New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1866-07-16
Esine.-An Important Military
lesson.
From the London Tine,


The great lesson to be learned by military men from
the present in Germany ia the irrosibe superiority OF
Breecb loading Rifles in action The Austrian army IN
Prussn it contained far larger proportion Of veteran sol
diere ana Pr9oaey OF seentne ohees ~ was Soanacu py
man second IN Tepuaio 10 no teners IN Europe ~ Was
fighting tho defensive for which against tho in
ton loyal TO the House Of Hapsburg and yet 1t has been
gradually driven back with loss estimated by the Prussians
az Ov or 4OVVO men ana Is nov sara 70 oe gre'H u ~.
By the series Of reyerses which IT has sustained IL was Tor
some time supposed that stategca reasons Of an uner
Benedek TO fall back point by point towards position
selected by himself for = general engagement This
supposton is no longer tenGbe 1t Is altogether incredible
Austrians at Skacz. Trautenau and Nunchenga q
feint after ali, that Gschn was Il owed to be
stormed and Prince Frederick Charles to effect junction
with Crown PRICE the hope of drawing the 10
the battle-ground between hoaEgiaI auG Joepns'a NIo
nothing but decisive victory cOud a'Hi austria ana Wtro
crushing defeat might open 10 the Prussians way TO- Wen
beaten according all the accounts that have reached
US by the rapid fire Of the Prussan infantry From first
to last is the Needegun that has apparently carried the
days and the Needleguu is simply breeehloading rifle OF
ton Be compared with several brcechloadng rifles
manufactured by English makls, but Imperfect as Is 1t
has proved quite good enough victory oI the Prus
SLAMS in almost every encounter We eief 70 le etef o
correspondent at Che headquarters Of The First russan
army find ample proofs Of is extraordinary effect 1t
this which mainly enabled the rnssns to force the passage
the bridge the lser at Podo between Tarnan and
through which the road passes toward the bridge.
and commanded all the approaches ron WIDOWS
reucn three times before the Ausrans armed
only with muzzlelosdng rifles. able to reply This
position and the Ausrsns seemed to have been completely
overmatchcd "In the street the Austrian soldiers hodded
together and snunbsd u harry rdrod' were unable TO
load with ease and could adeq fire 10 that Of
the Prussans while these from the advantage OF better
poured their quick yoeys into an almost delencess
crowd" II the the railway bridge about 200
yards distant. where like struggle was gong on simn
qua showed its advantage the old fashioned weapons Of
the Ausans for the latter fell in the proportion Of sr to one
bof 4 mt
ali of their killed and wounded the field and 1t was found
that only the number Of Austrian dead much greater
ans TO wounded Prussians was tive 10 one"
These startling results and yet they are no more than
any uufettered by military pIeudces would have antc
paed There may be still lingering doubts old
hands to whether Breechoader shoots as other
words caries quite loader but the better
opinion is that held straight h fully eqas TO its awkward
it does much greater execution. Now battle strongly re-
sembes battro with this difference that GOODNESS and sen
possession are far rarer and OF far more importance II
posnen furried by the difficulty OF loading fast
enough while birds getting on all sides how can young
soldiers be expected TO keep their heaos clear ara TIER hnd
steady in the Of ramming down while they are them
Withoat experience however involving consider
able expense likely to find favor with heads of Departments
in this country 1t this ground that We have invited az
enon experiments which have lately been tined on the
largest scale ia real warfare and most earnestly repre-
sent the urgent necessity Of prohng By them II was but last
month that Marshal Bnedek encouraged his troops 20 desDe
alleged superiority OF Prusan firearms and TO rely on the
bayone and already tho consequence. Every one
bayoDets seldom actually crossed when they
are crossed follows that those who the
worst will give the vigorous thrust and before they
crossed II is certain that rapidly OF IRE VIII tel fatally
With these facts before not day should be Lost In armng
infantry with breechoaders OF the most available
pattern. There official in the War Department who
would hmsefhink OF using muzzeoader IN cover shooting
II bad the option OF breecbloader who would like TO
confront with the former enemy provided with
latter Then why delay place the better in the
hands OF army The smaller the force maintain CON-
pared with hour neighb0rs and the greater the difficulty
experience in recruiting it. the more essential Is that We
shou forthwith appropriate improvement which mupes
its effective strength and makes under certain
cumstances amach for two or three Whether the single
Breechoader Repeating Rife like that OF Spencer
adopted the United States would the whole be
yceabe matter 10 be discussed by professional oonnos
seurs Spencers rifle Is "sevenshooer" and all seven
charges put into achamber In the stock but
the breech be opened after each shot 70 rid OF the
empty cartridge, 1t is possible that very little time gained
and risk OF arrangement incurred by thus additional
pcation Such points may safely be left ito the judgment Of
scientific officers but the expediency Of substituting Breoch
leaders for Muzzeoaders another affair Scientific officers
will succeed by themselves in forcing the change
the authorities and the only capable OF doing so Is the
power OF public opinion.