The Sun.
London, England, 1860-04-26 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, APRIL 26, 1860.

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ARMSTRONG AND WEITWORTH

CANNON.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES.

Sir,—The recent notices in the ?biles have in-
duced the publication of an article in the French
_Revue Europeenne on " Le Canon en 1860," which
is of sufficient importance to be transferred in sub-
stance to your columns. The value of the appre-
ciation of cannon having an exceptionally long
range must be left to competent military authori-
ties ; but its views on the subject generally are well
worthy the attention of your readers. It says :
In the spring of 1859 the French army marched
to Italy, having with them the small rifled cannon,
the renown of which became in a few weeks so great
in Europe. The result of long and mysterious study
and experiment, the new arm, until then unknown
to our artillery, was welcomed by them as an instru-
ment of victory, and did not fail to justify all the
hopes that had been conceived of it; but all had not
yet been attained. Since the great battle of Solfe-
rino, where the French cannon played so conspicu-
ous a part, inventions have been pouring in on every
hand, which 'professedly leave in the background
our remarkable arm:

But do they, in fact, do so ? An arm of this kind
is not produced by chance. They who know that
our cannon was the result of investigations the most
searching and scientific, of experiments the most
persevering, followed up day by day for nearly ten
years, will hesitate before they give full credence to
the advantages asserted to have been so rapidly
obtained in other countries. They, perchance, may
be disposed to think that more than one of the mili-
tary nations of the Continent who now loudly pro-
claim the superiority of their rifled cannon may one
day regret having too hastily transformed their
guns. It is during actual warfare that mistakes are
dangerous.
These so vaunted cannon, so easily invented,
which are made from one end of Europe to the
other, are yet to be put to the proof. They are
mostly yet enveloped in mystery, and we cannot,
therefore, examine them in detail ; but we may be
allowed to observe in general terms that their
greater or less excellence in the practice-ground,
even admitting that it be established, is but of se-
condary importance as compared with efficiency,
handiness, and durability on actual service.
Free England, less reserved in her revelations,
affords us a little more information. The limes
undertakes to declare that success is complete and
definitive on the other side of the Channel. The
word " definitive" is, perchance, a little hazardous
in artillery affairs.
We certainly have seen improvements in arms
deemed heretofore incapable of improvement.
It is not sufficient that an artillery arm be made
in accordance only with theoretic notions, however
apparently incantcstable ; other conditions must be
fulfilled to avoid practical failure.
The communications of the Times, how discreet
soever—perhaps designedly so—have been wel-
comed by the public with much interest. Many
of its readers, unskilled in technical information,
have read with wonder the accounts of the enor-
mous distances at which the Armstrong and Whit-
worth cannon have struck an object of compara-
tively small dimensions. Had they been less un•
acquainted with the experiments made in France
during several years, they would, no doubt, have
been less disposed to wonder.
We certainly must not treat lightly the results
obtained by our neighbours—results certainly re-
markable, and which do honour to their invention ;
but we must not, at the same time, forget to appre-
ciate their worth.

We admit as perfectly correct all the figures
given by the Times. We will go further, and ad-
mit them as definitive bases, although only ob-
tained from a limited number of experiments with
new guns; but, admitting all this, we see no rea-
son for apprehension. Let us endeavour to explain
why; it is a simple matter of comparison.
The new English cannon are not of bronze, as
are most of ours, but of wrought iron. This is per-
haps an advantage, since the chances of injury to
the interior due to the ball are thus sensibly dimi-
nished; but we must also remember that in the
French rifled cannon the ball does not touch the
gun, being protected by the zinc covering, a soft
metal, which alone comes in contact with the
rifling, and thus dOing away with the principal
objection to the use of bronze. _ _

Our neighbours have, it would appear, solved
the difficult problem of breech-loading, but it still
remains to be seen whether it may not in practice
be open to serious objections, not only as regards
the mechanism, but also as to other points.
The Armstrong and Whitworth cannon are but
recent inventions. The late experiments have cer-
tainly furnished remarkable results, but we have
yet to learn what may occur after some service in
the field. If certain rumours are to be credited,
some doubts may exist as to their efficacy. What is
said with regard to the results, cited by the Times,
of Whitworth's six-pouuders having lost at each
shot about 120 feet in length of range ?
If this were to happen continually, what would
become of the gun ?
Judging from the discussion in the House of
Commons on the sth of March last, it would seem
that the Armstrong and Whitworth guns are not
very simple or handy on service. The Minister of
War, although he stated that the Armstrong guns
were superior both as to precision and destructive
power, added that it would be necessary to send
with them to China special workmen of Sir Wm.
Armstrong.
The practical value of the English cannon ap-
pears to us, as yet, open to question, while ours
have been tested by service,
Let us now consider the probable part which the
new cannon may be called on to play, and in doing
this we will confine ourselves to its consideration in
siege service and in field service.

As regards the first, the largest limit is open to
conjecture. It appears without doubt that when
besiegers and besieged are supplied with artillery
having great precision and very long range, which
is a problem now solved, the old system of attack
and defence must be abandoned.

Although skill and science may do much, yet it
is probable that sieges will for the most part cease
to be undertaken in warfare, and that either forti-
fied places will be bombarded at great distances, or
that the stake will be played out on the field of
battle, leaving besieged places to be reduced by
investment.
As to field service, the importance of the new
artillery is more easy to determine, and as for this
purpose it is necessary to enter into some technical
details, we will endeavour to do so as simply and
intelligibly as possible.
We must first establish two points :-
1. What special properties field artillery should
possess.
2. What conditions of firing should be satisfied.
The most essential of all qualities to attain is, we
may venture to affirm, a lightness and easiness of
transport, which will enable the artillery to follow,
so to speak, all the movements of the troops. This
property, so conspicuously attached to our rifled
cannon, largely contributed, as is well known, to
the suceess of the campaign in Italy in 1859.
_ _

The adoption of the 241. h. howitzer cannon of the
Emperor realized in France some years since a pro-
gress of the value of which our campaign in the
Crimea enabled us to form a correct judgment—
that is, a unity of calibre. This is of much import-
ance, since the projectiles are all alike capable of
being used in all the guns.
Another point is the facility of transport of am-
munition. It is indispensable to have a provision
of powder and projectiles necessary for all eventu-
alities closely following the guns. The best solu-
tion of this problem is that which allows the
greatest quantity to be taken with the least num-
ber of horses and ammunition waggons.
Facility of transport and simplicity are, as it ap-

re irs to us, the principal qualities of a field arti'-
lery, independently of considerations of firing.
These qualities are possessed by our artillery, and
in these we may be considered to be in advance of
all our rivals, and it is in these, as we shall sec, that
rests true superiority.
As to firing, certain conditions relate to range,
and certain to precision, but with a close connec-
tion between the two.
The range of a gun depends partly on the in cli-
n ition given to it; the more this is increased, viith-

in certain limits and without any difference to the
charge, the longer is the range, or, in other words,
the greater the distance to which the projectile
will be propelled. We will explain this more fully
preFcntly.
If two gum. be directed to the same point, that of
greater precision is that the projectile of which
arrives the nearest to the point in right or straight
line, and the least distant from such right line to
the right hand or to the left. There is, therefore,
precision in length or distance, and precision in
direction.

Precision in direction is of less importance on the
field of battle. The point aimed at, whether in-
fantry, cavalry, or artillery, almost always offers a
front of a certain breadth, and whether the projec-
tile travel a little to the right or left of a right line
is of no great consequence. This precision of direc-
tion is the least difficult to effect.

Precision in length or distance, or in other words,
so firing that the projectile shall attain the exact
distance of the point aimed at, is the more difficult
problem. On the fold of. battle one only of the
elements of firing is variable, that is the elevation
of the gun, since the charges being all prepared are
all of the same weight. If the distance of the ob-
ject were exactly known, it would be sufficient to
give the gun the necessary elevation ; but, unfor-
tunately, this distance is almost always unknown.
It cannot be measured, and the most skilful can
only appreciate it by the eye, with large errors,
frequently of many hundred yards in 2,000 or
3,000. "At what distance are we ?" is the first
and general inquiry when the artillery commence
their operations; and as very rarely two opinions
agree, the fire opens at hazard. In a short time, it
is true, they find the range by observation of the
effects of the fire; but the same uncertainty arises
on every change of position, and a great many shots
are consequently thrown away.
Moreover, it is not easy to always observe the
effect of the shot at great distances, besides which
the smoke and other accidental causes frequently
prevent observation. In every point of view the
field of battle and the practice-ground are very
different places.
Some compensation is certainly afforded by the
chance effects of shots falling within or beyond the
object aimed at.
While on this subject we must notice that it is
most essential in all practical cases to employ ar-
tillery with the least possible elevation, since the
shots then plough as it were the earth, and destroy
all in their course, and the advantage of this brings
out the disadvantage of artillery with very long
range.
The observation of the effect of the firing, which
is often the only means of rectify :ng the range, be-
comes more impracticable the more the distance is
increased. Very difficult at 2,000 or 3,000 yards, it
becomes immeasureably more so a little further. Of
what practical use is it, then, to have an arm with
an exceptional range of 4,000 yards, for instance
It is something to talk about, but that something is
full of delusion. The distance is estimated (how ?
we would ask) from the enemy; the necessary ele-
vation is given, and the gun is fired. What hap-
pens? An error in judging the distance is made,
perhaps of a third. If the enemy is at 3,000 yards,
the projectile passes over his head; if at 5,000, the
ball falls 1,000 yards short. In such a mode of
firing, one shot in a hundred may tell. Moreover,
the elevation being necessarily great, the projectile
falls to the earth like a thunderbolt, in a nearly
vertical line, and at once buries itself without any
ricochet. If it be a ball, it may by chance kill one
man ; if a shell, it may destroy two or three.
Our soldiers at the Crimea nicknamed two of the
Russian batteries, by way of derision, " Bilboquet"
and " Gringalet,” as, being at a distance of some
3,000 or 4,000 yards, the elevation of the guns was
so great that in several months, though firing night
and day, they did not kill a single man ; and this,
be it remembered, though the ex act distance was
known. Contrast with this that at the Battle of
Traktir one 241 b. shot killed 17 Russians formed in
column, the gun being at a low elevation, and the
difference between firing at high elevation at great
distance and with low elevation with a ploughing
shot will readily be seen.
Cannon at long range cannot, therefore, be em-
ployed but in very exceptional cases, if ammuni-
tion be not thrown away. It will also follow that
ordinarily the range in battle will be limited to
1,500 ar 2,000 yards, and if for some special reason
it be deemed necessary to adopt a longer range it
must be limited to 3,000 yards, any further point
being out of the reach of even good telescopes.
It would be erroneous to suppose that by rea-
son of these new cannon battle will be given
hereafter at great distances. Attempts may
doubtless be occasionally made to open a cannonade
at long range, but the necessity of economis-
ing ammunition, the obtaining certain and decisive
results, and the utilizing cavalry and infantry, will
lead probably to actual fighting at not much greater
distances than heretofore. The rifled cannon, as
effective as the old at short distances, will have a
superiority, as it will render more difficult the for-
mation of cavalry and infantry, and can at greater
distances throw disorder into an enemy's reserves,
harass his retreat, &e.

It was in this manner that our artillery was so
effective in the last campaign, owing, however,
much to its facility of being moved.
All the nations of Europe are, and wisely, de-
sirous of accomplishing the same progress, but the
future will show it is a strange error to attempt it
by an exaggerated length of range.
It certainly is remarkable as an attainment of
gunnery that Armstrong and Whitworth cannon
should, at an angle of 35 deg., throw a projectile
some 10,000 yards ; but it has no practical value,
indeed, becomes a vice if done at the cost of the
simplicity of the gun.
What deserves more attention is uniformity in
firing, which is more difficult of attainment.
For purposes of warfare the best artillery is such
as is simple at 019 same time as efficient.
We may be allowed to say that if the various
foreign inventions tend to keep us on the alert they
by no means are cause of apprehension, since at the
present moment we will venture to say that our
artillery has no superior in Europe, and for this
assertion we hive the advantage of actual experi-
ence. Its simplicity is extreme.
" The rifled 81b. gun only weighs 6001b5., al-
though in bronze it wears well in service. Four
horses can move it rapidly up an incline apparently
almost inaccessible. _ _

It may be used with good effect at considerable
distances up to 9,000 yards, and even more if it
were desirable. h throws an oblong projectile of
81b., which produces all the effects necessary, not
only as regards men and horses, but also other ob-
stacles.
Its supply of ammunition is easy and not incon-
veniently weighty, since four horses can draw 100
charges.
The projectile, although hollow, may be used as a
ball ; it may contain a sufficient quantity of powder
to be used as a shell, for which purpose it is fur-
nished with a metallic fuse adapted to various dis-
tances.
Experiments are now being made to afford a
means of judging distances of a small rocket, with
a percussion apparatus, to be fired from these guns,
so that the point at which the rocket arrives may
ba more accurately judged of.
We cannot pass without observation two other
rifled cannon we have for field service. The first is
a mountain 81b gun, in which the same projectile
is used as before mentioned, the gun being of ex-
treme simplicity and so light ; 2001 b) as to be
conveyed on the back of a mule, and capable of fol-
lowing infantry everywhere.
Its range and precision of fire are equal to those
of the 8 pounder already described. The second is
the 241 b howitzer cannon of the Emperor, rifled
like the others, and capable of not only field, hut
siege sell ice.
The French artillery, then, has nothing to envy
in the recent inventions of foreign countries.
If the writer's opinion on" the inutility of excep-
tional range be well founded, it assuredly opens
questions well worthy attention in England whether
our improvements have been altogether in the right
direction, and whether, having obtained a range suf-
ficient for all practical purposes of warfare, other
advantages in simplicity and weight ofthe arm might
not be attained by abandoning the elements of addi-
tional and useless range: It is too mush the fashion
in England to pooh•pooh everything coming from
a foreign source, but he must be of very dense or
very prejudiced mind who does not admit, after
even comparatively little investigation and experi-

ence, that the French ara to be received as high
authority in everything connected with military
matters, whether as relates to material, discipline,
or administration.

In France, in military affairs, at all events:, will
be found the "right man in the right place." The
writer of the above article has come to his work
with no prejudice and with no preconceived assump-
tion of excellence and infallibility, and if he have
asserted that the French artillery is still without a
rival, he has done so in no vaunting or unbecoming
toms, but has evidently arrived at the conclusion,
after due investigation and comparison. There is
nothing to shock the amour propre of the English-
man, but much worthy his attention.
Paris, April 22. T. J. T.