East Saginaw courier. (East Saginaw, Mich.) 1859-18??, 1862-02-25
NUMBER 80.

the fire of nearly one hundred men, with
out being touched; and we must observe,
that the chances for hitting were unusu.
ally good. The men fired at will aud
from any position they chose, for they
were not drawn up in ranks which
would give them vast advantage over
the same number of men firing N rank,
and at the word of command. This il
merely an example Of what happens
every day with troops armed with tho
musket. Thus Col. Pelissier, speaking
or the first campaigns of the French in
Africa, says, that during the marches, if
the soldiers saw the flutter of a single
Arabs barnows, five or six hundred mus
kets would be fired at il, and generally
without tho least effect. Such an enor-
nous waste of ammunition is due no
doubt, in some measure, to the awkward
ness or the furry of the soldier; but the
ineiiieicncy Of the weapon is sufficient of
itself TO account for it. The musket,
even when loaded with charge of pow
der which creates an unpleasant reooil,
has its point blank at about ono hundred
yards At this distance its deviations are
already considerable. AT 200 yards, un-
less you aim above the object to be hit,
ia very hard thing to teach the soldier to
do,) all your balls 20 into the ground. At
300 yards, it may be said to be entirely
useless. Take the weapon in hand and
examine it. 1t has no breechsight by
which determinate line Of aim can DO
marked. The barrel is crossed by three
several bands which intercept the aim
The lock generally works so stifily that
If yon get any aim, you must lose it when
you pull the trigger. Finally, the ball
fits 50 loosely, and is subject to so many
causes Of deviation, that if the musket
wereimmovsbly fixed in vice, and fired
dozen times, at the distance Of 100
yards, no two balls would strike the same
point; but all the balls would be scattered
over a circle several feet in diameter. Is
it any wonder that such weapon is so
uncertain in its effects? If numbers did
not compensate in some degree for its
want of accuracy, it is probable that it
would never have been adopted as the
chief weapon of modern armies. If we
take in consideration, moreover, that lines
of infantry generally open their fire at
four or five hundred yards, we will not
be surprised at finding that nearly all tho
shots are lost.
All these objections to the musket had
long been acknowledged, but the diff
Guilty was to find substitute. The otdi.
nary ride, however efficient in the hands
of population of hunters and back
woodsmen, familiar with its use from in
fancy, and fighting without any regular
order, either behind entertainments or as
sharp-shooters, was found to possess no
advantage over the musket in the hands
Of troops formed of men whose habits Of
life had been different and these neces.
sarily constitute the great bulk Of modern
armies.
What was gained in accuracy was
more than balanced by the difficulty of
loading and the consequent slowness Of
firing. This difficulty was SO great and
so disagreeable to the soldiers, that the
men, in action, would frequently throw
away their rides, to pick mp musk ets.--
Another objection was that the rife
would foul in very few shots, and then
it would require wiping out, or lose its
accuracy. Moreover the small charge Of
powder used, gave only feeble vclocities
to the balls; and if the cartridges were
at all damaged, the quantity Of powder
left in them, was hardly sufficient to pro-
duce any effect. To overcome all these
difficulties, was the problem which, for
many years, occupied the ingenuity Of
many military men. We will briefly
mention the different steps which wero
taken towards its solution.
Windage being the principal cause of
the deviation of balls, it was important
to remove it. BY giving to the ball
rotary motion, which would be retained
during its flight, another cause of devia-
tion would disappear, the weapon there
fore must have spiral growing like
rifle. The conditions of the problem
were consequently theses rifle of great
range was wanted, which could be loaded
as quickly and easily as the musket, and
yet, in which the balls would fit as tightly
as in the common rifle. 1t must allow
the use of heavier charges of powder
than this weapon, in order TO afford
greater ranges The cartridges to be
used with it must be easy and simple to
manufacture, and capable Of being trans
ported without any more danger of dete-
riorstion than the musket cartridges. In
addition, the weapon must be Of such Q
size and weight as to be handled as easily
as the musket. -
1t would seem, at first sight, that q
breech loading rifle, in which the bah
could be placed in chamber, Of diam.
eter slightly larger than the bore Of the
piece, would fulfil all the conditions
which have reference to the case and
rapidity of loading and the complete de-
struotion of the windage. Ii is true
that, with regard to the latter condition,
it is completely fulfilled; for before the
ball can leave the barrel. it has to un-
dergo dimnution Of its diameter and .
consequent elongatioa of its form; but
we will state hereafter the reasons why
breech-loading weapons have never proved
satisfactory, and probably never viii. lan
About twenty years ago, French in.
fapfrv officar nasoad nafv,c,o .,.~-s~l