The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1864-01-10
OUR GREAT GUNS.
improvements and ,ssesyesss IN krtillery in
thelaHu a shs Intro States,
Ac~ =. =.
Ayner,cun Arsslt.rv.


p,,,,or American ArsalEery.
So dNtser (Nov lAl 10 the London Times, Dec IT.
cng,is Ar frtn tu,orng 70 the national vanity oi an
~ ,esscn 10 ee scld that Tho artillery q bis country
= R& ts requirements Of me present. age and ih@ 10
q and hall years Of cxaslcrniea warfare America hss
sstripped Europe as regards the size power and en-
sscncy OF her Il has been my fortune however
% hear this LANGUAGE employed and these opnicus
yressod on many sccas,ons darRg 10 last two years,
So-h n tho Northern ard Southern statee, and II
Hrst be avowed that ia somo Instances the sposes men
Gave been tho very highest authorities upon the sub
Sct OF artillery that ths Continent boast. When
there s such coincidence Of cplnun among men
who are certainly not sgrnsssed IN knowledge q
tgh time that kagland Should satisfy bersei &C 10 tho
lsh ihst i IA Asr and should fearlossy ascertain zee
ruth at whatever cost OF rnk. % very possible ina.
he actual results Of the experiments s; Shoeosrynets
and elsewhere 4. Engsand unknown 10 this country;
bat VIII repeat that be the Fadcaj obceiiocS
snteriaced on This side Of the atlantis 10 me ArmsIong
and Naworth guns In the arst place, .here s ahNef-
Sc dsbciey the strength o. breech oadlrs oanson
SECONDLY there X gonera lection The RAPID twist Of
he r.aag IN the riled srdnance q nsk.and. oave
%eaeoea in previous leor ae s .n,s n "
cowrieto turn forty feet, OF sne-lourth Of turn
gun was first introduces Z was publicly stared 70
evidence England that The resistance % the
e eIual lc weight OF soc hall and that con-
ecguenfy, whom the shet cayes hc is initial VETO
city 81 as IS well known, very low II IN order 70 IN
this velocity the charge Of powder DO augmented,
ice grooves wear very rapidly, and the gun Becomes
useless 1t to DO believed by Commander Brooke
and Admiral pahlgren that all the advantages Of ritng
he gained by moro gradual twist, and greater
tcngih at scrvicceced from The gun Be the may,
there DO question mat, SO far as heavy rifed
ordnance concerned the great OF this
TIE Brooke and Parrot guns ana i with
reference 10 the enormously superior powers OF these
guns beyond possessed by the English sixty.
eiAht pcaaacr or eght-nch smooth bore that the
seea, error >! linglsh opinion seems TO be enter
siued How far the Brooke and Parrot guns outsirp the
Armstrong and Whsworth, thoir rlled competitors in
Furcpe IL smpossole for TO say buI by turning TO
The Gth volume OF the professional papers OF tho Royal
Engineers, published at Woolwich 1854 will be ob
vious liza, immense stride Las been made since the
desay rcn the pen Of sir ohn gurgoynethe lhen high
e. authority IN Englsnd-whch that volume contains,
written. Taxing foibs text the preaching Of Mar
The siege operators cundcced 6y the Prussan govern
meut al Juers between AiX Ia harec and <ologne),
10 preaching fort, Of rifcd ordnance at range OF
thousand yards compared 18th The smooth
! o9Ie and Spherical preectNes; sr John says.
further trials win carry IL hundreds Of
yards seycnd) rlled ordnance has been ascertained
20 give the velocity aud precision OF practice required
W elect breaches whereas with the spherical missiles
SIX hundred hundred yards may be deemed their
utmost practical limits II little lorcseer By Sir
John Burgoyne that, scarcely from the publ
cation Of hese words fort would be preached by Tcd
ordnance, not at Of thousand yards and poe
sioy few hundred yards ocyona but from distance
ct two and half ries In reference 20 the practice
aganst the Martello Sir John ooserYes-"Trale
wsrc subsequently made TO breach similar tower from
smooth bored sixty eight and thirty two FOUNDERS the
came range Of one thousand aud thrtytwo yards and
sho result may be deemed altogether failure both accu.
racy OF fire and velocity ~ the missiles being quite de-
0slens for such range Al Ave SSndred 9, perhaps
ordnance would have been very little. any.'S
no guns employed against the tower IN question
three Armstrong breech leaders, described follows
l. An 62-pounder OF inches cabre, charge for shot,
!clo, for shen. sI6 IA finch now,szei throwing
nckee calibre, No. 10l; charge, 5b.
At tbe conclusion Of the second days practice after
feet, the tower reduced heap OF ruins But
Nenuch as Sir John speaks vaguely Of the possible effect
doubted whether the Armstrong gun would be see.Ss
against masonry at more than 1000 yards. Here, how
ever We nave OH sumter peeacned oy me rarro gSo
desirable that the attention OF England should be drawn
these startling developments. and that she should
suffer herself 70 DO lued into fancied security and TO
awe in FOOLS PARADISE because she has lavshed millions
upon The Armstrong gun.
But regards preaching practice the superiority Of
She riied ordnance over smooth bores is manifesty
established, believe that this superiority viii be still
marked when both tried against iron plating
There appears be in Ingland and especially among
naval officers very general idea that NJ shor. range
there no gun 80 formidable against iron plates as the
cid sixty eight FOUNDER or eight inch smooth bore am
not al liberty TO mention the exact results gained by
Cspssn Brooses trials against the target with his own
they would astonish Europe is imagined IN England
ahat only OF the Monitors or Charleston
hitherto been sunk the Confederate cannot be very
formidable. That this not the belief Of the federas
evnced by the very wide berth which their iron.
deal OF has been written by o.
Northern journals abou. the Monitors approaching within
scun,ed) and delivering their nren The truth really
l. that no Monitor has ever approached Forts
keokuk which came within 200 yards, and was sunk.
10 asked, Have you any gun in England which could
suk the Keokuk al that dstanos This question must
be answered in England ITSELF Nothing 10 more certain
shsn that the sixty eight FOUNDER could not attempt such
feat when the wreck Of the Keokus was exsmiuei il
Yes found that IN ADDITION to the BROOKE bolt which
bore bad riddlea her iurre. through and through.
smooth bore sgains, IRON plating is scciicd al
90 this continent Commander Brooke Of
ban thrown by the weehawkcn against The Atlanta,
would easily crash through the Warriors sides,
and create az much sensation a. tie largo stone bali
shrown long ago on the Dardanees which struck !idm
ra Duckworth g ship. BIT Europe and Amerca dicr n
nothing more than 10 their conceptions OF tho right kind
az projecte 10 employ against iron plating Of the
~ at which the proectle should be launched and Il t.e
nature OF The iron which fhoud be oppose 20
The object Of Europe seems 10 be 10 pierce porurae
iron armor by elongated bolts driven ut immense
~ the object Of America 10 smash 10 the sides
low velocity. Again, 1t seems universally beliege cd IN
Europe that solid iron plates uniformly riicc
shan four Eve amn, layers. each them en nch
IN thickness, laid one on the top Of the other. Ir.
Eeveos, OF New York, the other hand, prof bis
belief that ANIMATED iron is stronger ell
ceing vastly cheaper, than solid very superficial
examination OF the subject VIII convince every mat
men are yel n their infancy az regards snowieGgc me
oynamics Of artillery, and OF The resis'a4cc wnch
ron clad sea going vessels can be made 10 o1er hut
eur knowledge has now advanced 10 such q stage rs
70 make Il probable that we are on tue exc u a
uomen,ous discovery. II 10 for this reason a.! the
surprising 10 Englishmen who resident in
North America, and who cognizant OF strides
VII CD the Americans have made, that II never
seemed q 70 the English government attach each
~ the misbty pelgerents now arrayed against each
other on this continent such commissioners II has
eeen our practice 10 send with view TO watching
sd reporting upon European wars in which
neu,ralsrch for instance, attached 20 the
austrian and French armies 10 the Italian 1859 or
each President Pierce sent 70 the Crimea 1853 Ia
-nt belief Of all who most corversant with lie details
has there occurred 50 pregnant with nsrlc
military aud artlersts the present
= - not alone that the battles fought with 10.
snce of artillery hitherto unknown, that (se ]
Anve heard stately more shclls were discharg.
ed 10 the single battle a Gettysburg than were
.LuIl0yod 10 all the battles that Napoleon ever
-o-sht bat that on which relates 10 the seen &c u
mpitary engineering, whether n relation % sleges or
battles not only and, but also the margin OF ocean
estuary, lake, liver ard swamp such opportunities are
cay presented as u al the previous current
century might be sought ia vain. u would nai no
European government With the exception n the Prussan
LIS Is eyes open % the opportunity now 90 sncranty