The Lansing state Republican. [volume] (Lansing, Mich.) 1855-1874, 1861-06-05
From ,be n. Y. Tr bune.
RIFLES AND RIFLE PRACTICE.

acquired by Giligent and systematic practice. Il
is not ordinarily found in those regiments recrui
ted about our great cities from men who never
before handled gun, but in those made up oi
young men from the woods who from the daily
use OF the rifle, know its power. This knowl-
etge, when combined with thorough discipline
make them invincible Hence schools Of prac-
tice, established by Government. ere indspensa.
bic, ard should be organized in this country.
The French have such at Vincennes, Toulo Use,
st. Omer and Grenoble, whence officers and men
well instructed in the principles OF fling. are
sent out into the army at large, ard imparts
to it the same system and efficiency An attempt
vas made to establish such school al Fort Mon.
roe for artillery practice, but schools for IN! !ntr,
are far more pressingly needed. The value Of
the bayonet in battle is well understood /; but the
fact Is now incontestible that the .tficen,y Of a
body OF infantry resides essentially il iis accuracy
OF hre, fact made more apparent from the re
cent improvements in Firearms 4 cool well
directed fire from body OF men armed With the
bes, modern rifle or rifle musket. is sufficient to
stop the advance OF almost any body of troops.
but the very best disciplined men viii, in time OF
battle, fire with precptance and AZ too great a
distance. The thoroughness OF practice, al.o
should be in proportion to the efficiency of the
troops TO be encountered. In one of Col Step
toes encounters with the Indians of " ashing;on
Territory. his men were armed with the old mus
ket, ard they soon expended their ammunition
in in. fectual firing against enemies mounted on
fleet horses, armed partly with rifles, partly with
bows and arrows, whose deadly shaft was shot
with astonishing accuracy, and al rate exceed
ing the rapidity OF an expert hand with revol
yer. Charges of cavalry against them failed.
and our men retreated TO avoid humiliation.
Some weeks subsequently, the same troops met
the same Indians, but having in the interval pro
cured the rifle instead Of the musket, the Indians
were totally routed.
In the successful aud oft-repea.ed repulse OF
cavalry charges by squares OF infantry, the main
dependence is not on the use of the bayonct
but in the close, well directed fire, delivered as
the hOrsemen approach. This, breaking their
formation, and dlsorganizing their ranks, leaves
them at the end of their charge With wall OF
bayonets in front, against which horses cannot
be forced unless at full speed and supported by
numbers behind. Ii is this injury, before the
shock takes place, which prevents cavalry from
breaking squares OF infantry. So accurate and
fatal has the rifle become by modern improve
ment, that it has been customary to underrate
the artillery arm on the field of battle and the
assertion is frequently made that the use OF the
rife will entirely supersede the use of field pieces
in war, since their fire has a greater range and
more accuracy than the feld-pieces now in use
But able military writer's doubt this. Others in.
sist that artillerymen will be shot down at such
a distance from their guns as to make it impossi
bic to serve them in the face of infantry that
bayonets will not be crossed so often that per
sOnal conflicts, such as line against line. col
umn against column, will cease altogether, and
future csmbats be decided by tie effects Of a
rapid and destructive fire, on the precision OF
which, rather than or personal contact and ex-
tensive combinations, the rebels will depend.
In India, Havelock, moved down whole columns
of advancing insurgents by Mimic rifles. They
worked dreadful havoc to the Austrians at Ma
genta and SOlferino. Garibaldi retreated before
their withcring fire at Rome. At the battle of
Ilstedt, a body Of skirmishers, armed with rifles,
discharging cOnical balls, made an attack on the
Danes at distance OF $50 yards. Artillery re-
piled to them, cavalry made repeated charges at
them, and infantry advanced, but they could not
be moved. In less than an hour they killed sev-
enty men, with several officers Of high rank and
ninety muses., r'..s "-.sS o''.o .o,"' ~ ...,
idea of the improved rifle superseding field
artillery.
The fire tf the ordinary musket is uncertain
200 yards, but when troops are in compac,
masses, it s still very effective beyond that dis
| tance. At 65O yards the musket ball Is still
deadly and has been known to kill at even greater
distances. The effective range of the rifet
spherical ball is over 400 yards; the oblOng rifle
ball il effective at 1000 yards, or more thar
half mile. The rife was in use as early as 1893
Almost every European army has adopted III
own kind Of rife, essentially differing from eacl
other In the small German States they use bul
lets of almost every conceivable shape and size
The principal arms adopted for the British arm.
/ "a, ,bo EnG GalI r,a ID bot in
Government establishment. Its principal com
petitor 10 the Whitworth rife. The French ar
now perhaps more advanced than all others il
experience and efficiency with that arm. T.
Capt Mimic of their army, they are indebted 70
the weapon bearing his name, and it is now be
iag rapidly adopted throughout the French Sci
vice.
The schools for nractice established in tha
country should be Initiated here. The men ar
there taught to take the easiest and most stabl
positions, either standing or kneelng; to sigh
and fire with blank cartridges, preserving immo
vable both the body and the piece. The quic
movement the soldier impsrts to the piece. b
pulling the trigger, is the great cause of bis L
sing his aim. The principal object of instruc,io
is to habituate him not to being surprised BY IN
explosion, by pressing gradually upon it, Fo
this purpose they are made to fire caps at
lighted candle, placed about three inches fror
the piece. If the latter il properly aimed, th
Jet of gas produced by the cap will extnguis
the candle. After this, they fire blank cartridge
The officers are thoroughly instructed IN estm;
ting distances, as they will so much better dire,
the FIRE Of the men they command This know
edge is of great advantage 10 them in maneCve
ing troops and soldiers thrown out as shirmisl
ers will out general enemy if they know no
to estimate distance with precision, TOR their I'll
will then be mere accurate and eff ,aciou
: There are regular instructors in all these depar
: nehts. Records of the firing are kept in eac
battalion. IL is to this thorough training cor
bined with the use of the best weapon, that q
French army owes most Of its present suprem
cy. The men are much marksmen as any
our deersayers. The Ninie ball, fred
o them, is q terriCle missile. What destruction
!. works was shown at the recent riot at ST. Lou
. Those which struck the walls of the house
D tore up bricks for space Of four inches in dial
t eter. When they struck fair, they sunk +
b inches in the solid wall. One Of them stru
6 the angle of q wall, tore away a brick next
% the door frame, passed six inches through &
;. frame, then through the door and into the "
!. beyond. A stroke of lightning has frequent
d done less damage.
n OxENs-Tba;cher' comet is now said to
e plainly visible to the naked eye. 1t will be fou
is in the quadrangle of the Dipper in the CIR.
d Bear-a hszy star, nearest the brightest o: ,
g four. 1t shows tail three degrees long in :
III telescope, moves rapidly from the North east.
ls few davs it will be conspicuous as fami
I 1.l <-zx ~. ,,so o,ho