New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1862-01-18

lance.
Aiming Drip IS taught by the aid Of tripods and
sand bags, on which the rife is placed, end then by
taking aim at mark. This is doro a. seventeen
distance, three daily, 80 yards apart, from 100 TO
900 yards. There are dozens of men who AT first
cannot aim at all they have not tie power OF form.
ing a connect line with the eye, the sights, and the
object, because the organ has never been hrs exer-
cssd but aiming can he and lie taught by " Amin Z
Drls' This exercse ia well calculated to strengthen
the vision and il cannot be too strongly Impressed
on the mind Of the soldier that. to shoot well at long
ranges, he must train and strengthen lis eye by look
ing at small objects at distances beyond those at
which he will have TO fire in practice.
The next drill is what is called Position Drill,
aud in il included al those paHs Of Tie platoon
exercss which alice; The destination Of tie bullet.
The soldier is placed in and habitaed to, tie beat
position for Independent firing, if actually firing
hali-mirute attention being paid to every motion.
Tie object of Position DrilI is TO establish i,n IL
stnntneous connection between his eye md bis
finger.
TIE Birth soldier, whether standing or kneelng,
has bat ono node Of firing Ii he has 10 Ire TO The
tgn' :" ,,'' 0o"lI ~. s.y, anu
n'e' d. "'' 20 all who have seen
&C 'o''''Ne" ,o-iiions Us required by the oblique
L,ss on the American line, that effective aim can
result, while there II evident danger OF hitting the
muz1les On the nigh, or lett of the lrer.
five tel a man that he cannot fire accurately be-
cause he cannot press the trigger when lie chooses,
because there is 10 union between his brain and his
l. q, h and tba liz
ment; but il ia most extraordinary fact.
that tho great majority Of men canret pres
tiger when they Ike or when they
ouglt bit miss, because they uy, by retaining the
aim, 10 make sure OF il. They do not Get upon the
irst impression and then ire too late, and mics the
oljcot. iy swapping coutinually at spots on wall
and at targeis at various distances, men learn to
squeeze the tgger at the peculiar juncture OF time
that is necessary; and rcrsons who are well taught
come TO this point--,hat when tEey fire they know
where The bullet will 30. II they mics, they know
Why. They feel that they pulled at the wrong
time and that the finger did not obey the mind
The finger is certainly their property, hut il s not
subdued--it is not broken int is not in the
union Ga remarking to u soldier that bic bali
has fallen short, he would sometimes say, 81 never
meant 10 pull the trigger. but it went off," and he
thinks be has n kind Of right TO new cartridge.
Tie error Of moot men is that they cannot make it
go of soon enough.
simple illustration Of aiming may be witnessed
on board man-olwar. There you cannot retain en-
aim If the ship is in notion the saor must pull at
the right time that il, when he has got the aim; be
waits for tue lurch Of the ship and he ies 70 pull al
the ripht time NJ ans other than the very time at
which the man pulled he would have missed. IL is
precisely the same with the COLDER and bis gum be
must press tho trigger at the exact moment
Thus a; Hythe they teach shooting without firing
ball-by merely aiming at spots n wall, ard also
at objects Of the same rize, and at the distances at
which the practices are performed, while trimming
the finger to work in unison with tie eye.
In position drill i, is important that to trigger
be pressed without tie slightest jerk, and with the
motion OF tie iorefnger only at ls second jont-no
aid being derived from tie hand or srm--the eye
being liked upon the mark Turing and after firing,
as if il were proonging the intention Of the Grer.
After this " dummy -trn n.y." ball-cartridgc is given
but merely TO ascertain # the men have pro6ted by
their teaching, or to prove the efficiency Of their
teachers. IL is proved beyond doubt that this whole
= ystem Of dammy-fring produces hrsi-rate shots
that a man becomes msrksman without having fired
shot-while, on the other hand, should the recruit
IA. at the ties, Of Lis tuition, he is not made 10 blaze
away with ba-cartridgo until he becomes proficient.
This is secuted as a most pernicious error Without
the drills the more he fires the worse shot he be.
comes; 80 they send him back to "Iosition drill,
&C., and try him again. when he rarely fails to show
better results. Those who have not witnessed the
results of the training a. ythe may doub, the posi-
by Of teaching men TO shoot withou, firing shot,
but the fact is nevertheless certsn, and it will he
found to be 80, II the Union adopts the system-as
trust will be the Gaze in due season.
Each recruit in the Driiith army free 10 rounds
Of ball in the frst year, and other soldiers 90 and
the tbrd-class shots fire every Winter after receiy-
ing extra preliminary instruction, in order that every
soldier may succeed in getting out Of the third cass.
Each annual Of firing Of the old soldiers even,
is always preceded by of preliminary drill.
The average "fguro of merit Of British firing s
HAS. At $50 yards the per cen.age Of hits is 1902
a, 400 yards it ia 6l2 at GOO yards it is 1926 at
go yards it is 1895. In tle-Gring it is S0.sl in
volley-fring, 76.22; in skirmishing 1900.
Having witnessed the firing Of the French soldiers
at Vincennes, should say that they not general
y to be compared to the Enthusiastically not the
French infantry Of the line. ssw better firing by
the Chasseurs, and doubtless, some OF these ba,ta.
ions will equal the best Of the British. The is
evident: every Chasseur battalion haf lie instructor
Of muskeiry, with his staff. There /, constant
instruction and frequent practice which 10 not the
Gaze in the French line "a yet, but this deficiency
viii soon be supplied in tie French army. Rewards
nd distinctions. aecordns TO rc.na,ed fcse, tend
further to insure proficiency 10 both armies.