " again; for, it is well known that German inven- " tions, at all times, have met with adoption in " Germany, only after having returned into their " fatherland from foreign countries under foreign " names." Whether General Shrapnel had knowledge of the Hagelkugel of the Germans and of the prin- ciple of its application; or whether this was not the case and that he, — as General Sir Howard — 64 — Douglas stales in his works on naval gunnery (*), — was also an inventor of both, principle and shell; it is inconlestably true, that General Shrapnel ren- dered eminent, everlasting services to his country in particular, and to the art of war in general, in having proposed this projectile. His perception of the real value of it,— an insight which is not yet common in our days;-^his having predicted with rare and astonishing foresight the immense advan- tages which this projectile is capable of affording; and having shown how to apply for this purpose an iron shell and the old wooden fuze, which consti- tutes quite a new projectile : — are equivalent to as many new inventions of great value, and it is pro- bably not his fault, if England has failed to profit by them to their full extent. I, therefore, agree willingly with what my op- ponent states respecting the eminent merits of this great artillerist— and every impartial man will do so;— but we Germans have also an incontestable (*) Naval gunnery, 3d edition, 18.51, p. iSr-,; Aih edition, 1855, p. 427; .5tli edition, 1860, p. 482. — 65 — right to claim in honour of truth, that the inven- tion in question, which the world appears inclined to attribute solely to General Shrapnel, may be considered not only in Germany, but also in other countries, as due to German genius. And particularly we may admit, that the present Kingdom of Bavaria is the cradle of the art of throwing this highly effective case-shot at all distances attainable with our guns, and the present Kingdom of Saxony, that of the art of directing this powerful fire with an astonishing precision, by mastering the rotary motion of the Shrapnel shell during its flight to its point of explosion : two inventions the value of which is not yet fully appreciated, but which are, in my eyes, of superior importance to the invention of rifled ordnance pieces,— also of German origin, — inas- much as in the great majority of cases occurring in war operations these pieces would hardly pay the expences they cause if Shrapnel shells should be excluded from their ordnance stores and as a con- siderable amount of destructive force would be given up if both of them were not utilized in the — 6(3 — application of smooth bored pieces, especially of howitzers and mortars. Nature herself appears to have first exhibited an effect similar to that of our present Shrapnel fire (*). General shrap- § 16. — Thc IcssoHS taught by history are rarely nel's spherical , ,v> ■ • i • t i • case-shot in taken mto sumcient consideration, and this was the wars from 1808 to 1815. also the case with Shrapnel fire. It is not within human power to bring at once to its maturity an invention capable of such extensive application and productive results as Shrapnel's spherical case- shot. This General had done in its contrivance what only a genius like his could, in his time, ac- complish; but the projectile still remained imper- fect in some respects. This imperfection was the direct cause why the effect produced with it during the wars from 1808 to 181 S in Portugal, Spain and Belgium against the troops of Napoleon, in general failed to justify the high reputation it had already acquired in theory, and, consequently, did not gain (*) Note E. — 67 — the approval of the Commander in chief, the Duke of Wellington, nor that of the highest and most experienced officers commanding under him the Royal British Artillery (*). Round shot, common case-shot and common shell, therefore, were the projectiles preferred by them to spherical case-shot. This want of perfection was moreover the cause why the French in those wars did not suffer from the English Shrapnel fire so much, as undoubtedly would have been the case, if this projectile had been more fit for field service, — and lucky enough it was for the English, that Napoleon's attention had been turned away from this subject; for, if his or^ders to examine some non-exploded spheri- cal case-shot, picked up on the fields of battle in (*) Among them Sir Robert Gardiner, Sir John May, Sir Alexander Dickson, all consummate artillerists. And General Sir Julius von Hartmann, a very experienced and able German artillerist, who, in the Peninsular war, commanded the artillery of the German Legion, seems to have attached, at that period, no more value to spherical case-shot than the above mentioned British officers. This projectile, at least, is visibly neglected in the interesting Reminiscences the Ge- neral left to his family and which have been published by one of his sons in a biographical sketch bearing the title : Der Konigl. Hanno- versche General Sir Julius von Hartmann. Hannover, 1858. — 68 — Uie Peninsula, had been executed in France witii sufficient energy (*], the French might have disco- vered the true function of this projectile and applied it against their enemies. In the present day, it is evident, other reasons exist which pre- vent the rendering of full justice to the Shrapnel projectile in France. This imperfection was finally the real cause why the German artillerists hesitated for a long time to adopt their newborn infant, though regenera- ted by the genius of General Shrapnel in a more perfect shape; but, be it said to their honour, since the fuze question has received a more satisfactory solution, they foster it so well, that their former injustice towards it is already forgotten. It is essential also to remark that notwith- standing the imperfection of General Shrapnel's original shell, several decisive effects had been obtained with this projectile in the wars from (*) Terquem et FaviS, p. 18 ; — General von Decker's original work "Bie Shrapnels", p. 24 ;— and " The British gunner", 1828. By Cap- tain J. Morton Spearman. Art. SLrapnell Shell. — 69 — 4808 to 1815 against the French : at the late siege of Badajoz, for instance, and at the battle of Wa- terloo; two remarkable events which I particularly select, because I have been favoured with informa- tion respecting them, in letters from two much es- teemed friends of mine, which letters I here sub- mit to the reader (*) as being of real historical value. Similar cases will probably have occurred in the sieges and battles which British troops fought from 1815 to 1852 in other parts of the world : in India, etc., but all these extraordinary results have not been sufficient to excite the public atten^ tion in England so far, as to induce British artille- rists to pursue General Shrapnel's labours, the rea- son of which may perhaps be found in the cir- cumstance, that the English never met on the field of battle an enemy able to oppose to the spherical case-shot a projectile of equal or superior power(**). An analogous circumstance happened in the French (*) Note F. (**) Note G. - 70 — army under Napoleon I, who, himself an artillerist, suffered his artillery to fire their shells with the old wooden fuze timed for the maximum of range, and acting consequently in general at all interme- diate distances, merely as cannon balls, — which constituted a great waste of ammunition. Here also the enemy opposed to these imperfect shells no better conditioned ones, the Enghsh excepted with their spherical case-shot, but who, as already mentioned, could not make the effective use of it which they might have done. On the use of § 17. — TWs sort of good fortune seems to attend Jinglish sphe- in'^thr^cri- ^*^^^ *^®^® armies; for they again escaped in the mwiBsf late Crimean war ( 1854-1855 ) a great additional danger, to which they would have been inevitably exposed, if the Russian Artillery had been able to employ the means of destruction here under dis- cussion. Considering that, if the enemy possesses destruc- tive means of an inferior order only, it is not less advisible to employ superior ones against him, as an overwhelming power of this kind may shake his — 71 — physical and moral forces to their very foundation, and lead so much the sooner to the final desired issue of the strife, as the enemy disposes of less equivalent means; it, therefore, is difficult to imagine what may have been the real cause, which, on this occasion, deprived the English Army and Navy, — and, no less the French Army and Navy, — of so mighty an assistance as that which a well organized Shrapnel fire would have afforded them in all their operations. Was it unavoidably or voluntarily that their commanders in chief renounced the aid of such a powerful destructive force ? — It is not within my province to answer this question, nor do I feel inclined to criticise the dispositions which brought this ever memorable struggle to the desired end. The allied powers were victorious, that is what was wanted; but, as the different feats of arms by which this victory was gained belong now to history, I think, there is neither indiscretion nor presumption in bringing a few of these feats under general consi- deration, and in showing what in this case could have been done with the Belgian Shrapnel system, applied according to my plan. This discussion. 72 will tend to indicate more readily what may be done in future in similar cases, and, I believe, will be found to justify the opinion I advanced on this subject at the beginning of the present dissertation. With this view let it be remembered from § 3, that the ordnance stores of the English Army included Shrapnel, which was General Shrapnel's original shell with Captain Boxer's fuze, and which con- sequently may be considered as an improved Shrapnel. None of the few English, French and Russian accounts of the operations in the Crimea, which I have been able to procure, speak of Enghsh Shrap- nel fire. If, therefore, the Royal Artillery made use of the just mentioned Shrapnel in the open field — in the battles of Alma, Baiaklava, Inker- mann, etc., — the effect produced with it cannot have been powerful enough to distinguish it from that obtained by their common shells. A work, for instance, every line of which seems to be pure truth — as far as truth may be ascertained during and amidst occurences of war-opera- tions, — "Letters from Head-Quarters" second edi- — 73 — tion; London, 1857, relates the effects which its author saw the English obtain under his own eyes by means of their round-shot, red-hot shot, common case-shot, common shell and bomb, war- rockets, Lancaster shell. Minim's rifle projectile, and bayonet; but not a word of Shrapnel. As to the siege, properly speaking, it appears that Shrapnel fire was used rather sparingly by the English against Sebastopol. On the very last day, however, the 8th of September 1855, a very po- werful and successful application of it was made against the "Redan" from Battery 7, which was situated on the left attack of the English and about a thousand yards distant from the enemy's work. This battery was manned by a detachment of the Royal Naval Brigade, whose officers, happily for their storming countrymen whom they had to pro- tect, had conceived the idea of firing from a 68-pounder (8-inch or 0?20 gun) some of the 8-inch Shrapnels they found in this battery in store. The initiative thus taken at such a trying moiaient by these officers does great credit to their sound and practical judgment respecting ordnance service; — 74 — they also were rewarded on the spot for this gallant deed, as the effect of this fire is said to have been striking. I have it on the statement of a competent eyewitness, that whole lines of Russian troops, who successively sprang on the breastwork of the Re- dan for defence, were literally mowed down each time by this fire. And, therefore, it is not to be doubted that the English in many other cases during the Crimean war might have obtained simi- lar results with this projectile. The Hail- § 18. — All thc Shrapucl systems in use at present, shell system. the Belgian excepted, comprise, as far as I know, only one single projectile, viz : a simple Shrapnel to be fired from guns, howitzers and shell-guns; but the system I have advocated in the foregoing para- graphs, comprises four: 1st, a simple Shrapnel; 2d, an incendiary Shrapnel, 3d, a simple Shrapnel- bomb and 4th, an incendiary Shrapnel bomb (*). In order to indicate in one word a projectile (*) Experiences sur les Shrapnels. Par Bormann. Paris, 1848, p. 56. — System proposed in 1835 and 1836 to the Royal Belgian artillery. — 7S — belonging to this system, which, of course, includes the use of the Belgian metallic fuze, the Belgian shell and the mode of transforming this into a Shrapnel according to my propositions, I beg leave to designate this system provisionally by the term of "Hail-shell system", so that I may be easily understood in speaking of: hail-shell; incendiary hail-shell ; hail-bomb ; and incendiary hail-bomb ; after having summarily explained the qualities of these new projectiles, as follows : A.) In the incendiary hail-shell the bullets are replaced principally by metallic incendiary bodies (cylinders), each of which weighs from 21 to 3 times as much as the musket bullet belonging to the sim- ple hail- shell of the field calibre and in the hail- bombs by solid or incendiary bodies of nearly equal weight, say of 0*200 (7 or 8 oz, English) in mininum. B.) The incendiary hail-shell is principally con- structed for fighting the enemy's artillery at all attainable distances with much more success than by means of simple Shrapnel or common shell, on account of the much greater probability of blowing — 76 — up their limbers and ammunition waggons. The 12- and 24-pounder hail-shells, for instance, con- tain, besides the metallic fuze, from 13 to lb incen- diary bodies. If necessary, the incendiary hail- shell may replace the simple hail-shell and evi- dently with considerable advantage at the greater distances; it replaces also the common incendiary shell, and in case of need even the common shell acting only by its splinters. The incendiary hail- shell, as well as the simple one, may finally, in case of utmost need, be used instead of common case-shot. The simple and the incendiary hail- shell being of the same weight as the solid shot, these three projectiles require but one and the same tangent-scale [hausse] or table of ranges; and hail-shells of the same description are, as nearly as possible, of the same weight. C.) The hail-bomb is calculated to be thrown from mortars and to furnish such efficacious ver- tical fire as the illustrious Carnot projected, but which his canister thrown from mortars, never was nor will be able to produce. Carnot's fire may be improved in applying heavier than the — 77 — originally proposed 4 oz. balls, for instance balls of 8 oz. with which the Bengal Artillery have ob- tained, on the statement of Captain Straith, "a very full and powerful effet (*)", but even then it will not equal in energy the lire of the hail-bomb, as the former fire spreads itself from the mortar's mouth, the latter only from a determined point in the descending branch of the bomb's trajectory. General Shrapnel himself in is pamphlet "The gun- ner's Guide, London 1806" — which I know only from an extract (**), — speaks already of "a per- pendicular shower of case-shot", but neither the English nor any other nation that I know of, have ever made use of it, most probably from want of proper means; for this fire hardly can succeed unless the hail-bomb be prepared on cor- rect principles comprising, as most essential, the use of the metallic fuze. The simple and the incendiary hail-bombs are of (*) Straith. A treatise on fortification with a memoir en artillery. London, 1836, p. 80 of the memoir. (♦*) Borkenstein. Essay on artillery (Versuch zu einem Lehrge- baude der Artilleriewissenschaft. Berlin, 1822. Tol. I, p. 241). — 78 — equal weight and require but one table of mortar practice; the latter bomb may replace the former and both, if necessary, the common bomb, espe- cially in breaking into vaults and buildings, on account of their superiority in weight or incen- diary power. Hail-bombs of the same descrip- tion are, as nearly as possible, of the same weight. D.) Finally it may be added here that the Bel- gian metallic fuze, contrary to the strange asser- tion of some military writers, is perfectly fit for the fire of common shell and bomb, whatever be their calibre, shape or construction; this fuze, in- deed, was never exclusively calculated for Shrap- nel fire, though at first it was applied to it. In several artilleries, moreover, the metallic fuze has been more or less modified, — evidently with the view to improvement; but sometimes the contrary has been obtained. Thus, for instance, in Baden the plate which ought hermetically to shut up the small charge of grained powder destined to convey the fire from the fuze to the bursting charge of the shell, is perforated with six little holes before the fuze is fixed to the projectile (Schuberg. — 79 — Hanbbuch der Artillerie-Wissenschaft. Taf. V, and Delobel. Revue, II. PI. V.). If, in this case, the powder in the shell contains water in a greater proportion than the powder and the fusing com- position in the fuze, these two will readily absorb as much moisture as will be necessary to etablish the equilibrium, and this may alter the fuze to a certain degree. § 19. — The application of such a Shrapnel sys- NotaWe ser- vice which tem, I am convinced by numerous experiments, migiit have been derived might have exercised the most salutary influence from the ap- ° •' plication or on the march of the operations in the Crimea. ^st^^n'the late Crimean war. In the Letters from Head-Quarters, I. p. 155, the following fact is stated under the 19th of Septem- ber 1854, the day before the battle of Alma : "The " enemy advanced also slowly, still with his skir- " mishers in advance and firing. These move- " ments on both sides went on for some ten mi- " nutes, when what appeared to be a squadron " of cavalry came down from the left of the " Russians towards our cavalry. When half-way " down the hill they halted, and the squadron — 80 — " opened in the centre, and wheeled back right " and left, and discovered a battery of guns. One " of these was instantly fired — the first gun of the " ciampaign". The English fired at them forty rounds of shot and shell, it is said, with considerable effect (*), which determined the Russians to retire ; but had the English Artillery on this occasion fired incendiary hail-shell, they would have had the greatest chance not only of disabling more men and horses, but also of blowing up some of the Russian limbers or ammunition carts. A much greater moral effect, discouraging the enemy's troops and encouraging their own, would evidently have been the result of this, and many similar facts, no doubt, would have frequently occurred to increase this impression (*) Letters, p. 157. "Our casualties were four men wounded (two am- " putations) and five horses killed, all of the cavalry. We had no means " of ascertaining at the time the loss of the enemy, except by seing the " bodies of several horses lying about ; but we have since heard that " they lost twenty-five men killed and wounded." A Russian officer, however, Capt. Anitschkof, in his work "Der Peldzug in der Krim". (Translated into German by Lt. Baumgarten. Berlin 1857). I, p. 8 states that the loss of the Russians on this occasion, was only : 4 men killed, 5 men wounded and 2 officers contusioned. — 81 — in the succeeding more serious encounters with the enemy in the open field. As instances which might have been particularly favourable for appli- cation of the incendiary hail-shell, I cite only the following in reference to circumstances related in the above mentioned "Letters" : a.) In the battle of Alma (I, p. 178) Captain Tur- ner's battery (C) against the 18-guns battery and against the retiring enemy. b.) In the battle of Balakiava (I, p. 312) the English batteries against the numerous Russian artillery. c.) In the battle of Inkermann (I, page 377) Colonel Dickson's two 18-pounders (C) against the Russian batteries upon Cossack Hill; — and so in all cases where the enemy's artillery was in great number. Shrapnel fire in general ought to have been the leading fire for artillery in these battles, on ac- count of the configuration of the ground in that — 82 — part of the Crimea, and on account of the known character of the Russian soldier (*); and, if well or- ganized and directed, it decidedly would have pro- duced extraordinary effect, which could not have failed to attract pubhc attention, as the improved fire of the EngUsh Infantry did at Inkermann. As to the besieging operations, the weakness of the defences of Sebastopol on the southern side of the town,opposite the English and French positions, was the most happy circumstance the allied armies could meet with {"'Letters', vol. I, p. 265, etc.). The fire of simple Shrapnel (spherical case-shot), wisely combined with the fire of ordinary shell and bomb, would have formed proper means to hinder (*) On the latter subject see Captain Pdnitz MiliUirische Briefe eines Verstorbenen. Adoxf, 1843. End of the 26th letter, in which, after having mentioned the tenacious resistance of the Russian troops at Zorndorf, Kunnersdorf and Borodino, he warns the Germans of them in the following words : "Bis dahin iibt Euch fleissig in Vervolliomm- nung der Granatkartiitschen, die, nehst den Kanonenkugeln, das wirk- samste Mittel sind, so zahe Massen auseinander zu sprengen"- That is to say : In the mean time exercise yourselves diligently in perfecting Shrapnel shells which, together with cannon halls, are the most effica- cious means of scattering such tenacious masses. — See also Ludwig von W^issel, major of artillery : Interessante Kriegs-Ereignisse der Neu- zeit. Hannover, 1846, .3d number, p. 58. — 83 — the Russian garrison from strengthening these defences so rapidly and efficiently, as was done under the very iire of the besieging batteries, thanks to the genius of General von Todleben; but if these batteries had been enabled to make use of a Shrap- nel system such as the hail-shell system, the effects produced must have been incomparably greater. The situation of the Russian lines, especially those opposite to the attack of the EngHsh, was such as to offer frequent opportunity of enfilading parts of them incompletely or completely, even of taking some in the rear, but without permitting ricochet fire to any considerable advantage. Hail- shell, simple and incendiary, fired at them, ac- cording to circumstances, in more or less curved trajectories, would therefore have created insup- portable annoyance to the Russians. Adding to this a well directed fire of hail-bomb, it will be possible to form a correct idea of the ultimate ef- fect these mighty means of destruction would have exercised on the progress of the enemy's works, on the efficacy of his fire, on the movement of his forces and ammunition in the place, and, finally — 84 — on his moral slate; and all this in spite of his having had the immense advantage of being fre- quently relieved by the arrival of fresh troops. In many cases it was known in time to the be- sieging troops, which were the hollows, ravines, etc., where the Russian troops assembled at night, often in considerable numbers, in order to attack the French andEnglish trenches; incendiary hail-shells, — on account of the weight of their incendiary cylinders, — admitting of very curved trajectories, thrown from howitzers, and hail-bombs thrown from mortars on these crowded masses, would have had the most disastrous effect on them. Lastly it may be said, that hardly a more suita- ble projectile could have been employed than the hail-bomb to drive the Russian sharpshooters out of their renowned Rifle-pits and interrupt their communications with their defences in the rear. In the pits, for instance, which the English troops called "the ovens", some 200 riflemen were crowded together who, according to the "Letters", I, p. 436, "not a little" annoyed the men in a portion of the — 85 — English and French trenches; these pits and others (as the "Quarries"— Letters, II, page 247), were throughout the whole siege an object worthy of consideration. The ease with which an effective lire of this kind might have been directed against them, will be appreciated by the following state- ment of the results I obtained (1841 and 1843) with 8-inch hail-bombs (60 lb Belgian or 68 lb English calibre) thrown from a brass mortar the weight of which was only about 551 tVo » English (250 kilo- grammes), so that a few men could easily carry it to any convenient spot. The hail-bomb weighing 60 tVoft English (271:500) yielded generally some fifty heavy deadly fragments, which obtained on the level ground on which the mortar was placed an average range of 600 paces (450 yards or me- tres) under the following conditions of the fire : Charge of mortar 3/4 lb Engl, of powder (0':340); elevation 45°; trajectory, the inferior (*); time of fuze 13 seconds; height of the bursting point over (■*) Experiences sur les Shrapnels. Par Borniann. Paris, 1848. Tab. 2. Classification of the trajectories which may be obtained by an eccentric projectile. ^„ _ 86 — the soil, about 17 yards or metres. The fragments of this bomb (splinters, fuze and bullets) generally spread over a surface similar in shape to the sec- tion of an egg made along its axis, the pointed part turned towards the mortar and the length of which was about seventy-five yards or metres, its largest breadth forty. The effect of one single fire, produced under the very same conditions on a wooden floor forming a square of 15 yards, (13 1 metres) and about one inch Engl. (26°"°) thick, placed flat on the ground at 450 yards, was, that this floor with part of its frame, was pierced through and through by seven splinters and thirty- seven bullets, scattered over the whole square as gun Shrapnel fragments do over a vertical standing target. The gunners serving the mortar were not screened by any parapet or mantelet. The necessity of using vertical fire against the works of Sebastopol was but too well felt at the English Head-Quaters, as is plainly proved by "Lettters", Vol. I, p. 339, in which the author at the end of October 1854 or nearly a year before Se- bastopol surrendered, states : "They (the Russians) — 87 — " have been, for some time past, making very " large earthworks in rear of the Redan and Bas- " tion du M4t batteries, and in spite of our inces- " sant fire they continue to increase the batteries " in the neighbourhood of the Malakoff tower. All " these great inner works are but little affected " by our fire, as their outer or front line of de- " fence acts in a great measure as a screen to the " inner one. I believe therefore the only thing " that would silence the guns in there would be " to bring an overwhelming vertical fire from " mortars to bear upon them; but, unfortunately, " we have but a limited supply of this species of " ordnance". A very correct judgment, with the exception that the want of mortars in this case was no valid excuse; since the Shrapnel at the disposal of the English, if fired from howitzers and guns on rational 'prin- ciples, would have done very valuable execution. I must be allowed to say, that the generally rare application of vertical fire by the ai?tilleries of the allied powers in the siege of Sebastopol, was the subject of remark in Belgium, founded on the re- — 88 — ports of the public papers and before the "Letters from Head- Quarters" could have reached England. The immense losses in men, which the allied powers sustained, especially in the last two stor- mings of Sebastopol, as a natural consequence of their artillery not having previously used improved vertical and Shrapnel fires, were pretty nearly predicted in verbal and written considerations, which I was induced to address, at the outset of the siege, to several eminent persons in the Belgian and Enghsh Army, who are able to certify this fact. The explanations above given, I hope, will put it in the power of my reader to form his own judgment on the change, which the application of a Shrapnel system like that of the Hail-shell system might have operated on the result of the different attacks on Sebastopol, especially supposing that the French Artillery also had had such a fire at their disposal, and that some of the wise propositions of General Sir John Burgoyne, Royal Engineers, — which were subsequently fully approved by Field Marshal Lord Raglan, — had not been ultimately forgotten; for one of the most important of these — 89 — propositions was : to reduce the enemy's artillery sufficiently, before attempting to storm his works (" Letters", Yol 1, p. 238). But at all events it would be highly interesting and useful for the future, to know the opinion on this point of competent eyewitnes- ses; and it is particularly to be wished, that such eminent miUtary Engineers as Sir John Burgoyne and General von Todleben would be pleased to explain to us : Whether on the side of the Allies well founded hopes could have been entertained of so far impeding the Russian engineering works and protecting their own by such an additional overwhelming fire of artillery, as to have spared the allied troops, if not the three last stormings on the 7th, the 18th of June and the 8th of Septem- ber 1855^ at least one or two of them. And on the Russian side : What hopes General von Todle- ben would have attached to the possession of an artillery, with such extraordinary means of des- truction; and, what additional advantages the Rus- sian arms would then have derived from the rocky ground, the scarcity of earth, the want of wood round Sebastopol and from the generally bad con- dition of the English and French trenches, so fre- — 90 — quently mentioned in the "Letters from Head- Quarters" and in other accounts. Remembering the surprising effects which the celebrated Vauban at the siege of Ath (1697) and several other fortresses was able to produce with his ricochet fire, I do not hesitate to say, that Hail- shell fire, applied against the works of Sebastopol as well as from them against the English and French trenches, — in none of which two cases ri- cochet fire was advantageously applicable on ac- count of the configuration of the ground (terrain) as already indicated, — would have been able to produce comparatively much more important and decisive results. Shrapnel § 20. — Thc Frcuch also fired some Shrapnels in shells fired by the French the Crimea but, as Colonel Delobel states, only oc- and Kussian ' ' j ^e'crTmea.'" casloually towards the close of the battle of Tcher- naya or Traktir bridge, August 16th 185S, and the effect of this fire, directed on the dense masses of the Russian retiring troops, is said to have been excellent (*). A Erench author, however, Major du (*) Note H. — 91 - Casse, reporting particularly in his work on "the immense and most brilliant part the French Artil- lery played in this glorious and grand affair", as he expresses himself, does not mention Shrapnel fire at all, unless he comprises such fire in the words of "tir h mitraille" (*). It, therefore, appears to be evident, that the Shrapnel shell was not yet duly aippreciated in France in 185S, notwithstanding her troops had suffered from the fire of this pro- jectile from time to time in former wars, and so much more inconceivable is it, how General Paix- hans in his work : "Constitution militaire de la France," published in December 1849, could pre- tend, that already at that time, this projectile had been considerably improved in France (**). (*) Precis Mstorique des operations militaires en Orient, de mars 1854 k septembre 1855. Par A. du Casse, chef d'escadron d'^tat-major, Paris, 1856, p. 333. (**) Paixhans. Page 248. Sur les projectiles a balles (Shrapnel) : " Les projectiles creuz remplis de balles de fusil, proposes par I'artil- " leur anglais Shrapnel, out d'abord 6t6 employes avec assez peu d'effet; " mais ils ont rtemment regu en France des perfectionnements consi- " durables." This illustrious artillerist,with not better reason, has made nearly the same pretensions as to the application of the Equilibration . (eqwilibrage) of spherical projectiles. { See Revue de technologie mi- litaire, I, p. 419.— Notice historique.) — 92 — The Sardinians were not unacquainted with the newest improvements of the Shrapnel shell (*), but the pieces of artillery which in the month of May 1855 were sent to the Crimea with the Sardinian contingent were not provided with this projectile. Their artillery consequently was prevented from affording their gallant comrades a still more effec- tive support than that which their known skill enabled them to render by means of the old com- mon projectiles of artillery. The Russians, from whom the use of Shrapnel shell in the war in question was least to be expected, tried however to derive some service from this pro- jectile. Colburn's Magazine for November 1854, states, p. 338 : "The "Tiger" of 16 guns, Capt. A. W. " Giffard, with a complement of 226 oflQcers and " men, was stranded, during a dense fog near " Odessa in the Black Sea, on the morning of the " 12th May 1854. A Russian Held battery, on the " rocks, about 200 yards from her, threw spherical (*) Colonello Cavaliere Serra : " Front aario ddVArtijicki-e per il corpo reale tVAi-tiglieria. Torino, IHyj." — 93 — " case-shot or Shrapnel shell", etc.,— and by this fire jiastened her surrender. An extract from the "Constitutionnel" (I'lndepen- dance beige/ l^diiion du soir, 8 novembre 4854) says : "The first parallel commonly is opened at " 600"" from the place; but the arms of long range " will lead to other rules. Ours will be placed " SOO" more this way; and yet, at this distance of " 900"" we shall not escape the hail of Shrapnel " shells, except by favour of the form of the soil (*)." — And, indeed, private news of the same period ap- pear to prove that the Russians had fired Shrapnel on the French trenches, in mentioning that lumps of sulphur and bullets, sticking together, had been found in the neighbourhood of the trenches, — an inherent inconvenience of the mode of imbedding the Shrapnel bullets in solified sulphur as men- tioned in Note A. (*) La premiere parallele s'ouvre ordinairement h 600 m. de la place ; mais les armes ci grande port6e vont amener d'autres regies. La n6tre sera h 300 m, plus en dega ; et encore, a cette distance de 900 m. n'^chap- perons-nous 4 la mitraille des obus Shrapnel que grSce a la forme du, terrain. — 94 — From the " Journal de Constantinople" of Ja- nuary 22d, 1855, the Independance beige", of .Fe- bruary 3d, 1855, cites the following report from the French trenches : " We are so near the place " that the Russians are able to throw into our " trenches shells which, indeed, do us no harm " and bury themselves in the snow. They throw " also upon us, and that is more serious, by means " of Coehorn mortars, hollow projectiles filled with " iron bullets a la Shrapnel, the weight of which " is 103 grammes (3 tt oz. Engl.) (*). If so, the Rus- sians even showed the intention of employing a sort of hail-bomb ; but it is manifest from the re- sults they obtained, that they had not the proper means of succeeding with this fire, else they un- doubtedly would have forced the French and the English, — not by hail-bombs of such small, but of superior calibre, — to blind almost all their bat- teries and trenches, which, from the mentioned (*) Nous aommes si pres de la place que les Russes peuvent jeter dans nos tranches des grenades qui ne nous font , du reste, aucun mal, et Tont se perdre dans la neige. lis nous lancent aussi , et ceci est plus s^rieux, a I'aide de mortiers a la Coehorn, des projectiles creux avec des balles de fer a la Shrapnel, du poids de 103 grammes. — 95 — scarcity of wood and earth, would have been im- practicable, however lightly these blindages might have been constructed. § 21. — It appears, therefore, not unfair to con- English natio- nal rewards elude from these circumstances that most disas- f"' improve- mentofShrap- trous results mich have happened to the allied ar- If^ ^""^ ^''*" mies, had not the Russian Artillery, fortunately for the Allies, been destitute of the destructive military means, which a better understanding of the latest improvements in Shrapnel fire would have afforded them. In expressing this opinion, I would state my conviction, that, if such a catastrophe had be- fallen the British Army, the English Government would have had no reproach to make itself, — as it now, after the victorious issue of the campaign, has no reproacli to make itself, because its Artil- lery did not profit as largely so they might have done by the superiority of this powerful fire; in- asmuch as it has nobly encouraged every attempt made by its ordnance officers to improve the Shrapnel and shell fire, by decreeing to them national rewards more considerable than have — 96 — been ever granted by other Governments for the like purpose (*). Inadequate § 22.— If, up to the prosent clay, in many coun- estimation o^ , ^ , „ . . oi^i the Shrapnel tries the deiective construction of the Shrapnel pro- projectile, jectile has considerably retarded the full admission of its real value, an inadequate estimate of the extent of its application and destrustive force has tended to the same result, as may be judged from the following indications. Some writers attribute little or no force to the splinters of the shell ; — an entirely unfounded opi- nion, which even has led to errors in the construc- tion of the projectile. They also give up for lost every Shrapnel striking the ground short of the mark or bursting beyond; — two accidents, which do not always necessarily render the fire quite useless. Others think Shrapnels only eificacious when fired from guns, but of little value when fired (*) NoteH. — 97 — from howitzers and of none when thrown from mortars;— this would be the case, if Shrapnels for howitzer and mortar practice were prepared after erroneous principles. Others again limit the use of Shrapnel fire to the defence of fortified points, and do not see the immense advantage it may equally as well afford in attacking them, (as was the case at the above cited siege of Badajoz Note F). Some would apply Shrapnels generally against troops in dense masses, deep columns, but only exceptionally against those in line and never against skirmishers {tirailleurs); — nevertheless this projectile is capable of rendering most valuable services in the two latter cases (battle of Barrosa). Others pretend that for the efifeetive execution of Shrapnel lire, the exact knowledge of the dis- tance of the object is indispensably necessary, and their conclusion next following is, that Shrapnel fire can not be well einployed against troops in mo- tion. — Not only does every other projectile require the exact knowledge of the distance for accuracy — 98 — in firing, but Shrapnel rather less than common ball, common shell and oblong shot, because con- siderably more allowance may be made for its lire respecting errors in pointing and in the appreciation of distances. To feel the truth of this it is only ne- cessary to consider the stretched shape and extent of the sheaf of fire formed by a well organised and well directed Shrapnel shot. In a word, Shrapnel fire may be used with con- siderable advantage in all the occurrences of war, excepting, of course, battering in breach and firing against casemates and bhndages; — and even in these latter cases, the incendiary hail-shell and hail-bomb may be exceptionally of greater utility than the common shell and bomb, on account of their superior weight, and of the greater mass of fire they discharge in bursting. Thesimipnei § 23. — One objcction, morc important in ap- sliell com- pared to the pearance than in reality, aud mainly connected common shell to its absolute ^^^^ *^® ^^^^ scrvlcc, may be made to the hail- weight. gj^gjj ^j, gjjpapnel as an explosive projectile com- pared with the common shell, that is, its ahsohile -^ 99 — weight which, as stated, is equal to that of the solid shot of the same calibre. This increase of weight necessarily exercises a certain influence, partly on the construction of shell-guns, howitzers and mor- tars and their carriages and beds, if the effect of Shrapnel fire is to be attained to its full extent, partly on the transport of ammunition in rendering it more expensive and difficult, if the very same number of projectiles should be disposed of. The increase of effect, however, is so considerable at the same time, that in reference to the first case it is well worth while to construct heavier shell-guns and howitzers, or to fire Shrapnel with reduced charges from pieces calculated for common shells; in relation to transport, the number of rounds may be diminished to an available rate and yet preserve a decided increase of destructive force compared with that which the full number of common shells would aiford. The increase of efficiency more than counterbalances the increased expense for Shrapnel of a rationally founded sys- tem, the adoption of which may besides this, in partieular cases, lead to some notable simplifica- tion in projectiles, charges and tables of ranges. — 100 — For instance, for field pieces like the 12-pounder Napoleon III shell-gun and the 12-pounder Saxon shell-gun (*), the adoption of the simple and incen- diary hail-shell may fully justify the suppression of the common shell (**) and limit the number of charges for incendiary hail-shell to two, the full and a feeble one. For service on board ship, the above indicated objection is far less applicable, as may be con- cluded from the following reasons which, at once, show the applicabihty of the Shrapnel fire for naval purposes. In the first place the increase of weight due to the substitution of Shrapnel for any number of common shells, can hardly be a serious (*) The Saxon gun, — the invention of which is attributed to H. E. the General von Rabenhorst , the present Minister of War at Dresden and late of the U.S. Artillery, — is provided with ball, shell, Shrapnel and canister; the French with ball, shell and canister; hut as to the latter, Shrapnel also has been proposed in addition to the three other projectiles by Ma- jor (now General) Mazure. Two valuable worts may be consulted on this subject viz : 1st. Die 12pfundige Granatkanone und ihr Verhdlt- niss zur Taktik der Neuzeit. Artilleristisch-taktische Untersuchung von Woldemar Streubel, Lieut, im K. Sachsischen Artillerie-Corps. 1857. — 2d. Examen d'un nouveau systeme d'Artillerie de campagne propose par Louis NapoUon-Bonaparte, President de la Republique ; par F. A. N. Mazure, chef d'escadron au 5" regiment d'artillerie. Paris, 1851. (**) For horse artillery perhaps that of solid shot also. — 101 — impediment to transport at sea; in the second place shell-guns for use on board, are, according to the latest experiments, to be constructed of suf- ficient strength in order to endure equally well the fire with solid shot at full charge, as with shell, a principle which appears to be one of the most rational ones in naval gunnery, especially if applied with shell particularly fit for naval purpo- ses, that is to say as thick in iron as it can possi- bly be made without weakening its necessary shell- power, which power, in modern times, acquires a more and more predominating character in the composition of ship-batteries (*). These principles are already adopted by a great naval power, the United States of North America, on the proposition, and by the exertions, of Cap- tain Dahlgren, who, in exposing their rationahty and in affording to his Government the proper means for their application by the projects of his (*) On this subject see also the interesting memoir : '^Attaqueget bombardements maritimes avant et pendant la guerre d'Orient". Par JI. Richild Grivel, Lieutenant de vaisseau. 3' edition. Paris, 1857. — 102 — iron shell-gun and of his brass boat-howitzer, has shown his great abilities as an artillerist and as a seaman (*). 0° the usejf § 24.— The U. S. Navy appears to have been the 'To-eSfor fi^'st to adopt regulations for the use of Shrapnel naval purpo- g^^ ^^ ^^^^ ^^^^^^ General Sir Howard Douglas in his excellent work [Naval Gunnery, 1855, p. 425 and 1860, p. 481) recommends, indeed, to iire Shrapnel shells against troops on shore, against vessels crowded with men on the upper decks and in general wherever the personnel of any ship or battery may be seen, and reached; but has no con- fidence in the exploding power of Shrapnel, sup- posing it to be lodged in the solid parts of a ship, and still less in the eflBcacy of Shrapnel thrown from howitzers at very great elevations or from mortars; the latter fire he compares even with "Carnot's project of vertical fire with musket bul- lets". Considering, however, that the illustrious General, in composing his work, had in view the old English Shrapnel system, that he consequently (*J Note I. — 103 — founded his reasonings on the same basis on which was naturally grounded the indifference of the commanding officers of the Royal Artillery under Wellington in the campaigns from 1808 to 1815 for General Shrapnel's spherical case-shot, no doubt will remain that the General could come to no other conclusion. The exact knowledge of the bail-shell system, I am sure, would have led him to form a favourable opinion of the Shrapnel fire from howitzers and mortars, for he would have seen that I have proved by it to a certainty, that the feeble velocity which may be giv^n to these Shrapnels, is rendered very efficacious by an augmentation of the absolute weight of the balls or cylinders with which they are filled. For the navy, as well as for any army, the hail- shell system allows a fuller application of Shrapnel lire than any other Shrapnel system mentioned in these paragraphs. The incendiary hail-shell and the hail-bomb, I hope, will justify this opinion.. In the boat armament of the U. S. Navy, for instance, the Dahlgren boat-howitzer is provided with shell. Shrapnel and canister; in replacing the shell and — 104 — Shrapnel by simple and incendiary hail-shell, the efficacy of this fire may be increased, and the three tables for ranges reduced to the number of two. The incendiary hail-shell of 8, 9, 10 or 11 inches, lodged in the side of a ship, will, by its explosion, damage her as seriously as the common shell of the same calibre, though not making a breach exactly of the same size; but, if penetrating farther and bursting between her decks, it will be still more destructive on account of its greater incendiary power. The hail-bomb thrown from mortars on works on shore, not blinded, may, in a certain sense, do much more execution than the common bomb; and used against ships, bomb-vessels and even cuirassed floating batteries, will seriously endanger the operation of manceuvring them. — An interesting remark on grape shot which Captain Dahlgren makes in speaking of the fire from the Russian Steamer Vladimir {Shells and shell-guns, p.403,418and361),cannotbe omitted here. Hesays : "We ought not to pass unnoticed the extraordinary " and most powerful use which Captain Boutokoflf " made of grape. Showers of canister or grape from " mortars are commonly resorted to in the attack — 105 — " and defence of land works, but the distances " are limited, and the practice comes under the " form of vertical fire. Direct practice with grape " from shell-guns, at one or two miles, is a novelty; " and its efficiency in this case is so well authen- " ticated, that one only wonders why it was not " thought of before. The Russian and French " commanders both speak of its powerful action " on troops not likely to be checked by ordinary " obstacles." The case here alluded to is the fire on the French storming columns which on the 18th of June 185S, attempted to carry the works to the east of the Malakoff. If, on this occasion, Captain Boutakoft', the gallant Commander of the Vladi- mir, had been able to fire hail^shell, the French might have had to lament incomparably greater losses than those they sustained inconsequence of his grape fire. In general, the prosecution of the Shrapnel ques- tion presents as much importance for the navy as for the army. 1 beg leave to terminate these reflections with — 106 - some words on a matter of conscience, viz. the use of incendiary projectiles. Sir Howard Douglas says [Naval Gunnery, 5th edition, 1860, p. 307 and 308) : " The French, it should be observed, expe- " rienced very numerous terrific proofs of the " treacherous and suicidal effects of incendiary " and combustible projectiles in action with our " ships and fleets in the course of the late war." — " We feel deeply sensible of the atrocious cha- " racter which such a system of warfare must as- " sume, and in which we may be involved; but " the adoption of that system by us will cast no " slur upon our national character, for self defence " is the first law of nature, and the first duty of " nations". — And [Naval Gunnery, 5th edition, 1860, p. 311) after mentioning some cases in which ships were sunk by the fire of the enemy and their crew rescued by his boats : "But these noble and " generous impulses — these humane exertions — " far from being cherished and practised, will be " smothered and repressed in that merciless, ruth- " less, and inglorious system of warfare for which " we have been compelled, with the utmost re " pugnance and at enormous cost, to prepare. — 107 — " The black flag displayed over the depository of " the sick, the wounded, and the dying, in a be- " sieged fortress, is ever held sacred by the usages " of war, as marking a locality appropriated to " purposes of humanity. There the medical oflfi- " cers-7-non-combatants — perform their mournful " duties in safety; the sick and the wounded are " no longer exposed to the casualties of war; and " the dying depart in peace. But what shall be " said of that inhuman system prepared for naval *' warfare, in this age of enlightened humanity, " which would advisedly, purposely, and deli- " berately consign the whole of these, and all " other survivors, to indiscriminate and instant " death or mutilation? A ship may be sunk *• in action; yet, as we have seen, there is always " time to remove the sick and wounded, and " save the survivors; but who shall approach a " ship on fire to rescue her crew from the sud- " den and awful effects of that merciless and " barbarous system, the objet of which is to set " fire to her at heart, and if possible blow her " up?"— 108 — The excellent heart of Sir Howard has dictated these lines which, being full of noble feelings, every enlightened man will concur in; but what moral difference exists between a pistol shot and a can- non shot fired at a man? — Is it less inhuman to fire at ships \|ith red-hot shot, war rockets and com- mon s^lfcj, than with other incendiary projectiles, the one #'the other of which may set the ship on fire, or blow her up (*)? Is it humane to go under ground and crush the enemy's miner or bury him alive? — Certainly not!— The truth is, thajt civili- zation is not yet sufficiently advanced in the world for treaties between nations to be sacredly kept, that it is not yet possible to ra^^, in their favour, the right of the stronger, ap^|rotect their right and honour by better la\s all civihzed countries in individuals. No other bope,!: lias been done in of families and fore, is left but to (*) It is stated that at the siege of Sfbastopol the English as well as the Russians, used shell and red-hot shot m the hope of setting ves- sels on fire. (Letters from Head-Qpaten. March 6th, 1855. — vol. II, p. 135, etc. ; and Shells and sli^ll-gnrik, p. 352, 358. Extract from the Log of the Russian Steaihcr Vladi.nit, in the Harbour of Sebastopol, 185i-1855.) — 109 — defend this right and this honour to the utmost, by killing or destroying the enemy, and nobody will deny that this is a justifiable proceeding. — And England particularly ought to be satisfied if her coast-batteries and her men of war were able to challenge the enemy's ships with the words : Keep out of the range of our guns if you do not wish to be burnt! as such a power of her artillery would mightily contribute to defend her immense wealth; on which occasion we may quote Sir Robert Gardiner's words in his pamphlet "Is England a military nation or not"? — 2d edition, 1857, — addressed to the members of the House of Com- mons : "Wealth is power, if we have j)ower to " defend our wealth". All artilleries carry moreover incendiary projec- tiles into the field. In Sweden, where the study of the art of war is cultivated with peculiar assi- duity, the Academy of military sciences has even made incendiary projectiles the subject of a prize essay for 18S8; the question is thus put : " In what " way must bombs and shells be prepared in order " to serve as good incendiary means? " — {Allge- — 110 — meine MiUtar-Zeitung, No 27 uiid 28 vom 3ten April 1858.) However, notwithstanding this tendency to in- cendiary warfare, the civilization of our age may be said to have equally exercised its beneficent influence on the manner in which war is carried on. This influence consists in the progress of the art of war in general, but especially in the consi- derable improvement of our fire arms as powerful means of destruetion; for if we are notoriously superior to our enemy in that respect, we may evidently expect to bring him soon to the convic- tion, that wherever he seriously opposes our will, he surely will be destroyed; the natural conse- quence of this will be, besides our physical supe- riority over him, a great moral one, that is to say, we may adopt in modern warfare as a princi- ple : to try to obtain the desired result rather by threatening to destroy, than by destroijing ; so that the inevitable sacrifices of human life in war operations may be at present considerably less than in former time on both sides. But, once in possession of such mighty means of destruction, — Ill — it evidently would be as reprehensible to use them unnecessarily, for the mere pleasure of destroying, as it would be to refuse to employ them for our self defence, and thus sacrifice unnecessarily the lives of our own troops : — a sacrifice which cannot be justified, even by the most brilliant victory. NOTES. — 115 — Note A, page 21. captain Dahl- gren on Artil- lery and the The works of my experienced friend, Captain taJurS"* Dahlgren, here referred to (and some of his other writings on ordnaince service) are not yet so well known in Europe as they deserve, and are of the highest interest not only for naval officers, but also for officers of artillery in general. The sound- ness of principle, the clearness of explanation, the simplicity and conciseness of style in these works, besides the impartiality and fairness of judgment on arrangements adopted in other countries, would inspire unlimited confidence in their author, in- dependently of the high official position which this distinguished officer holds in the U. S. Navy and of the important missions with which his Government has repeatedly entrusted him. Captain Dahlgren is the inventor of the new sys- tem of Shell-guns and Boat-howitzers, named after him. Several U. S. men of war, sailing- and screw- ships, are armed with these pieces. The competency of Captain Dahlgren's judgment: — 116 — on the metallic fuze is grounded on the results of experiments made under his direction as well as of others obtained in action by various officers of the U. S. Navy. His Government having made the acquisition of an apparatus for casting the case of the metallic fuze, it was Captain Dahlgren who was entrusted with the task of examining this fuze and who subsequer^tly recommended its adoption. The apparatus submitted to his inspection ap- pears to have been furnished by an agent or friend of Captain Siemens of the Hanoverian Artillery; for the fuze produced in it is the very same which this officer has furnished to several European ar- tilleries under the name of the Hanoverian or Sie- mens fuze, which however, is the Belgian metalHc fuze insignificantly modified in its external shape. The mode of preparing the Shrapnel adopted by the American Navy is also that which Captain Siemens has proposed, viz : to imbed, the bullets in solidified sulphur and to place the bursting charge in a cylindrical cavity, left in this mass of sulphur and bullets, running across the interior space of the shell and shut up with a perforated — HI — metallic plate (Verschluss-Schraube) screwed into the inner part of the fuze hole (see p. 87. Boat armament. 2d edition. Plate 6. Section of an Ame- rican i^-pounder Shrapnel and p. 89. Plate 7, View of this projectile with the. metallic fuze). It will be seen from Captain Dahlgren's works, that this officer is of my opinion respecting fuzes in particular and Shrapnels in general, with the exception that he has chosen the separation of the bursting charge from the bullets in the manner above described. Considering, however, that Cap- tain Dahlgren, most probably, was not authorized to separate in his investigations the application of the two principles— that of the fuze and that of loading the shell ; that he had then no knowledge of the Belgian method of loading the Shrapnel; it is not surprising, that he preferred the Shrapnel with fixed bullets to one loaded according to General Shrapnel's original plan. Long before Captain Siemens proposed the ap- plication of sulphur for fixing the bullets in Shrap- nel shells, I had tried for the same purpose the — 118 — application of clay, plaster of Paris and pitch (*) ; but I was soon obliged to abandon this proceeding for General Shrapnel's original plan, commingling the bullets and bursting charge, modifying, how- ever, this mode of loading so that the bullets are no more liable to be displaced. The rationality and practicability of this proceed- ing having been proved in Belgium by a practice of twenty nine years,— from 1833, when I was charged to make the first experiments on Shrap- nel shell at Brasschaet, to this day 1862 (**),— the Belgian Artillery have never ceased to apply this mode of preparation or loading (***). (*) See observation to § 11. Letters B, a, p. 50. (**) From 1833 to 1835 these projectiles were fired with a fuze founded on the old principle (§ 5), and having a paper tube or case the head of which was fixed in a wooden cone. The fuze hole of the shell was provided with a second case of wood (ampoulette) in which- in the moment of use, the fuze with its conical part was to be driven' in order to fix it to the projectile (Schmcelzl. Ergdmungs- WaffenUhre. 2d. edition, 1857, fig. 148).— At the siege of the Ci- tadel of Antwep, 1831, I proposed this appliance to Lieut.-General Neigre, Commander in chief of the besieging artillery, but may pro- posal to fire such projectiles was not agreed to, as I then was not able to present proofs of their applicability which were sufficient in the eyes of that experienceud artillerist. (***) Last year, it was proved by the Artillery practice at Brasschaet, — 119 — If the bullets are imbedded in solidified sulphur or pitch, the projectile may answer its purpose if freshly prepared; but after having been in store for a certain time, it may be expected that bul- lets and sulphur will stick together and form lumps, which even resist the action of the bursting charge, so that the true function of the Shrapnel may be impaired. Captain Dahlgren seems to have used with success the sulphur in Shrapnel, to set fire to inflammable objects in which the projectile lodged and burst; but this purpose, I think, will in many eases be more perfectly attained by the Belgian in- cendiary Shrapnel (§ 18). Note B, page 37. Extract from the journal : "Monitewr de I'armee The "Moni- tew de far- beige, n° % du 16 Janvier 1858." Article Artillery ^'^^bJ^;" on General du Vignau's memoir cited § 8. motion ""of the Belgian metallid fuze in reference that the efficiency of the Bfelgian Shrapnel (Hail-SheU) fire from yi^^TrLt^ smooth bored 12-pounder field guns — within the limit of the range jQgir qq thia of obout 1^00 metres (yards), — is far superior to that of the Shrap- subject, nel- and Shell-fire hitherto obtained with rifled 12-pounder field pieces of the Prussian — and perhaps also with those of any other system in — 120 ARTILLERIE. " Un article remarquable vient de parailre dans les Archives prussiennes des officiers de Tartillerie et du g^nie, sur une nouvelle fus^e m^tallique pour projectile creux, de rinvention du capitaine Breit- haupt, de I'artillerie hesspise. "L'auteur de ce travail commence par I'historique de la question et rappelle les pas immenses que les Etudes du g^n^ral Bormann de notre arm^e et du capitaine Siemens, de I'artillerie hanoverienne, lui ont fait faire. " Comme nous pensons que les officiers de notre arm^e apprendront avec plaisir en quoi consiste le perfectionnement apporte a la fus^e m^tallique, par le capitaine Breithaupt, nous allons rendre compte le plus succinctement possible de I'article des Archives prussiennes; puis nous soumettrons k leur appreciation quelques reflexions que nous a sugger^es I'examen attentif de la nouvelle fus^e. " Pour bien appr^cier I'importance de invention — 121 — du capitaine Breithaupt, il faut se reporter a I'ori- gine du tir des projectiles creux. La charge explo- sive renferm^e dans le projectile 6tait enflammee par une fus6e en bois, qui, ayant toujours la m^me longueur^ faisait toujours ^clater le projectile apr^s lem6me temps. Or I'introduction dans les artille- ries modernes des obus a balles, ou shrapnels, en- tralnait avec elle la n^cessit^ de faire ^clater le projectile a un point donn6 de sa trajectoire, point variant avec la distance du but k atteindre et la Vitesse du projectile. "Apr^s des essais infructueux ou peu satisfaisants, le g^n^ral Bormann eut I'ingenieuse idee de placer la composition fusante, destin^e a communiquer le feu a la charge, dans un canal circulaire a la partie sup^rieure de la fus^e. De cette maniere en mettant la composition fusante a nu en un point plus ou moins rapproch6 de I'extr^mit^ communiquant avec la charge explosive, on fait ^clater le projec- tile en un point plus ou moins rapproche de I'ori- gine de la trajectoire. " A partir de ce moment, la fusee metallique etait — 122 — inventee et le tir des shrapnels devint rapidement ce qu'il est aujourd'hui, c'est-a-dire un des plus meurtriers et des plus exacts de ceux employes contre des troupes. " La seule difficult^ qui restart a surmonter ^tait le r^glage de la fusee; en effet de I'endroit ou le canal renfermant la composition fusante est coupe, depend I'effet du projectile, et pour une trajectoire dont la dur6e n'est que de quelques secondes, une erreur d'un millimetre devient une cause impor- tante d'irregularite. " Le reglage de la fusee Bormann se fait au moyen d'une gouge avec laquelle le servant charge de cette operation coupe le metal qui recouvre la composition fusante. Cette methode donne de bons r^sultats, et pour s'en assurer il suffit de jeter les yeux sur les comptes-rendus des experiences faites au polygene de Brasschaet par les batteries de campagne pendant les dernieres annees; mais il est impossible de se dissimuler que I'operation du reglage ne pent etre confiee qu'a des canonniers bien exerces. — 123 — " De plus, il est facile de voir qu'une fusee une fois ?6gl6e, ne peut plus servir que pour la distance pour laquelle elle est regime, ou bien pour une dis- tance moindre. " II s'agissait done de trouver un mode de r^- glage tel que la fiis^e ne soit en aucune fagon al- t6r^e par son emploi. " C'est a la solution de cette importante ques- tion que s'est attach^ le capitaine Breithaupt, et bien que son procMe n'ait pas encore et6 suffi- samment experiments pour que Ton puisse affir- mer que le but soit atteint, on peut dire d^s au- jourd'hui que la question du reglage vient de faire un progres notable. " Nous allons donner sommairement la descrip- tion de la fus6e Breithaupt, ainsi que les inconvS- nients que son mode de rSglage peut entrainer. " La fusee Breithaupt est faite de metal, elle se visse sur I'oeil du projectile et sa construction rap- pelle la fusee Bormann. La partie superieure de la — 124 — fusee affleur^e par le canal circulaire rempli de com- position fusante, est recouverte par une table m6- tallique perc6e d'un trou circulaire a son centre et tournant librement autour d'un axe qui se confond avec I'axe de la fusee elle-m6me. Un second trou carr^ correspond au canal contenant la composi-* tion fusante, de sorte qu'en faisaut tourner la table m^tallique autour de son axe, on fait correspon- dre le trou carr^ a un point quelconqne du canal de la composition. Un cercle gradue est grave sur le bord de la fusee et le r^glage se fait en faisant correspondre le trou carr6 de la table a I'une des divisions du cercle. Enfin la table est fix^e dans la position voulue par I'axe metallique autour du- quelle elle tourne et qui porte a cet eflfet, a sa partie infi^rieure, un pars de vis s'engageant dans le corps de la fus^e et a sa partie superieure, qui est sail- lante, un entablement et un petit prisme droit hexagonal. " On voit que pour regler la fusee Breithaupt, il est necessaire de se servir d'une clef pour desser- rer et resserrer I'axe qui maintient la table, et il est presumable que cette operation, executee par — 125 — des servants peu habiles, ne se fera pas toujours sans alt^rer le r^glage. Mais cette inconvenient n'est pas le seul qu'offre la nouvelle fusee. " En effet, la table qui recouvre la fus^e a sa partie sup^rieure doit 6tre serr^e sur la composi- tion fusante de maniere k ne laisser de jour nuUe part, sous peine de voir le tir annuls par des ex- plosions prematurees; pour obvier a cet inconve- nient, I'auteur interpose, entre la table et le corps de la fus^e, une rondelle en cuir collie sur la table. Or ce palliatif, qui sera sans nul doute suflBsant pour des fusses neuves, pourrait bien etre illusoire lorsque, par un long s^jour dans des magasins ou des avant-trains, le cuir sera plus ou moins alt^r^ par des alternatives de s^cheresse et I'humidite. D'un autre c6t6,radh^sion de cette rondelle au corps de la fus^e serait, par le fait, mise hors de service. Enfin, le contact du cuir avec la composition fusante pourrait ^galement ne pas 6tre sans danger pour la conservation de celle-ci, surtout si Ton r^flechit que la moindre alteration dans la composition fu- sante, sous quelque forme qu'elle se produise, de- vient immediatement une^cause d'irregularite. — 126 — " Les inconvenients que nous venons de signa- ler ne sont peut-6tre pas aussi graves que nous le croyons, et il est possible m6me que des experien- ces, et nous desirons vivement qu'on en fasse le plus t6t possible, viennent demontrer que le capi- taine Breithaupt est reellement arrive a la solution de la question qui nous occupe. " Quoi qu'il en soit, nous ne terminerons pas ce compte-rendu sans rappeler a nos lecteurs que I'idee premiere de la fusee Breithaupt est tout en- tiere dans la fus^e Bormann, et que, sans les travaux de cet Eminent artilleur, il est probable que la ques- tion des shrapnels serait encore dans I'enfance. " Nous devons done considerer la nouvelle fusee comme une modification de celle en usage actuelle- ment dans notre artillerie, ou plutot pour rendre a chacun la justice qui lui est due, disons que le ca- pitaine Breithaupt a applique a la fusee Bormann un mode de r^glage peut-6tre superieur a celui em- ploy^ jusqu'a ce jour. " Nul doute que les experiences auxquelles la — 127 — nouvelle fus^e va 6tre soumise ne nous permettent d'etablir bient6t un jugement fonde sur la valeur. Nous nous proposons, aussit6t que ces experiences nous seront connues, d'en faire part a nos lecteurs comme suite au present article. » NoteC, p. 41. Table comparing the successive movements ne- cessary in making use of the fuze from the moment of the word of command to fire at a given distance, to that in which the Shrapnel shell is put into the bore of the piece, ready for being rammed home. Table com- paring some fuzes in refe- rence to time and labour required for their applica- tion in action. FIELD GUNS, HOWITZERS AND SHELL-GUNS. The Boxer fuze. II. The Belgian fuze. III. The Breithaupt modification of fuze II. IV. Time-fuze in its most perfect form noticed at the end of I 8, under letter B. TO FETCH THE PROJECTILE FROM THE LIMBER. 1) To open the pro- jectile in unscrew- ing (by means of a key) the cap (cha- peau) from the am/ poulette. 128 2.) To take a fuze out of a pocket. 3) To find on the gra- duated scale ( form- ing two longitudi- nally placed rows, of even and odd numbers) the point which corresponds with the distance commanded. To find on the gra- duated scale (form- ing a circular arc) the ipoint which corresponds with the distance com- manded. 4) To place the gim let on this point and bore through the wooden case a hole into the column of composition. 5) To bore a second hole into the fire^ conducting channel on the point No 2 (at the head of the row of even numbers). 6) To place the fuze in the ampoulette and to fix it by 2 or 3 strokes with a small mallet or with the shell against the gun-carriage. To loosen the cover- ing disk by unscrew- ing (by means of a key) the central screw so much that the disk may be turned. To find on the gra- duated scale (form- ing a circular arc) the point which corresponds with the distance com- manded. To place the chisel on this point and cut an opening into the thin part of the case which covers the composition. To find on the gra- duated scale (form- ing a circular arc) the point which corresponds with the distance com- manded. To place the disk on this point and- screw it down to render it again im- moveable. To place the disk on this point (by means of a pin). — 129 — 7) To drive home the fuze into the amponlette. 8) To uncap the fuze by pulling off the light metallic cover of the priming calice. ' To open the pri- ming chamber by scratching off (with the chisel) the thin leaden covering plate. In some drtilleries the fuze has no pri- ming chamber and this movement con- sequently is suppres- sed (*). To open the pri- ming chamber by scratching off (with the naU) the cover of goldbeater's skin which forms the priming chamber. TO PUT THE PROJECTILE IN TO THE PIECE AND RAM TT HOME. (*) In the U. S. Navy for instance. — Dahlgren on priming : "There " is good reason to believe that the priming of fuzes by paste or any " other material, is wholly needless, and that the composition will ignite " quite as well as the priming,— a striking evidence of this is found in " the Bormann Fuze. When cut for use, the very minute surface of " four-hundredths of a square inch of hard driven composition, is " presented to the flame of the gun; and yet, in a very large number " that I have fired from light guns, the failures to ignite are much " fewer than the best primed fuzes freshly prepared. Originally, the " inventor made use of a central priming, but it proves to be unneces- " sary, and has been dispensed with. The objection to priming of " any kind is its exceeding suceptibility of moisture, and its destmc- " tion by dampness, which would not affect the smooth, hard surface " of the composition." (Shells and shell-guns. Page 147.) In Belgium the metallic fuze II is primed, but the priming chamber is not in communication with the prism of fusing composition. The only difference, between the fuzes II and IV, therefore, is in these two 9 130 cases, that fuze II requires the operation of cutting it open and fuze IV not, as stated under No. 4 — II and No. 4 — IV, of the above table. Observation 1st. — In the cases I, II and III, the projectile may be put into the bore of the pieces before the preceding movement No. 8 of uncapping the fuze be executed, which perhaps may be desirable in Observation 2d. — The price of the fuzes may be estimated as follows : {Instruction sur le materiel de I'ar- tillerie beige. ( fromfr.729.20 \ ( from £29-3-2^ ) General 1000 fuzes of No.III,{ >or{ ' UuVignau's ( to fr. 937.50 ! I to £37-18-0 ! memoir. 1000 fuzes of No. IV as much as those of No. Ill or a little more. ( from fr. 2500 i ( from £ 100-0-0 ) Colonel 1000 fuzes of No I,{ }ot{ } Delobel's ( to fr. 3000 1 t to £ 120-0-0 ) Revue, II. Since the introduction of rifled guns, cheapness has lost something of its influence on decisions which Governments have to consider respec- ting the adoption of projectiles and especially of fuzes, because their importance has been more correctly appreciated than but a few years ago. Prevention of waste in these parts of ordnance stores as well as in others, however, will always be a wise measure. Observation 3d. — It should be remarked here, that it may be advan- tageous to have two patterns of fuze II, one for shells destined to be fired from guns, shell-guns and howitzers, the other for bombs, proper- ly so called, to be fired from mortars (under high elevotions, of 45» or more). — According to general usage it is expedient to make this dif- ference between shell and bomb, inasmuch as it avoids the confusion arising from including these two projectiles under one and the same denomination of shell, as in England or of bomb, as in Hanover; but it is msreover incorrect in Paixhans, to call hia shell-guns or rather long howitzers "Canons a bombes" and the shells for these pieces "Bombes", as in France, the diiference in question is really made between "obus'' and "bombe''. — 131 — Note D, p. 43. U. S. Ship Plymouth. Shanghai, April 4th 1854. The lives and property of American and British American ■■ ^ •' Iieport on an citizens having been frequently endangered by the ^^gft^eml"^ wanton proceedings of a body of Chinese Imperia- ttedin^lctton lists, encamped about Shanghai, which were per- of cwneleim^ perialists. severed in, notwithstanding the representations of Captain Kelly, U. S. N., and Captain O'Callaghan, R. N., it was agreed by them to co-operate in abating the nuisance. To this effect, these oflBcers, with the Consuls of their nations, made a formal request to the Chinese commander that he would cause the post to be peaceably evacuated, and notified to him their intention to enforce this request, if not otherwise complied with. No answer being received, there were landed, in the afternoon of the 4th of April, about 60 seamen and marines, with a 12-pdr. howitzer, in charge of Lieut. Guest, from the Plymouth, and ISO men from the British vessels "Encounter" and "Grecian". — 132 — These being joined by volunteers from the resi- dents of Shanghai, with two private fieldpieces, and 30 seamen from American merchant ships, the attack was commenced by Captain O'Callaghan, on the right of the entrenched camp, and by Captain Kelly on the left, who, about 4 P. M., directed a fire to be opened from the light artillery of his party. Lieut. Guest, of the Plymouth, speaking of the U. S. 12-pdr. boat howitzer, which was under his charge, and personal direction, says : — " Shell, shrapnel, and canister were fired with great effect, perhaps to the number of 40 or 50 rounds." " The fixed ammunition was perfect; not a single shell failed to burst, not a fuze or a tube disap- pointed us; and, consequently, the officers and men were inspired with perfect confidence in the gun, both as a means of assailing the enemy and of defence when attacked." " The graduated fuzes so plainly marked from 1 to 5 seconds, enabled us to drop our shells — 133 — exactly in the spot intended, and the precision with which it was done, in comparison with all other artillery which we had seen fired, was a sub- ject of gratification and surprise." " With the canister, we raked the top of the Chinese breastworks, and drove back a very large force, which advanced against us in the -field. We found the gun as well adapted to canister as to shell or shrapnel." Captain Kelly states, in his official Report, that after firing 15 or 20 minutes from the light artil- lery, the men were led forward, much exposed to the musketry and wall-pieces of the camp. Very soon the Chinese were routed, with some loss; and the next day the entrenchments were levelled, which terminated the annoyance. The Americans and English had two seamen killed and six wounded. Mr. Gray, the chief clerk of a commercial house, lost both of his legs; and Captain Pearson (of an American merchant ship) was mortally wounded. (Dahlgren. Boat armament of the U. S. Navy, p. 162.) — 134 — Note. E, page 66. An effect si- To judge from the following statement which I milar to that of Shrapnel found iH the Cologne newspaper "Kolnische Zei- nre exnibited "^ -^ -^ by natnre. ^^^g^ " UVu of November 1 8S0, it would appear that Nature herself first exhibited the Shrapnel fire : " Ellen Anna, Bristol Channel. Cloudy weather " fresh gale. Noise of thunder. Four planks were " found disjoined on her deck and partly pierced " as if shot through by musket bullets, and the " holes, three inches deep, bored so that the bullets " seemed to have been fired vertically down from " the clouds. The borders of the holes were more " or less singed. A meteoric stone had burst and " bombarded the dek. Such phenomena are said " to be not rare in the Mediterranean, but till now " unknown in the nothern seas (*)". (*) Ellen Anna, im Bristoller Canale. Triibes AVetter; frischer Wind. Polterartgies Getose. Man fand, dass 4 Deckplanken ans den Fugen gerissen und stellenweise wie von Flintenkugeln durchbolirt waren, und die Locher 3 Zoll tief, waren so gebohrt, dass die Kugeln senkrecht ans den Wolkeu herabgeschossen zu sein sebienen. Die Rander zeigten sich mebr oder weniger versengt. Ein Meteorstein — 135 — It is to be regretted that no notice has been given respecting the fragments of this meteoric stone, which must have been found on board the Ellen Anna. There is no reason to doubt the actual occurrence of this phenomenon, as our greatest philosopher Alexander von Humboldt, in his "Cos- mos," in treating of meteoric stones (Meteorsteine), adduces instances of their bursting and scattering their fragments over the ground. ( Kosmos, 3ter Band. Stuttgart und Tiibingen 1851, p. 610.) Note F, page 69. These letters are from British officers, the first Effects pro- duoedbysphe- from General Sir Robert Gardiner, G. C. B., Royal "cai case-shot at the last Artillery, late Governor of Gibraltar, one of the ?iegeofBada- " joz and at the most honoured veterans of the British Army, the rosswwa- second from Captain Townsend, late Royal Horse *""''"'■ Artillery, who both fought gallantly in the wars from 1808 to 1815 in the Peninsula and at Wa- terloo. war geplatzt und hatte das Deck bombardird. Solche Ersobeinungen soUen im Mittelmeere nicht selten sein, in nordischen Gewassern bisber noch nicbt bekannt. — 136 "Claremont, October 6th, 1848. " My dear Bormann, " I can have no hesitation in giving you my opi- " nion on the use of Shrapnel's shells — I think " they have a higher reputation in theory, than " they deserve from their effect in practice — this " I will endeavour to explain — without any preju- " dice against them as a most destructive projectile " in certain cases of service — but still retaining my " preference in general cases of service, to round " and grape shot. 2. " I became doubtful as to their unquahfied " merits, at the commencement of the Peninsular " war — and almost from the beginning of that ser- " vice, I always preferred making my demands for " the replenishment of expended ammunition in " round and grape shot, with but a comparatively " small proportion of Shrapnel — and this I should " certainly do, if I was in the field to-morrow. — — 137 — " Nothing, be assured, is so destructive as tiie sim- " pie round and grape — with few exceptional in- " stances of service. 3. " I was called on during the Peninsular cam- " paigns,to give my opinion on the merits of Shrap- " nel's shells — which I did in an official report to " the purpose I have mentioned. Once in a way, " they tell with terrific effect — but either the ge- " neral hurry and excitement of action, or some " casual cause prevents that certain, constant, in- " variable accuracy which should always mark the " fire of efficient artillery — and which, as I think, " can alone be always depended on, in the use of " round and grape shot, with well instructed and " well practised artillerymen. 4. " I am more partial to Shrapnel when in po- " sition, or when stationary (such as the opera- " tions of attack and defence in sieges), than in " the shifting movements and constantly varying " ranges of field service.— I will mention two " instances under such circumstances, in which " they did good service. — 138 — 5. " The first occurred during the last siege of " Badajoz. 6. " Our batteries directed against the intended " flank and main breach, were excessively galled " by the fire from the south flank and face of the " St.-Pedro Bastion. — It soon became our object, " of course, to enfilade and silence this annoyance, " but neither round shot or common shells, " though plunging in ricochet and exploding over " the Bastion, could do it. At last we resorted to " Shrapnel — and that silenced our friends very " soon. 7. " On the fall of the place, I went to the spot, " to examine and ascertain if any traces of the ef- " feet of our fire remained. 8. " I found the left cheek of every gun carriage " in the enfiladed flank of the Bastion perfectly " riddled with balls from our Shrapnel. In fact " I don't think they fired half a dozen rounds " from this point, from the time our enfilade " began. No man, indeed, could stand to the " guns under such a shower of balls. — 139 — 9. "The other instance I had in view to mention " was in the battle of Barrossa. 10. "In the battle of Barrossa (in 1811) the " whole of the English Artillery were massed in " advance to cover the deployment of our columns. 11. "During the deployment, the enemy was " advancing in line, his front covered by nume- " rous riflemen and light troops, but at too great " a distance for our employment of grape or ca- " nister. The Shrapnel shell here was most ad- " vantageously employed and did great execution. 12. "On these two occasions, I speak from " personal observation. But I should say also " that 1 consider Shrapnel as a projectile highly " destructive if efficiently employed against troops " advancing in boats to escalade the sea line of " any fortress. For this purpose, I should cer- " tainly use them till the boats had advanced " within range of grape and canister. 13. "There are few officers now living, who com- __ 140 — " manded Troops or Brigades of artillery in the " battle of Waterloo — and without personal refe- '• rence to officers in command, I could scarcely " answer your questions as to the extent of em- " ployment of Shrapnel on that day. — But for " obvious reasons I should say it was not so gene- " rally employed as round and grape shot. 14. " The enemy's columns advancing against " us, would naturally be first saluted with round " shot, till they came within grape shot range. As " you are aware, the enemy's cavalry were unsuc- " cessful in their efforts to break our squares. " These troops on retiring from their ineffectual " attempts, suffered greatly from our artillery " fire, which, judging, from my own partiality to " that nature of shot, must have been grape. They " did not, of course, linger in their steps — and " though acting with consummate bravery, a mi- " nute's space of time conveyed them to a distance " which suggested a change of fire from grape to " round shot. 15. "In the foregoing remarks, you will, I think, — 141 — " be enabled clearly to discern the reasons which " influence me in my opinion on the Shrapnel " shell — and my predilection in favor of more " simple and certain projectiles. I must, however, " to give you a fair answer to your question, tell " you, that many officers of artillery have different " opinions to my own, on the merit of the Shrap- " nel shell. I only offer you my own opinion. " And certainly if I was equipping artillery for " service under my control, I should, as I have " said, require but a limited proportion of Shrap- " nel, comparatively with that of round and grape- " shot. « "Believe me, my dear Bormann, most faithfully yours. [Signed : ) Robert Gardiner." This judgment is a most valuable and rational one and quite conformable to the condition in which spherical case-shot was in England during the forty years from 1808 to 1848. The German artillerists in general were of Sir Robert's opinion and con- 142 sequently hesitated, as mentioned in § 16, to adopt tliis projectile in their armament before the fuze question was more satisfactorily resolved. II. " Dear Colonel Bormann, " Since our conversation upon the use of Shrap- " nel shells at the battle of Waterloo, you will " recollect at that time I assured you that they " were used at the battle and with very conside- " rable effect both at the wood and orchard of " Hougoumont as also upon masses of Jerome's " attacking columns. This assertion has been fully " confirmed by my friend Lt.-Golonel Louis of the " Rt Horse Artillery, now commanding that corpos at " Limerick in Ireland, he is, excepting myself, the " only surviving officer of the late Colonel Bull's " Troop to which we were attached at that battle. " Colonel Bull had received orders to exchange " our nine-pounder guns for those of heavy Sl-inch " howitzers which, as you are aware, are fully " adapted for the use of these shells. Our posi- — 143 — " tion was immediately upon the high ground " commanding the wood and orchard of Hougou- " mont, where we were stationary during the whole " of the battle, and I perfectly recollect our going " to the '2d line to replenish our ammunition, the " waggons of which were, of course, stationed in " a comparatively sheltered spot and where we " prepared the fu%es for Shrapnel shells. I can " bear in mind most fully, how efficacious they " were both in clearing the wood of Hougoumont, " as also in the chasms made in the French at- " tacking columns which advanced in great masses " upon Hougoumont. I could in several instances " bear in mind the devastation caused to the " French infantry by the bursting of these shells, " some of which bur&t beautifully (if I may use " such an expression in killing mankind) in the " air, spreading death and destruction very visibly " to my eyes. My friend Lt.-Colonel Louis says in " his letter to me :" "You may assure Colonel Bor- " "mann that Shrapnel shells were used at the " "battle of Waterloo and by our Troop, and I " "also remember what execution we did with " "them, in the case of Jerome and d'Erlon's corps. _ 144 — " "added to the affair of the wood, which, as you " "remark, was beautiful practice." "Thus you " will perceive there can be no longer a doubt of " Shrapnel shells being used at the battle and " that, as before stated, with very considerable ef- " feet, and I think, I have made myself clear upon " this subject, that is, if you can read this scrawl, " for I am writing hastily, but do not wish to de- " fer the subject, as I have already done, to a la- " ter period than I had intended. Etc. " Believe me yours very faithfully. {Signed : ) John Townsend." "Hotel de Belle-Vue (*). February 24tli, 1849." Of the facts to which these two valuable testimo- nies refer, the first is already substantially known from several publications on the Peninsular war ; not so is it with the last. Till now, at least, and as far as I know, no military author has ever men- (*) Brussels. — 145 — tioned that French troops at the battle of Waterloo were killed or wounded by the fire of spherical case-shot. It, therefore, may be well supposed, that eyewitnesses who commanded in the French Army, not knowing the principle on which the spherical case-shot was founded, attributed the wounds in- flicted on their men by this fire, partly to sphnters of common shells, partly to the fire of the Enghsh Infantry and Riflemen, who particularly distin- guished themselves at the point of the battle, al- luded to by Captain Townsend and Colonel Louis. Note G, page 69. It cannot be admitted that the British Govern- The English ment purposely neglected the spherical case-shot, fy dopted"re- specting the as it formerly purposely ignored the shell, avoid- "se of sheii- power for na- ing the development of this projectile as a need- ™* purposes, '-' '^ r ii — notapplica- less addition to its naval superiority already suf- "^ *shrapne[ ficiently established, as Captain Dahlgren states the^TatVcr^ "Shells and shell-guns" in citing, p. 10, the fol- lowing remarkable passage from a much esteemed English author : "So long as the maritime powers, " with which we were at war, did not innovate 10 mean war. — 146 — " by improving their guns, by extending the inven- " tion of carronades, or, above all, by projecting " shells horizontally from shipping; so long was " it the interest of Great Britain not to set the " example of any improvement in Naval ord- " nance, since such improvements must eventually " be adopted by other nations; and not only would " the value of our immense material be deprecia- " ted, if not forced out of use, but a probability " would arise that these innovations might tend " to render less decisive our great advantages in " nautical skill and experience. Many of the de- " fects which were knoAvn to exist, so long as " they were common to all navies, operated to " the advantage of Great Britain". — ( Simmons, " page 2.) This policy respecting shell power, may be deemed very wise, because it had the desired effect; but how then, if the contrary had been the case? — And this might easily have occurred, if the French Artillery, at that period, had perceived the real value of that simple appliance, the fuze; for this discovery would soon have led such experien- — 147 — ced artillerists to the appreciation of the immense power of a duly mastered shell fire, which, in part at least, might have been used immediately in the course of the war, by merely substituting for their old wooden fuzes, more carefully driven ones of the same construction. To this sort of policy, — always a hazardous one — an accomplished artillery has hardly need to re- sort; for if it be not advisable to publish all that is in course of experiment or to impart secrets of this kind to foreign visitors without being assured of their discretion, a state possessing such an artil- lery may confidently make use of any superiority of its ordnance power, as its artillery officers will never be at a loss to estabhsh a certain superiority on other points of their sphere of activity, if the enemy should chance to profit by the lesson thus received. But this is not always easily done, and certainly was not to be expected during the Cri- mean war, with respect to an improved Shrapnel system ; the Russians would not have had time enough to acquire the necessary practice in its application. 148 Note II, pages 90 and 96. French Slirap- nei fire at the g) Delobel. Revue de technoloqie militaire. T. II, ha tleofTrak- ' ^ til' hridge. — „ TSC) English natio- P' '^''"'• nal rewards for improve- ment in shell , , , ,, , , .^ i and shrpanei " Lliose DizaiTe ! u y a plus d un demi-siecle que practiee. " rartillerie anglaise a invente et adopte I'obus a " balles; qu'elle Texperimente de toute facjon et " I'applique a toute espece de bouches a feu ; " qu'elle en regleraente I'emploi par des tables de " tir sans lin, sans nombre et d'une complication " telle que les 3/4 au moins des donnees de ces " tables ne pourraient jamais avoir d'application " utile a la guerre; qu'elle en am^liore et change " incessamment les fusees, depuis celle proposee " par I'auteur de ce projectile jusqu'a celle inven- " tee en 1852 par le capitaine Boxer et qui vient " de valoir a cet officier une recompense nationale " de 125,000 francs; et raalgre tout cela, qui done " a enlendu mentionner particulierement les ef- " fets des shrapnels anglais dans les combats de " Crimee? tandis, au contraire, que I'artillerie " frangaise, qui ne connait pour ainsi dire les — 149 — shrapnels qu'en theorie; qui ne les avait encore adopt^s qu a titre d'essai pour son petit obusier de montagne, et qui, m6me pour cette piece, avait presque renonce a leur emploi; I'artillerie frangaise, disons-nous, a trouve au pont de Trak- tir roccasion de produire sur les Russes en re- traite un magnifique effet avec les quelques shrapnels de 12c. qu'elle avait mis dans ses colfrets sans y avoir tres-probablement attache beaucoup d'importance. Et quant a Tartillerie russe, s'il etait vrai, ainsi que les gazettes I'ont rapports, que parmi les shrapnels qu'elle a tires du haut des remparts de S6bastopol, il s'en trouva qui n'^taient que de gros boulets creux, remplis de balles en fonte, on comprendrait parfaitement que les assiegeants n'en eussent guere remarqu6 les effets, attendu que de pareils projectiles ont inevitablement du ^clater a tout coup dans I'^me de la piece." b.) General von Decker : "Die Shrapnels". Ber- lin, 1842, page 9, in an extract from a biographi- cal Article inserted iu the Naval and Military Ga- %ette of March 19th 1842, — of which I was not able — ISO — to procure a copy, — makes the following remarks on General Shrapnel. "Bald nach der Belagerung " von Gibraltar (?) machte er die Erfmdung der " Granatkartatschen , welche noch heute seinen " Namen fiihren. Die Entdeckung wurde fiir so " wichtig erachtet, dass bei deren Einfiihrung " in die Artillerie dem Erfinder eine lebenslang- " liche Pension von 1200 Pfd. Sterling neben dem " Gehalt seiner Charge zugestanden ward. Wenn " er diese Pension von 1803 bis an seinen am 12 " Marz 1842 zu Southampton erfolgten Tod bezo- " gen hat, so kostet die Erfindung der Krone " England nicht weniger als 46,800 Pfd. St. oder " 327,600 Thaler. — General Shrapnel verhess den " aktiven Dienst den 29. Juli 1825 als General- " Major, wurde also erst nach seinem Ausscheiden " zum General-Lieut, befordert." c.) Terquem and Fave, in their often cited work : "Les experiences sur les Shrapnels". Paris, 1847. p. VII, observe with reference to the foregoing no- tice : " La note suivante que nous donnons, d'apres " Decker, fait voir comment le gouvernement an- " glais salt remunerer les services rendus aupays." — — 154 — "Shrapnel a fait la campagne de Flandres sous le " due d'York et a assiste au siege de Dunkerque " en 4793. On dit que c'est peu apres le siege de " Gibraltar, qu'il eut la premiere id^e de son pro- " jectile; elle fut jug^e si importante, que lors de " son introduction (en 4803) dans I'arme, on accorda " a I'auteur, outre ses appointements, une pension " viagere de 4,200 liv. sterl. (30,000 fr.). II quittale " service actif le 29 juillet 1825, il fut nomm6 lieu- " tenant-g^n^ral apres sa retraite; il est mort le " 12 mars 1842." Note I, page 102. The following passage from "Shells and shell- sheiugSd guns", p^. 440, particularly refers to the principle ^e"^ — TuffiT ciently strong m question : to fire Haii- shell or any other kind of Shrapnel shell. " If then the employment of ships to batter the " solid masonry of shore works is so rare, that it " should be regarded as really an exception to the " general rule of their service, which is the attack " of wooden structures like themselves, then it " seems to follow that naval ordnance should cor- — 152 — " respond in its character to these purposes, and " be adapted to shells rather than to shot; with " the endurance, however, competent to discharge " the latter if an exigency should arise. And " these views have governed in the armament of " the United States screw frigates {Merrimac (*) and " class) recently built; the new ordnance of which " has been well proven to be able to fire a greater " amount of solid shot than have ever been appro- " priated to guns intented for that service only." The construction of the Dahlgren shell-gun is not given in the works of Dahlgren which I have cited, but a sketch of a 9 inch (0".22) gun of this kind has been recently published in an able report on the armament of the U. S. Ordnance ship "Plymouth", made by a Dutch Inspector of artillery, M. de Fre- mery,to his government on occasion of her touching at Amsterdam in 1857, under the command of Captain Dahlgren himself (Rapport omtrent het Artillerie-Materieel van de TSoorcl-Amerikaansche {*} The Merrimac visited England in IS.'iB. — See Illust rated London ■News for October 1856. — 153 — Oorlogs-Korvet Plymouth. Uit deVerhandelingenen Berigten betrekkelijk het Zeewesen, etc., 1857, n" 4, t Afd.). This shell-gun inspires the greatest confi- dence as to its capability of resistance in firing solid shot and consequently also in firing hail-shell or any other Shrapnel. M. de Fremery plainly, though indirectly, confirms this opinion in his re- port; he also fully approves the views of Captain Dahlgren respecting the boat armament of the United States Navy (*). (*) "Page 3. — De gxoote duurzaamheid en het groote wederstand- " biedend vermogen van daze kannonnen, moeten worden toegeschreven " aan de grootere metaaldikte rondom de buskruidlading en aan de meer " doelmatige verdeeling van tet metaal over den gebeelen vunrmond; " omstandiglieden, welke ook in het oog gehouden zijn, bij de latere " Tuurmonden van onze Marine, die in dit opzigt, tot nu toe, weinig te " wenschen hebben overgelaten."— And Page 12. — Tot de meest be- " langrijke zaken aan boord van een oorlogschip, in den .waren zin des " woords, behooren voorzeker ook de sloepsvcapening en de middelen " tot het doen van landingen. Deze zijn bij de Noord-Amerikaansche " marine, door de vrijgevigheid der regering en door de zorg en over- " moeide inspanning van Dahlgken, tot eene groote mate van vol- " maaktheid gebragt." m: APPENDIX. APPENDIX. I. To § 9 (p. 42). Use of the metallic fuze in action. — The regular and normal explosion of the Hano- verian Shrapnels — or action of the metallic fuze, — in the Schleswig-Holstein war of 1848 and 1849, has equally been remarked by a competent eye- witness of the Danish Artillery, who commanded in a position opposite to the Hanoverian batteries; but as to the efficacy of the bullets which these projectiles contained, his opinion differs from that which the Hanoverian officers had formed on this subject. The characteristic words of my friend's statement in that respect are : "After the explosion " of the Shrapnel, it appeared as if its bullets had — 158 — " lost their onward movement and Mien to the " ground without being animated with sufficient " force to hurt," — a circumstance he ascribes to the manner in which the bullets were imbedded in solidified sulphur. The Hanoverian officers, of course, not having had the same facility of ascertaining the effect of these Shrapnels and judging only by the fact of the normal explosion of the projectile respecting its time of flight, were fully entitled to admit, in this particular case, an excellent execution so much more readily, as on other occasions in the very same war, such a result had been visibly obtained. Both parties, therefore, may be in the right and we also in inferring from these facts, the neces- sity of constructing not only the fuze, but also the other parts of the system according to rational principles. II. To § 17 (p. 73). Use of Shrapnel shells against Sebastojwl. — In the work -."The Story of the Campaign of Sebastopol" written in the Camp by Lt.-Col. E. Bruce Hamley, Captain, Royal Artillery, — 159 — Edinburgh and London, MDCCCLV, we find the following passage, page 278;— "On the 20th (July " 1855), some rockets from the advance of our right " attack fired the Karabelnaia suburb, situated " behind the Malakoff, which consists of a great " number of small houses adjacent to, though not " adjoining, each other, in which the troops for the " defence of this part of the Russian works reside. " When the alarm of fire was given there, a great " number of soldiers thronged out in disorder, and " a multitude of carts made their appearance. At " first only one of our guns bore on the crowded " space between the houses, from whence the " troops attempted to pass towards the Malakoflf " after each discharge. By widening an embra- " sure, a second gun was brought to bear on them " with spherical case, and proved very destructive " — prostrate men, broken carts, and runaway " horses marking its effect. The fire continued to " burn all day, and destroyed several houses, and " others were frequently set on fire afterwards " by rockets, while the guns continued to enfilade " the streets of the suburb whenever a few persons " were visible." — 160 — This statement being the only one in the whole book respecting spherical case-shot, 1 think myself entitled to maintain the conclusion : that the Shrap- nel fire of the Royal English Artillery, if, — with the exception of the fire against the Redan men- tioned in § 17, — anywhere else appHed in the Cri- mea, was deemed of no more importance than that of their common shell. Admitting even, that Colonel Hamley, as an officer of artillery long accus- tomed to Shrapnel practice, laid no particular stress on the effect produced by this projectile, the above conclusion appears to be tacitly confirmed by several other passages in which this officer mentions some extraordinary effects of common shell fire of which he was a close eyewitness. And, indeed, if some distinct details on the use of English spheri- cal case-shot were to be expected anywhere, it certainly was in this well written, valuable work. III. To § 15 (p. m).—The German Hagelkugel— Extract from the Codex palatinus, which Profes- sor C. R. Sachse of Ihe Heidelberg University had the kindness to verify : 161 "Univ. Bibiothek Heidelberg. "AUSZUG aus dem Codex palatinus, N" 258. (Blatt 32 und 33.) F."mag auch nicht ain Hagel gemacht werden der ganlz vom Rohr fert und sich erst vber ettlich hundert Schrytt nachet oder feer wie man will von ainander gelit vnd sich austhailet. B. " SoUiches ist gar schwerlich vnd mit grosser miiheselligkhait ins werckh zu richten jedoch moglich aber nit wie ettlich ausz vnverstandt ohn alle erfahrung davon geredt vnd geschryben haben. man soil den Hagel in ain Blayen Zarg ainmachen "HageiKugei die sich uber die zu binderst ain boden miden in demselben ain ettiicht hun- derd schritt Loch dasz man ungevahrlich ain fiinger hinein- aufthuet. " stoszen mag vnd ain hulzen rohr hinden bei dem zu'gemachten Loch ain boden hineingestoszen. bis auf halben Thail durnach neben dem rohr soil die — I(i2 — Zarg mit roschem puluer ausgefiilll werden vnd ungeuarlich ain Zwergfunger hoch iiber dasz rohr darnach den dem Hagel darauf hinein setzen ge- heb vnd satt. dasz rohr soil man mit schwachen Raggetten oder angefeuchtem Zeug ainfullen vnd zuvorderst mit Ziindtpuluer aingerungt vnd also in dasz Stuckh auf dasc Puluer hinaingeladen vnd ge- stossen. So ziindt sich d. Zeug ini Rohr vom schusz an vnd fehrt der Hagel also gantz vom Stuckh vndt bleibt bei aynandter bisz der Zeug im Rohr ausz- brynnt bisz auf dasz Puluer. Alszdann zerschlag in erst dasz Puluer so dahinter ligt vnd gedh von ainander solliche Speculatation haben vil gehabt aber im Werckh und in der prob hats in grob vndt wait gefellet. dergleichen Exempel hab ich ver uelcher zeitt selbst gesehen dasz sich ain sollicher Hagel im Stuckh angezundtt vndt gleich vor dem Stuckh zersprungen vnd in boden ganger. Und hat der Teufel ain Gaugelspiei angericht. wo nicht dasz Glickh sonderlich dabei gewesen dem Maister disz werckhs darzu den Ohrt ich hie zu nennen ver- schone. die ursache aber zu versuchen warumb sollicher Hagel selten guet time sondern geman- iglich im Stuckh angangen und zersprungen mag — 163 — khain anderer erfundlen werden, dann dieweil die Zarg vom Schusz also hefftig wiewol zu ge- denckhen erhtltziget wilrt auch in soUicher Hiltz dasz Puluer darin verschlossen entzundt vnd zer- spriingt alsbald den Hagel ehe er recht ausz dem Stuckh khiimbt. zum andern mag auch der Zeug im Ror von der gewaltigen groszen Resolution des Puluers im Fewer so da hinden geladen wiirt ver- hutziged werden dasz es sich auflP ainmal anziindt sambt dem Puluer darneben im hinderen midel der Zarg ligt. durch disem IrSal sich solhcher Hagel aufthen zerspringen wiirt ehe er recht ausz dem Stuckh khombt. Willt du aber dasz es guet thue vnd khaine gefar darbey zu besorgen sey mustu die Zarg inwendig mit dyno Laimb filttern darzu dasz rohr fleyszig mit dem Zeug fallen vnd zu- vorderst auf dem Zeug ain Rummen sat auf dasz Puluer ain Stuckh hineinsetzest wie sich ge- burt (*) ". (*) It is to be regretted that this manuscript did not come under the notice of the Emperor Napoleon III, in order that a fact so impor- tant, in relation to the history and progress of Artillery in the sixteenth century, as the knowledge, in that age, of the Hagelkugel — might have been taken into consideration in the valuable notes of His Imperial Majesty published in the work entitled — "Etudes sur le pass^ et Tare- — I(i4 — The meaning of this document, I think, may be rendered pretty nearly with all its repetitions, as follows : Fewerwerkher (Artificer). — "Morover, may not a kind of hail be made which rushes entire from the piece, and discloses and spreads itself only at some hundred paces, nearer or farther, as one may wish? Buchsenmaister (Artillery officer). — "That is to be carried into effect with great difficulty and toil, yet it is possible; but not as some, from w^ant of knowledge and without any experience, have talked and written about. " Hail-shot "The hail is to be packed up into a leaden case (*) which disclo- ses itself at having behind, in the middle of its bottom, a hole some himdred c ^ > paces " jjj ^hich about a finger may be introduced and nir de I'Artillerie. Onvrage continue k I'aide des notes de I'Emperevir, par Favd, Colonel d'artillerie, I'un de ses aides de camp. Tome troisieme (Histoire et progres de I'Artillerie). Paris. 1862. " (*) Zarg. Sarge—a. round inclosure, a case (Capt. Toll). Most pro- bably this case was of cylindrical form, though later than 1573, Ilagel- — 165 — which is to be shut up with a wooden tube (*). Then, up to its middle, round the tube and about a finger's breadth above it, the case is to be fiUed- with rash powder (**) on which the hail is to be put sufficiently settled. "The tube is to be charged either with slow rocket or moistened composition and primed at its head (***), with which it is to be introduced into the piece and rammed on the powder (****). "Thus the composition in the tube catches fire from the flame of the piece, the hail, therefore, rushes entire from it and remains together until the composition in the tube is burnt out to the bursting charge. Then only, the hail is broken by the powder lying behind it, and spreads itself. kugeln of oval shape appear to have been also used in Germany, the bursting charge of which was placed in the centre of the mass of haiL (*) Fuze — no doubt of similar construction as the fuze of 1632, mentioned p. 26. (**) Roschen puluer— rash (grained) gun-powder, in opposition to slow (mealed) powder? (***) Priming powder — rammed in at its fore end. («***) Charge of the piece. — 166 — "Many have made such a speculation, but failed grossly and widely in its arrangement and trial. Examples of this kind I lately saw myself : the hail caught fire within the piece, burst immediately before it and went into the ground ; and, as bad luck would have it, the Devil played a trick and slew (*) the master of the work into the bargain. The place (**) I forbear to name here. "In searching, however, for the reason why such hail seldom succeeds, but commonly catches fire and bursts within the piece, no other can be found than this : the case, as may be imagined, is intensely heated from the charge of the piece; such a heat fires the powder within it, and the hail bursts forthwith before it rightly comes out of the piece. Secondly, the composition in the tube, also, may be heated by the great, vehement solution in fire of the powder which is loaded behind it (***), so that it catches fire at once together with the pow- (*) Verb wanting in the text and supplied by Capt. Toll. (**) W^here this happened. (_*''*'*) Charge of the piece. — 167 — der surrounding it in the case (*), in consequence of which error such hail will often burst before it rightly comes out of the piece. "But if you wish all to go well and no danger to be apprehended therefrom, you have to line the inside of the case with fine clay (**) ; to drive the composition well into the tube, ram in priming powder at its fore end and push it into the piece on the powder sufficiently, as it ought to be." Another passage of this manuscript, preceding the above citation and speaking of different sorts of hail, shut up in leaden boxes and fired, adds : " which was with our ancestors a great art and (*) Bursting chaxge. (**) In the text it is said : thin clay ; but, evidently, fine, consis- tent clay is meant, such as is used in our days to clay war rockets. — 168 — secret" — These words seem to imply, that the principle of the Hagelkugel is of still earlier date than the manuscript itself. After the taking of the town of Heidelberg by Tilly in 1622, Duke Maximilian of Bavaria, consi- dering the University Library as fair booty, pre- sented it to Gregory XV, in consequence of which donation, it was carried to Rome in 1623, where it formed part of the library of the Vatican under the name of the "Bibliotheca palatina". In 1815, how- ever, on the conclusion of the peace of Paris, the Pope, at the instance of the Austrian and Prussian Governments, was compelled to restore to Heidel- berg this literary treasure comprising 847 old Ger- man manuscripts, of which that of Samuel Zim- mermann was one. It is evident, that the absence of this manuscript from Germany for nearly two centuries is sufficient, independently of other rea- sons, to account for the oblivion into which the Hagelkugel had fallen amongst the Germans. — 169 — VI — A glance at the present state of the Shrapnel question in England. When the first Edition of the foregoing Sketch was published in April 1859 (*), I was not aware of the progress the Shrapnel question had already made in England, concurrently with the introduc- tion of the Armstrong rifled guns into the British Ordnance Service. All that concerned these guns was concealed from the pubUc and considered as a state secret, until the private interests of the inventor M. William G. Armstrong, — now Sir Wil- liam G. Armstrong, Superintendent of Royal Gun Factories, — were guaranteed by the Government's acquisition of the patents he had previously taken out for different parts of this new system of ord- nance. Soon afterwards, however, the fact became well known that this system included a Shrapnel Shell (Hagelkugel) of ingenious construction and (*) See the Criticism upon this work in England, at the end of the volume. — 170 — very powerful effect, in which my metallic time fuze, {la fusee metallique Beige] in all its essentials, was successfully applied. The English newspapers and other publications have often spoken of the Armstrong guns; but rare- ly mention, in connexion with them, the projectiles belonging to these guns, and when they do so, the importance of the projectiles to the whole system has never had due consideration. The gun was ge- nerally put forward so prominently as to exclude from view projectiles and fuzes; as if the value of the system depended on the gun alone. This is a great error; for whatever be the system of ordnance pieces, with smooth or rifled bore, the projectile has always a more extended influence on the effi- ciency of the fire than the piece which throws it. It is to the perfecting of exploding projectiles and fuzes, that we owe the greater part of the destruc- tive power by which Artillery has gained its pre- sent eminent position, and whereby in future it may exercise a still mightier influence on raihtary and naval operations. It is no longer disputed — — 171 — That an Artillery, armed with pieces and fitted with explosive projectiles both of the best con- struction, will be able to develope the greatest destructive force attainable by such means, that is to say to acquire their most brilliant and most useful quality; — That well constructed projectiles of this kind enable them to obtain tolerable and in some instances very great effects, even with pieces of much inferior quality (such as guns damaged by frequent firing); — But that, on the contrary, the best guns (pieces) in the world (*) will never enable the most expe- rienced Artillerists to obtain equal effects with the best constructed projectiles, if these are furnished with irregularly acting, or bad fu%es. The newest and most authentic intelligence (*) The Armstrong guns declared by the late Lord Herbert to be such in the House of Lords, February 14, 1861 : " Vote of thanks to the forces in China." — 172 — respecting the projectiles belonging to the Arm- strong system, appears to be contained in a letter of Sir W. Armstrong himself, dated November 25, 186d, and pubhshed in the Times, November 27. This letter throws a new light on the interesting question of the Armstrong guns, and rectifies seve- ral great errors lately circulated by the daily press, and tending to undermine the confidence, groun- ded on the official reports, which England and the military world attached to this new weapon. But that part of the letter which relates to the projec- tiles needs a rectification, which I feel it incumbent upon me to make in this place, having failed to obtain its insertion at the time in that journal. Sir W. Armstrong in this letter, adressed to the Editor of the Times, says : " I do not know whether your readers are aware " that I had to introduce with the gun an entirely " new system of fuzes and projectiles : — " 1. A time fuze, which burns during flight, and — 173 — " which can be set so as to explode the shell at any " given number of yards, or, as case shot, at the " gun's mouth. " 2. A percussion fuze, which is incapable in its " original state of exploding the shell, though " dropped from a great height, but which acquires " by the act of firing so delicate a sensibility that " it explodes the shell thenceforward at the ligh- " test touch. " 3. The sea-service percussion fuze, which, like " the last-mentioned, has no sensibility before it is " fired, never has sufficient sensibility to explode " the shell by impact on the water or by ricochet, " but takes effect on a ship's side, whether it strike " it point foremost or otherwise, and bursts the " shell in the very act of passing through the tim- " ber. " 4. The solid shot for battering, the common " shell for explosive effect, and the segment shell " for use against troops or the crews of ships, — " three projectiles, the destructive power of two " of which is on a scale hitherto unknown. — 174 — " Each of my field-service projectiles contains " the first and second of these fuzes. A slight " adjustment only is required, at the very moment " of loading, to determine whether it shall act as " solid shot, shrapnel shell, case-shot, or percus- " sion shell. Each battery of field artillery under " this system goes into action not merely with a " gun of less weight than formerly, and using half " the weight of powder, but, what is more impor- " tant, carrying many kinds of shot in one". — From this conclusion it is evident that in N° 4, there is no reference to a real solid shot nor com- mon shell, but that these projectiles are represen- ted by the Segment Shell, that is to say by the Armstrong Shrapnel Shell, in which the leaden musket balls of the original English spherical case- shot are replaced by an ingenious combination of segments of strong iron disks, as shown in fig. 19 and 20 of General Sir H. Douglas' ''Naval Gun- nery," Sth Edition, London 1860. The Armstrong projectile having no windage in the bore of the gun, the flame of the charge of the — 175 — piece is not employed to set fire to the faze N° 1. ; but a concussion apparatus (*), placed in the inte- rior of the metallic body of this fuze, and acted upon by the. shock which the projectile receives in the bore at the moment of firing the gun, serves this purpose (fig. 21 and 22 in the "Naval Gunnery" just quoted). The field service projectile is to be provided with two fuzes; it appears that the bursting charge of the shell is placed first in the cylindrical space running through it in the direction of its axis ; the percussion fuze (fig. 23 "Naval Gunnery") is next inserted and finally the space is closed by the time fuze screwed upon it and forming the apex of the projectile. Fuzes may be divided into two categories : one represented by the time fu%e; the other either by the concussion or by the percussion fuze. The (*) Sir W. Armstrong applies to this apparatus tte epithets con- e.ussion axiA percussion indifferently; but properly speaking the former is the correct expression, and his two fuzes indicated under X° 2 and 3, are in fact concussion fuzes. — 176 — second category can only be employed in a com- paratively small number of cases in warlike opera- tions on land and on the sea, while the time fuze is indispensable in the great majority of these ca- ses; hence a time fuze, constructed on rational principles, affords the only sure basis of a system of explosive projectiles, whether calculated for smooth bored or rifled pieces, — and it is for this reason that the time fuze of the Armstrong projec- tile is of far greater importance than the two con- cussion fuzes used with it. In the above cited passage, as well as in other published letters and speeches. Sir W. Armstrong puts himself forward as the inventor of the Time fuze indicated under N° 1. In a small pamphlet, however, which circumstances lately determined me to publish in German, viz : The Prussian sys- tem of rifled ordnance field pieces in Belgium and the Time fu%e of the Armstrong Shrapnel Shell (*), (*) " Das preussische System der gezogenen Feldgeschiitze in Bel- gien und der Zeitziinder der Armstrong'sclien Granatkartatsclie." By ifaj or- General Bormann. Darmstadt and Leipzig, 1861. With a chro- mo-lithographic Plate. (Reprinted from the AUjc.meine Militdr Zei- — 177 — to which I beg to refer , it is incontestably proved, that this fuze in its most essential parts, — i. e. in those which constitute the time fuze properly spea- king,— is the Belgian metallic fuze (la fu§^e metal- lique) adopted on my proposition, by the Royal Belgian Artillery since 1835. Sir W. Armstrong, indeed, modified the metaUic body or case of this fuze to a certain point in order to "adapt it to his Segment shell (*). In doing this, however, he committed a plagiarism to my detri- ment, by taking out a patent in 1858 in which he appropriated my fundamental and original ideas in the Belgian fuze, and in its metallic body, as if they were his own, thus not merely avaihng him- iung of 1861, N- 27-34).— See also the two Criticisms on this pamphlet : 1., A. M. Z. of 1861 N" 46., Literaturhlatt; and 2., the Bexlm Militair Literatur-Zeitung oil861,N° 8; — and finally a supplement to this pamphlet, inserted in the A. M. Z. of 1862, N° 15 and 16 (N- 19 Er- rata), under the head of " Die Geschosse der Armstrong'sehen Kano- nen" (The' projectiles of the Armstrong guns). By Major-General Bormann. (*) The chromo-lithographio Plate of the precited German pam- phlet, shows, in fig'. 3-7, the modifications which the metaUic body of the Belgian fuze has undergone successively in different countries, from the original shape I gave it in 1836 to that which Sir W. Arm- strong adopted for it in 1858 and 1860. 13 — 178 — self of my ideas, but robbing me of the credit of the invention (*). The British Government, on the other hand, in 1858 or 1859, made the acquisition of the said Armstrong patent, and the Royal Artillery adop- ted — and still makes use of — the Armstrong mo- dification of the Belgian metallic fuze under the denomination of "The Armstrong time and con- (*) In the London Mechanics' Magazine for October 23 and 30, 1858, Article : "Armstrong's patent time and percussion fuzes for ordnance" it is said : " Mr. Robert Armstrong (correctly described in the following num- " ber of the Magazine as Mr. W. G. Armstrong) C. E. of Newcastle- " upon-Tyne, who has already done much toward the improvement of " ordnance , has just completed a patent for a time fuze, in which the " fuze composition is lodged in an annular groove, the continuity being " broken by a stop, on one side of which the fuze has its commence- " ment and on the other its termination. The duration of the burning " of the fuze is regulated by causing it to be ignited either at its com- " mencement or at some intermediate point between its commencement " and termination". — This passage contains the alleged plagiarism ; the lines that follow detail the modification which Sir W. Armstrong has really made, — " This is eifected by means of a revolving cover furnished with a " tightening screw to fit it at any particular point, and containing a " passage through which a jet of flame is directed upon the place where " the burning of the fuze composition is intended to commence. This " jet of flame is produced by the flash of a detonating composition " which is contained in the body of the fuze, and is fired by the pene- " tration of a point actuated by the force exerted on the projectile at '■ the instant of firing the gun." — 479 — cussion fu%e" {*), so that in England official acts and deeds attribute my invention to Sir W. Arm- strong and sanction his plagiarism. Against these proceedings I protested in vain in two Memoirs respectfully submitted, in 1859 and 1860, to Her Britannic Majesty's Government, and asking protection for other parts relative to the Hail-shell system (**), and equally exposed to be illicitly patented. H. E. the Secretary of State for War, the late Lord Herbert through his Secretary the late Sir Benjamin Hawes, rejected my claims on the insufficient grounds which the Woolwich Ordnance Select Committee, commissioned to exa- mine my first Memoir, had adduced in their offi- cial Report No 837, Mai 31, 1860 (***). (*) The explosion of the bursting charge of the projectile being, as we have seen, determined by the ignited fuze composition, and not by the fire directly coming from the concussion apparatus, this denomina- tion may lead to a mistake as to the true nature of the fuze; this fuze evidently is only a titne fuze and does not unite the two qualities of a time and a concussion fuze. (**) Report of the British Ordnance Select Committee dated "Direc- tor General's OflSce Woolwich 30 October 1852" and addressed to the late Lt.-General The Right Honourable Lord Raglan, G. C. B., &., &., then Master General of Ordnance. (***) For farther remark on this Report see at the end of the volume : The 0. S. Committee. — 180 — Considering that the British Ordnance Depart- ment received in 1852 from the Royal Belgian Government an official communication, conveyed by myself, of the invention of the Belgian metallic fuze together with the above mentioned Hail-shell system, I hope that I, as a foreign officer acting with perfect disinterestedness and serving herein as intermediary in an act of courtesy between my Government and that of Her Britannic Majesty, shall find in the verdict of the enlightened English public the justice which the British Military Autho- rities still refuse me. The estabfishment of my right at this moment is the more indispensable, as the invention of the new principle of the time fuze has enabled the Royal Belgian Artillery to effect a real progress in one of the most important branches of the Artil- lery service, viz : In the art of mastering the fire of explosive p7'ojectiles. Under the above mentioned circumstances, however, it is very possible, that at the International Exhibition of London, 1862, this progress of the Royal Belgian Artillery may not have been duly distinguished from the progress — 181 — due to the Royal British Artillery by the practical application of the Armstrong system of guns and projectiles,— an error which no Englishman, de- voted to his country, could wish to see perpetua- ted by farther public acts, for England is too rich in inventions of the highest utility to need to deprive any other country of the credit of an invention which is fairly its due. In the \a.st International Exhibition, Sir W.Arm- strong has exhibited another model of a metallic time fuze, which also, however, is essentially the Belgian metallic fuze, differing only from the so called "time and concussion fuze" in some details of arrangement; viz. in as much as the concussion apparatus, destined to ignite the fuze composition, is modified and placed not in the axis and in the upper part of the metaUic body, but in the ipain part of it, underneath the prism of composition, and by the side of the chamber (rf fig. 6 and 7 coloured plate of my German pamphlet), filled with powder, the eixplosion of which determines that of the bursting charge of the projectile. — 182 — From § 8 it will be remembered that the Breit- haupt modification of the body of the metallic fuze (*) was still wanting some improvements in or- der to render the service which is to be expected from it, viz : to simplify the operation of timing the fuze, and not only to undo the timing of the fuze when this has once been timed, but to modify the timing for a longer or a shorter range of the pro- jectile as may be required, so as to leave the nor- mal state of the fu%e unaffected by the operation of timing. The obstacle to realizing this valuable result lies (*') It may be concluded from p. 38, that I have raised no objection against improvements of this kind, especially not when made by Artil- lery Officers ; but I have felt it necessary to protest against the illicit traffic in the Belgian fuze carried on by parties in Hanover and in England at once depreciating and appropriating my original idea. The O. S. Committee of 1860, alluding in their Report N« 837 to the claims of the inventor as distinct from those of the first realizer, over- look the fact that I myself was one and the other, and ascribe to Sir W. Armstrong all the merit of the invention. Similar pretensions have been put forward respecting the Breithaupt pattern , but Captain v. Breit- haupt — now Major in the Austrian Service, — claims to be excepted from this censure, referring for proof of this to the papers whiai he has submitted on this subject to his Government and to the German Confe- deration. Though these papers have not been published, I am happy to render to this Officer the justice he claims. — 483 — in the circumstance, that the channel containing the prism of composition is not hermetically closed by the moveable regulating ( timing ) disk, so that the fire from the given initial point may flash over the whole or part of the composition, and cause premature or irregular explosion of the projectile; — and that damp air, and occasionally water, may find access to the f^uze, and thus impair it or des- troy it entirely; an inconvenience to which the fuze is especially liable on board steam vessels (*), and in heavy rains. These inconveniences, however, may be preven- ted : 1st ijy rendering the prism airtight as in the (*) See at the end of § 14 (or Shells and Shell guns, p. 142.) Cap- tain Dalilgren's judicious opinion on the speedy deterioration to which all kinds of laboratory stores are exposed on board steam vessels; — as well as the opinion which Major Alfred Mordecai, of the U. S. Ord- nance Department, gives on the Breithaupt pattern in his "Report" entiled "Military Commission to Europe in 1855 and 1856. Wash- ington 1860", printed by order of the Senate ; Part X Shrapnel Shell, Austria, Plate 20 fg'. 2 — 4. — In fte same work PartX, Plate 19, the reader will also find a description of the English Fuze-and Shrapnel- Syatem invented by Captain (now Colonel) Bozer, R. A., with a judg- ment on it, which in its principal points coincides with that which the reader may himself form on that system from §§ 7 — 14. Major Mor- decai, by his other works on Artillery, is already known in Europe as an experienced and enlightened Officer of Artillery. — 184 — original fuze, by means of a thin metallic plate, Avhich, for the purpose of conveniently igniting the fuze composition, may be made of an alloy of which the point of fusion is sufficiently low; and 2-^ by employing, if the fuze is adapted to sphe- rical shells, a Protecting plate, similar to the move- able regulating disk in the Breithaupt pattern, against the violent action of the inflamed gas crea- ted by the discharge of the piece; or, if adapted to the conical part of cyhndrico-ogival shells, by using a Protecting cone against the damage the fuze might be exposed to, when the projectile is ricochetting on the ground. This protecting plate and this protecting cone, however, differ essentially from the Breithaupt re- gulating disk, the cone especially, which, accor- ding to the purpose in view, may be fitted either in a fixed or in a moveable position, not touching the plate bearing the Time Scale and covering her- metically the prism of composition. So improved, the Breithaupt pattern would — 185 — answer the conditions I laid down in § 8 and Note C (as in the first Edition) for the beau ideal of a Time fuze, which I proposed in Belgium. It is true I included in these conditions the sup- pression of the movement of loosening and tighte- ning the screw by which the protecting plate is to be pressed down on the prism of composition; but though it may be possible to substitute for this action, that of a strong spiral spring in fuzes cal- culated for spherical shells with windage in the piece, yet this contrivance may be found insuffi- cient for fuzes fixed to cylindrico-ogival projectiles for rifled guns. It is not to be forgotten that the application of the spiral spring must always complicate the me- chanism ; practice alone can show where its appli- cation is suitable. In the English modification of the metallic fuze. Sir W.Armstrong went a step farther, and approa- ched the beau ideal of the time fuze much nearer than Breithaupt. — 186 — He wrapped the prism of composition in var- nished paper, applied a moveable regulating disk similar to the Breithaupt disk, apparently for the purpose of protecting the fuze, and made use of the tightening screw to press this plate down on the prism. The Armstrong Segment-shell having no windage in the bore of the gun, the fuze being placed in the apex of it. Sir W. Armstrong enclosed in the metaUic body of the fuze, as will be remem- bered, his concussion apparatus for the purpose of setting fire to the composition at the moment^ the ignited charge of the piece acts upon the pro- jectile in the bore. Two motives may have led to the choice of this measure : the behef that the flame of the gun cannot serve the purpose above mentioned in forced projectiles; and next the intention to secure in a higher degree, than formerly, the igni- tion of the fuze by that flame in projectiles with a windage in the bore. Remembering, however, that one of the advantages of the new principle of the time fuze is, to allow the fuze to be adapted to the exterior surface of the projectile in its whole — 187 — length, it will be obvious that both of the pur- poses indicated may be realized by some other means, especially if the suppression of the con- cussion apparatus should be deemed desirable : for instance, by encrusting the fuze in form of a Ring, at the exterior surface in the bottom of the cylin- drico-ogival shell, and in having the fuze sheltered by the protecting plate, and ignited by the heat which the exploding charge of the piece deve- lops, — a proposal I made in Belgium for Shells and Shrapnels belonging to the Prussian System of rifled field guns (*). In Germany several experiments are said to have been made to execute this plan, but without success. Being unacquainted with the manner in which this was done, I am unable to explain their failure. The degree of perfection attained by the mecha- nical arts in our day, however, is so high that its successful execution is no more to be doubted, for (*) See my German pamphlet 1861, pp. 21 and 27. — 188 — we may evidently demand, that the raetaUic fuze shall be so constructed that its solidity be such as : 1., to resist any shock to which the projectile is liable in the bore of the gun, or in recochetting on the ground; 2., to resist the flame of the piece; and 3., to be secured against all influence of moist air or water in the above rnentioned manner, so that a projectile with its fuze already timed, might; before firing it, be immersed in water without de- triment to the intended effect of the fire. Finally the new principle of condensing the composition insures the regular action of the fuze on the bursting charge of the projectile, which constitutes the essential point in the question. A time fuze having the qualities of the beau ideal will, of course, be also the most complicated and the most expensive one; but though such a fuze must be highly desirable for the service in field batteries, because it would unite in it the highest - 189 — possible completeness attainable for the purpose, with the greatest possible facility for the applica- tion of the fuze in action on the field of battle (en rase campagne), — yet the original fuze much sim- pler, much cheaper, timed by a cutting instrument, will prove its particular value in other cases occurr- ing in war; for instance in the operations of attack and defence of fortresses, coasts, ships, etc., in many of which cases the application of the beau ideal of a time fuze would be rather a costly luxury, than an absolute necessity (§§ 7 and 8). Sir W. Armstrong asserts, that he can set (regu- late or time) the time fuze of his projectile so as to explode the latter "at any given number of yards" from the gun. This pretension is inadmis- sible on account of the incalculable resistance the projectile finds in the air, and on account of the different power with which charges of gun powder, though of equal weight, would act on the same projectile in the bore of the piece. The real ad- vantage, however, which my metaUic fuze insures to the Armstrong projectiles is : that the explosion of the shell may be determined at any point of its 190 trajectory, either close to the muzzle of the gun or after having travelled through the atmosphere du- ring a given lapse of time, and this with an accu- racy approaching to mathematical exactness. This result, the achievement of which is a sine qua non for the Artillery of the present day, can never be attained with fuzes in which the compo- sition is condensed as in the old column shaped fuze in use for three centuries past (*), its nature being opposed to it. If we divide— as in the Belgian Artillery, — the trajectory of the shell in nodes numbered from the beginning of it to its end thus : 0,1,2,3,4, n at which points the projectile arrives after the lapse of 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, n half-seconds, the bursting of the shell may be determined, at (*) Since 1566, at least, as stated in the already cited work of Colo- nel Fav^, p. 264., in the following words : "On cherchait i^jk la fusde des projectiles creux dont I'idee remonte ainsi en AUemagne au-delii de 1666"- — 191 — pleasure, at any of these nodes or at any point in the spaces between them. There is no doubt that ranges may be more ea- sily and surely estimated by adopting, as the basis of calculation, the time of flight of the projectile rather than a linear measure, and considering that this basis is applicable to all charges for guns, and to projectiles of every kind and calibre, it must be admitted, that a scale for the metallic fuze founded on the time of flight (as in Belgium the ''echelle de temps") is much preferable to one, founded on given ranges in yards, metres, etc., — The scale of times in the Belgian fuze, correspond- ing with the above cited series of ranges expres- sed in half-seconds, has subdivisions for the time of burning into t and 1; and, by estimation, t'« of seconds may be given. Sir W. Armstrong ascribes to his projectile when used for explosive effect, and when used against troops or the crews of ships, a destructive power on a scale "hitherto unknown"; to his projectile he also ascribes the grand quality of being fit to be — 192 — used for different purposes, viz, "as solid shot, Shrapnel shell, case-shot or percussion shell", and represents all these dispositions as if they never had existed before ; — by my statements and by the description of the Hail-shell system in § 18, howe- ver, the reader will be convinced : 1., that the Royal Belgian Artillery had already realized advantages of the same kind and some more important ones, with spherical projectiles, but, of course, within the ranges attainable by smooth bored cannons, howitzers and mortars, and with the exception of the effect of percussion shells ; 2., that these improvements in the Artillery Ser- vice originated in Belgium and that even the Royal British Artillery have had them at their disposal since 1852, or before the introduction of the Arm- strong guns. The Belgian incendiary hail-shell (le Shrapnel incendiaire) {*) adopted since 1836, for instance (*) It may remembered, by the way, that the incendiary cylinders — 193 — may be used ad libitum as solid shot, as common shell, as Shrapnel shell, as incendiary shell and as case-shot; the same may be said of the simple hail-shell, wanting only the incendiary power. On the proposition of the superior Ordnance commission (la commission superieure d'Artillerie) at Brussels, the 20th field battery of 8 long brass howitzers of 15 centimetres (241b) also carried as early as 1838 (in time of war) many kinds of shot in one, viz. in the Hail-shell, to which projectile were added some common shot to serve in cases of utmost need. Each of these howitzers was pro- vided with : T« tua I" the i;Zvl: ammunition limber. ^^g„„_ A. 06ms d baiZes ( simple hail-shells) 22 38 B. Obus a halles incendiaires (incendiary hail-shells) 4 8 C. Boites a balles (common case-shoi) 6 6 In all, shot... 32 and 52, with D. Two kinds of charges : one of one Mlogramme, the other of half a kilogr. of powder. of this projectile are not to be confounded with the incendiary cylinders in the French Naval Shell mentioned by Sir H. Douglas, Naval Gun- nery, 1860, p. 308. The latter cylinders appear to be bits of a sort of roche a feu in a cylindrical shape, furnishing much intenser heat than the common roche dfeu, but being, on account of their absolute and specific weight, deprived of the momentum which those of the incen- diary hail-shell retain, after having been set at liberty by the explosion of this projectile in its flight. 15 — 194 — From the foregoing explanations it may be con- cluded, that the Enghsh Segment shell is, by vir- tue of its construction, a very powerful Shrapnel projectile, but that the Belgian incendiary Hail- Shell of the same calibre and length, appHed un- der the same conditions [conditions du tir), cannot be inferior to it. This hail-shell, moreover, being also convertible into a percussion projectile, evi- dently will prove, when so used, to be equal to the Segment shell, and even superior to it when ap- plied as common shell for explosive, or as solid shot for battering effects, — while the Segment shell is entirely destitute of incendiary power. If the Armstrong Sea service-percussion fuze renders the service indicated under N° 3, it will be highly prized by artillerists, because it supplies a want hitherto felt by the Naval Artillery and the coast batteries (*). (*) Anew pattern of a. concussion fux:e, founded on another prin- ciple than that in the above mentioned fuze, hut destined for the same purpose, has been constructed by Sir W. Armstrong, A full descrip- tion of it with illustrative diagrams is given by Sir William himself in the work: "Excerpt minates of proceedings of the Institution of Civil — 195 — The Armstrong system comprises also incen- diary projectiles- of a particular nature. It will be wonderful, indeed, if the Armstrong guns prove capable of throwing incendiary shells of the des- cription which Sir W. Armstrong indicates in his letter of November 25,. 1861, when contradicting Captain Halstead, Royal Navy, in the following words : " He (Captain Halstead) says the gun cannot " throw an incendiary (Martin's) shell. Here he " is utterly wrong, for even the lead covered shell, " to say nothing of the ribbed one, has been suc- " cessfuUy fired with molten iron in both 40-poun- " ders and lOO-pounders". Not knowing sufficiently the construction of these missiles, I abstain from comparing their efficacy with that of the incendiary shell and bomb Engineers". Vol. XIX, Session 1859-60, .publislied in London 1861, translated into German by Captain v. Hartmann, Royal Hanoverian Artillery, and inserted in the Prussian ArcHives for the officers of their Artillery, etc. (Archiv fiir die Offiziere der K. Preuss. Artillerie, etc. Band 51, Heft 2'', Berlin 1862, Section VHI. Taf. II, fig. 1 and 2.) — 196 — of the Hail-shell system, which, however, is of a quite different nature, so that the one could never be completely substituted for the other. With the introduction of the rifled guns the Shrapnel question entered into a new stage, the characteristic feature of which is the use of con- cussion fu%es of so sensitive a nature, that they determine the explosion of the projectile, not only on the first grazing of the latter on the ground, but at the slightest resistance it finds in touching an object in its flight. The Enghsh employed, as we have seen, the con- cussion fuze indicated in Sir W. Armstrong's letter under N° 2, simultaneously with the time fuze N" 4 . Is this measure regularly adopted, or was it only occasionally adopted in the Chinese war as a temporary precaution in case that the time fuze should have failed to act as intended? — 1 can- not tell. Supposing the latter fuze well fabricated as may be expected from the progress of the mechanical arts in our day, the application of the concussion fuze ought to be reserved for the cases — 197 — in which the action of the time fuze could not be substituted for that of the concussion fuze. This, however, will seldom happen, unless the Shrapnel projectile be fired instead of a common shell for explosive effect, and then this use of it would only be justifiable in some particular cases. The Prussian Artillery, on the contrary, and the Artillery in several other countries of the Euro- pean continent, in which the Prussian System of rifled field pieces is adopted, fire their Shrapnels as well as their shells, with the concussion fuze, which is called in Germany , though improperly, "The Prussian percussion fu%e" and which is not less sensitive than the Armstrong fuze N° 2; but, strange to say, this fuze has formed until now the basis (*) of the Prussian Shell and Shrapnel fire. (*) I say until now, for the latest news from Prussia indicate, that their Artillerists are occupied in applying a time fuze, and which is virtually my fuze or the Belgian metallic fuze, to their Shrapnels and Shells for rifled field guns, a measure which may well have been expected from an Artillery abounding in Officers of the highest intel- ligence and skill. (See Archiv far die OJiziere der K. Preuss. Ar- tillerie, etc. Band 52, Heft 1, p. 15, Berlin 1862). — 198 — Solid projectiles are not in use with these rifled, guns. Theory and practice evidently point to the use of the time fu%e for the fire of the Shrapnel projec- tile, not only in order to produce the maximum of effect attainable with it, but also in order to render Artillery entirely independent of the confi- guration and quality of the ground [terrain) occu- pied by the enemy; one of the most important acquirements of modern Artillery, and solely due to the rational combination of Shrapnels and shells with the new or improved time fuze. It is not to be doubted, that a great moral and physical effect may be produced by a concus- sion Shrapnel, if it fall into a column of troops or into a square. The effect will be equally deci- sive, if the enemy be standing on a plain hard soil, such as most of the Artillery practice grounds offer, and if the projectile, after having struck the ground at the required distance before the enemy's line, bursts in the ascending branch of its conti- nued trajectory and from 5 to 8 feet from the point — 199 — of impact and 2 or 3 feet over ground, as the Prus- sian Shrapnels do ; — but this can only be the case at the nearer ranges, for, it is evident, that the farther off the first grazing of the projectile takes place, the more precarious must be the result, so that at the farthest ranges of rifled guns a very weak effect only can be expected, or perhaps none at all. At the nearer distances this fire has something attractive; it pleases every body, the professional man as well as the unprofessional spectator, and valuable, brilliant effects, indeed, have been ob- tained with it on targets. Another attractive point in it is, the greater apparent facility and certainty with which ranges may be measured and estimated, and the fire regulated by the Shrapnel which bursts at its first touch of the ground , than by one the explosion of which is determined by a time fuze in the air and in the descending branch of its trajectory; both these appearances, however, prove deceptive wherever the ground is uneven and intersected by hedges, enclosures, ditches, trees, rivers, swamps, mountains, etc.; — wherever the enemy's troops are posted behind breast-works, — 200 — between traverses, in trenches or on a sea coast, and on board ships. Even if standing in a field of full grown wheat or one covered with high coarse grass, as in the North American Prairies, the resistance would be sufficient to cause pre- mature explosions of the Shrapnel i. e. explosion before striking the ground at the required point. The principal objection to which this theory of firing Shrapnels is liable is, that the sheaf (gerbe) formed of the fragments of the projectile, takes an ascending direction, which must lead fre- quently to dispersion whereby the effect is redu- ced to nothing, so that in many cases in which Shrapnel fire would be desirable, its practice must be dispensed with. Finally this inherent defi- ciency of the fire excludes the use of Shrapnels first from Mortars, i. e. the fire of hail-bombs, and next from rifled guns with weak charges at high angles of elevation, which, in case of need, may be substituted for the powerful Shrapnel fire from smooth bored howitzers. The influence of all these weakening elements — 201 — may be considered as an immense loss of destruc- tive power. To this disadvantage the theory founded on the time fuze, is not subject, as it allows in all cases the development of the maximum of destructive force attainable with Shrapnel fire; for it is obvious that it is always easier for the enemy to protect him- self against direct than against vertical fire. It is the same with Shell fire in an open field of battle; but it is otherwise in some particular cases, in which this -fire may be rendered excessi- vely destructive by means of a concussion or a percussion fuze; viz. in battering in breach or in demolishing embrasures, detached revetements, blockhouses, caponieres, casemated redoubts, etc. The most rational and economical plan, there- fore, appears to be that which the Royal English Artillery has adopted for Shrapnels and extended to Shells; viz. to carry into the field Shrapnels and Shells so constructed, that they may be 'per- manently fitted with a metallic time fuze, on the 16 — 202 — new principle; and temporarily, as required, with a concussion or with a percussion fuze; a plan which may be executed in a thousand different ways, so that any System of rifled ordnance may be improved by the apphcation of this time fuze, just as the English System of rifled guns has been improved by the adoption of it. It is, of course, to be remembered that such a rule would have its exceptions, as for instance in permanent positions, in which, as already stated, the original simpler and cheaper pattern of the Belgian metallic fuze may be advantageously applied as well as concus- sion or percussion fuzes. After the foregoing statements respecting rifled guns, it will be obvious to the reader that additio- nal progress has been made in the Shrapnel fire grounded on the time fuze new principle, owing to the fact that the operation of timing may be re- duced, in field batteries, to the simple movement of turning a protecting plate or cone ; and that pro- jectiles with fuzes already timed, may be otherwise disposed of. As to the use of the metallic time fuze in general, it will be remembered, that the Officer — 203 — commanding the fire, has only to take into consi- deration the distance of the enemy in order to be sure of the efficiency of his fire, — while, on the other hand , when using concussion Shrapnels, he requires to have, besides this, an exact notion of the configuration and nature of the ground which the enemy occupies. The knowledge of the distance, in itself a diffi- culty not easily overcome, therefore, will be the next important problem for Artillerists. Space is wanting here to enter upon this interesting point of Artillery practice. Sir W. Armstrong, it must be acknowledged, ap- pears to have perfectly understood the importance of the SheU and Shrapnel question, in grounding the fire of his Segment Shell on my metallic time fuze and adding occasionally to this shell a sensi- tive concussion fuze for field service, and a less sensitive one for service on board ships or in coast batteries. He, moreover, appears to have been the first who adapted that metallic time fuze to forced projectiles for rifled guns (breachloaders). — 204 — and who at the same time applied a new method of igniting the fuze in substituting the action of a concussion apparatus for that of the flame of the gun, hitherto used for that purpose (*). But the Royal British Artillery, as it was the first to employ improved Hagelkugel fii'e in General Shrapnel's spherical case-shot from smooth bored guns du- ring the Peninsular war, 1808, so has it a second time the credit of a successful initiative in having applied improved fire of this kind, in the Arm- strong Segment Shell from rifled guns on the open field in the last Chinese war, 1860; — an Initiative of no less value and importance, than that, which this arm owes to the Imperial French Artillery for the first successful application of rifled field guns in war, in the Campaign of Upper Italy in 1859. (*) As to the application of my metallic time fuze to shells for rifled guns in France and in Italy, see my German pamphlet, 1861, note to p. 19 fig 8 of the Plate. It appears that General Cavalli, Royal Ita- lian Artillery, —who first brought into use the rifled guns in modern time, — has combined in an ingenious manner and in the same metallic body, a percussinn fuze with the time fuze fig. 8, so that the shell may be used with one or the other and that it wiU not explode on touching the gruund, but only on striking, point foremost, directly against an object of considerable resistance. Additions to pages 169 and 179. 1. The British Ordnance Select Committee. It is known that tHs Committee is composed of a considerable num- ber of Officers of lugb rank, selected from among the most scientific, experienced and enlightened Officers of the Royal Artillery, and is justly renowned as one of the ablest and most important Committees of the kiad existing. In 1852 this Committee, formed of nine highly distinguished Offi- cers, consummate artillerists, rejected the Belgian metallic fuze. Al- though it cannot be supposed that they should not have been able to appreciate its real value as clearly as six years later the Civil Engineer Mr. W. Armstrong did, and to appreciate the value of the Hail-Shell System as a whole; or that incapacity was the real cause of failure in the fabrication of the fuze in 1853 and 1854 in the Woolwich Arsenal (Report N° 837) ; — this rejection may be explained; for in all countries instances occur in which irrelevant reasons have determined the rejec- tion of Systems, and, after all, the Government was free to choose any fuze or a/ny projectile they pleased. It is not so easy. to find a sa- tisfactory explanation of the reasons assigned in the Report N° 837. It may be fairly supposed that this Report does not express the individual sentiment of every member of the Committee, but only of the five members commissioned to consider and report upon the case in question. In support of this suppositioij it will be sufficient at present to cite the following passages from it. In part 6 of Report N" 837 the Committee state : " It is fully admitted by Sir W. Armstrong that before devising his " Time fuze he was aware that the method of applying the fuze com- " position in a circular and horizontal form had been adopted on the " Continent and that he has always regarded Major-General Bormann " as the originator of that system". In part 7, however, they " Think it equally due to Sir W. Armstrong to point out that the — 206 — " feature thus borrowed from the Belgian system, is far from amouut- " ing to an adoption of the " Belgian Metallic Fuze" . — Here the Com- mittee confound the two different significations of the word "Fuze" ; viz. 1", the fuze properly so called, i. e. in the present case the prism of composition ; and S"", fuze, the metallic body of the fuze charged and prepared for use. In part 7 the Committee pretend that my "improvement in the fuze, " the value of which they readily admit, is but an accessory". — Speak- ing of the old column shaped fuze (§ 5) it might be supposed that they consider Sir W. Armstrong's modification of the metallic body of my fuze as the principal improvement of the Time-fuze in general. In part 8 the Committee assert : " There is no resemblance of detail between Sir W. Armstrong's " Time fuze and the Bormann fuze, except that both have the compo- " sition in a horizontal ring; the interior arrangements and the mode " of adjustment are entirely different" — and farther down in referring to a Diagram which I have reproduced in fig" 3 and 7 of the Plate an- nexed to my German pamphlet of 1861, already cited : " The construction of the Armstrong time fuze has been made public " and the Committee enclose for Mr. Herbert's satisfaction a diagram " exhibiting a section of this fuze and also of the Bormann fuze; by " which it will be seen on what slender ground the former is said to " be a copy from the latter." — Thus the essential parts of the fuze are again declared to be secon- dary parts and vice versa, and satisfaction is given to the Minister of War by a diagram which proves Just the contrary of what the Com- mittee intended to prove. And finally the Committee state in part 8 : " The Bormann fuze requiring a fuze hole of about 1.55 inch in " diameter could not in its present form have been applied to the apex " of the smaller Armstrong projectiles; even if its construction pre- " sented the advantages of the Armstrong Time Fuze which it does " not", etc. — A statement which can only be understood by knowing that the Committee refer here to the Belgian pattern of my fuze eal- — 207 — culated for spherical shells to be fired from smooth bored guns in the bore of which the projectile has a windage. In all Continental States a Committee like the Woolwich Ordnance Select Committee, is subordinate to and their acts are controlled by the Ministry of War, for which latter purpose several experienced Officers of Artillery are attached to this Ministry. If it may be sup- posed that a similar control is exercised in England, it may be pre- sumed that the advice of these professional Officers on Report N" 837, if ever asked, had not been followed. From the first of the above cited passages from this Report, it will appear, that the question before the British Department of war, was no longer a technical question, but one of honour and equity. 2. Criticism on my historico-technical Sketch, first Edition, 1859. To the above Official judgment I beg to oppose one on the same subject, published in a daily paper, in the London Morning Post, August 27, 1869. Article "Major General Bormann on Shrapnel Shells'', which gives a brief and impartial account of the work. The Editor of this influential paper says : " Concerning the variety of Shrapnel fusee there are almost as many " as there are services in which Shrapnels are employed. Many com- " petent judges there are who believe the variety of fusee devised by " Major General Bormann to be the very best employed in any ser- " vice ; but however much critics may happen to differ as to this, they " will, one and all, be ready to allow that Bormann's fusee is in the " highest degree ingenious; that the talented Belgian has worked " more at Shrapnel shells and their fusees than perhaps any man '• living, and, consequently, that anything he has to say on the matter " is worthy of all attention. Major General Bormann has a still fur- " ther claim to the notice of Englishmen just now. The Belgian " Shrapnel fusee is confessedly the model, or rather one of the models, " upon which the fusee of Armstrong's shell is constructed. The " timing arrangement of Armstrong's tusee may, in point of fact, be " designated as Bormann's contrivance in every essential particular". — 208 — A similar testimony is borne by the author of a valuable treatise entitled "New resources of warfare" - By J. Scoii'ern. London 1859, page 40. Besides the account of iny work in the Morning Post, three others published in England have come under my notice; viz. one in The Mining Journal, June 1859, the second in The Artisan, August 1859; both impartially written and with a view to the instruction of their readers. The third, inserted in a military monthly publication, Col- hurn's United Service Journal for September 1859, signed S. W. F., is of a very different character; but this virtually anonymous article- is deserving little consideration, as it assigns no reasons for the absurd assertions it contains. Moreover, it is written in a style of low banter utterly unbefitting a military journal and does the greatest wrong to two honourable Officers, Colonel Delobel, Royal Belgian Artillery, and Captain Toll, Royal Prussian Artillery, as well as to myself. It professes to doubt the authenticity of the Old German Ma- nuscript of the sixteenth century (1573) deposited in the Library of the Grand-Ducal University of Heidelberg, and mentioned in § 15 and in Appendix III. The authenticity of the MSS., however, is placed beyond dispute by an OJicial Document, N"" 370, dated Heidelberg, November 12, 1859 and signed by three distinguished Professors of that University : Professor D' Sachsse, D' C. Thibaut and D' G. Weil. It is to be hoped that this Document will be published in the Annals of the University in vindication of the German Artillerists. Brussels. — Printed by L. TRUYTS, rue Keijeiiveld, 91, faubourg de Namur.