Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1859-05-05
Improvements in the Weapons OF
War.

War.
The London Times, in a recent number,
gives the following items:
- In one of the stories of the American ar
Of Inde pendence British officer relates
how he was once posted with couple of
riAemen in close prox unity to the enemy's
lines. As they were peeriDg through the
bushes by which they were concealed, and
feeonnoitering the ground to as good psr-
pose as was possible, they observed single
horsemsn approaching their place of ambush
: at quiet pace, and without the least sus-
picion of the danger he incurred. As he
drew nearer, the officer gave the word to
one OF bis men. and the rife was turned on
the American horseman with deadly aim,
bu: at the last moment the order was coun-
termanded. Twice was the rider covered
in this manner, and twice did the officer,
from a reluctance to take even an enemy
at such disadvantages, forbid the soldiers to
fire. A few days afterward, as he tells US
in his narrative, he found out that the horse
man was General Washington, and he con-
grstulates himself upon bis forbearance in
having saved a lie which did America such
great service. and England, after all, such
little harm. We fear such magnsnimity
is Uncommon among sharpshooters, and
certainly there would be few such chances
of escape in modern warfare.
One Of the most evident features. indeed,
in the new o der of things is. that no mans
life can be safe in a campaign. There is
an end of the days when princeIy generals,
6f royal commanders, OF amateur soldiers of
any rank, could gallon serenely in the m idst
Of brilliant staff and survey the battle or
the seige from place of security. Those
dreadful "arms of precision" which have
been now introduced will send death with
unfailing certainty into the remotest qu.r-
ter Of the field. It was thought an extra
ordinary circumstance, some forty five wears
ago, when Moreau was struck by cannon
shot at two thousand yards distance; hut at
the present day, cannon, instead of car
lrying one mile. will carry five The very
rife OF the ordinary foot soldier will
pitch its bullet as far rs the feIG-piece of
old times, and with infinitely greater accu-
racy. In fact, to be within sight is to be
within range. and to be within range is to
be at deaths door.
The French pamphlet on Italy tells US
that King Victor Emn1aiiilel, at the battle
ofNovais. feceived sixteen bullets in his
coat: But though the battle of Novara is a
very recent event. the science of prujectiles
has been revofuI,oufzed since r. wee EAaah
and sixteenth part of such a risk would
now probably produce far more fatal re-
suit. 1t seems hard TO say how armies are
in future to be maneuvered As guns are
now manufactured and handled, they must
literally sweep the field of every thing liv-
ing. With such rifles and cannon as we
now use, the grea: Napoleon could have
been picked off the Observatory at Water
loo or the tobacco mill a. Lepsic, as surely
as Nelson was shot down on the quarter
deck of the Victory. There is famous
painting of Louis XIV standing on the
bank OF the Rhine, with the Marshal of the
day imploring His Majesty to remove his
sacred person from a scene of such danger,
. and even threatening to terminate the Dat
tie by retreat unless his prayer is attend
ed to. There is no longer room, however,
for sny such affecting scenes. To enter
the field at all is to stand at the cannon Is
mouth, and none will 90 there except at the
stern command of duty.
An inquiry will naturally suggest ITSELF
after sll these reflections, as to the proba
BILE end of such marvellous pregrese in the
terrible arts of destruction. If war is to
become year by year more dreadful, more
deadly, and more expensive, what will be
the practical effect upon society, We trust
it may be :his-that it will be less and less
readily undertaken. When war is almos
D. certain ruin 20 both sides, both sides. We
may hope. will pause before they accep
such an issue. The Enfield rife, as We
have seen both in the Csimea and in India
can change the very face OF battle; bu
the Enfield rife is mere pop-gun compared
with the elaborate weapons which are nov
introduced into the world.
In the American frigates a single gul
worked by half dozen seamen will throw
to distance of two or three miles a sho
equal in weight to an entire broadsde o
q such cannon as were used by Duncan an,
Jervis. Armstrong; guns are expected t
carry nearly twice that distance, and rifle
have been produced which will send bullet
through target al one thousa nd yards wit
" a rapidity OF succession like that of hail
stones on skylight. How any ship OF ba.
TALON is to stand against such projeetiles
ss puzzle to conceive. But, If war cal
be thus made to extinguish war. it will b
true blessing, though realized BY strang
process.