The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1868-11-20
THE MONCRLEFF BATTERY.


Principle and Operation OF the hat
terry. .. ..
From The london Spectator, oct "a.
Those who had never heard anything of the
MoncrieG Battery until within the last few
months, and who have only half considered
the broad questions which this solution of one
side OF the fortitcation problem opens out, are
probably wondering why so much fuss is being
made about a gun-oarriage. Those who have
been interested in the Invention during the
ten years Of its incubation have for their
parts been inclined rather to wonder why
fuss has not been made about it before.
Perhaps the British public will come to Won
der as these last before the invention is done
with; and then not TO wonder, when they re-
member the difficulties which beset the intro
duction of new invention aud the distractions
which oppose it. Without pausiug now TO
examine, on the one hand, the causes which
interfere with the ready and immediate ao-
oeptance of every new invention which comes
forward and which would naturally operate
with greater force in proportion as the inven-
.tion is original; and without, on the other
hand, recklsssy assigning the delay to official
obtuseDess, We may observe that Captain
Moncriett's invention is sufficiently important
to have merited recognition some time ago,
and fully to warrant all that is being said
about il now. Forit is to be noticed at the
outset that the invention is not by any means
D comprsed in the expression "a mere gun
battery is not. 1t is q battery-a system-a
fertilization in itself. The carriage is but
the material application of the system. To
smake this clear, we will endeavor in a few
words as possible to explain what the iu-
vention is designed to effect The sim plest
and most primitive form of defense is, we need
hardly say, parapet of earth, or sand, or
natural materials. Given such parapet, the
question straghtway arises, how shall it be
applied to the protection of men and guns
In the case of rifemen there is no difficulty.
The soldier remains behind the parapet until
he has loaded his rifle and is ready to fire,
when he rises up discharges his piece, ex-
posing himself for a moment, and at enee re-
treats behind the parapet again. This is
simple enough, and this is the natural
= order of defense. The parapet is fixed
shield, from behind which the defender
appears only momentarily to strike blow,
exposing him as little as possible. In the
case OF a gum however, the problem is
less easy Of solution. 1t has not hitherto
been found practicable to raise and lower
guns weighing many hundredweight or tons
as handily and readily az rifles. So the guns
have been fixed. in position to fire either
through the parapet or over it. The first of
these systems gives US the embrasure; the
second gives us the barbette battery-each
with It's objections and its advantages The
embrasure obviously constitutes ia itself an
unprotected point 1t is a breach in the con-
the enemy's fire, and furnishing ready means
of entrance for shot and shell. But this is not
all. The embrasure necessarily restricts greatly
the lateral range of the guns, which only
deliver their fire within the angle defined by
the splay of its sides. Again, an embrasure is
easily destroyed. The breach already COM
mencedis greatly widenedby a few ell-directed
hostile projectiles; even the conclusive effect
of its own gun, and the gradual deterioration
due to rain and weather, in time sccomplishes
what the enemy may fail to achieve. To meet
this last class OF objections, and in view of the
increasing range, accuracy, and power OF rihed
ordnance, 1t has become necessary of late years
to supplement the weakness of the primitive
earth opening. or the modified weakness of
the revetted embrasure, with shield of some
sort And i'll an iron. age, iron shields natu-
rally presented themselves as most efficient
means of defense. Thus the Gibraltar and
Milwall Shields, for example, were designed
to close the embrasure, leaving only an
opening for the gun to fire through. This,
the latest and best form of embrasure, re-
mains, however, an embrasure still-an iron
instead of an earthen one. But until the intro
duction of Moncrieff's system this iron en-
brasure promised to present the most familiar
type of defense. The barbette system consists
in raising the gun permanently above the
parapet over which it is to fire. By this
arrangement the characteristic disadvantages
OF the embrasure are got rid of. The guns
have free lateral play, the parapet is un-
broken, and the infantry behind it are
securely protected. But these advantages are
obtain at the expense of the gun and the
men who have to serve it, for the guns and
gunners are scarcely protected at all. Raised
above the parapet, they furnish fair
marks for the enemy. And so acGu.
rate is the fire of modern ordnance
ana small arms, that practical mel
have long since deemed that the days of bar
bette batteries are past If any one desire
The enlightenment OF actual experience on thii
point he has but to read Colonel Won Scheli
has "Treatise on Coast Defense" where he
will find among the deductions from the ex
perience acquired in the American war, one Il
the-efect that barbette batteries are nowadays
not tenable. And this deduction he will fuC
expressed over and over again. Thus we were
left with choice between two evils
On the one hand, the fettered fire of thu
enbrasure with its imperfect prJtec
ton; on the other, the almost tota
absence of protection afforded by the barbett
system. A third plan, it is true, has foun,
some favor-a plan which combines many o
the advantages of both the barbette and em
brassure-the plan, that is, OF revOlyin
oupolas or turrets. BY this system fra
lateral range is obtained and excellent pro
lection. But the cupola has its disadvantage
too, the chief one being its enormous co 81
Added TO this it is not absolutely invulnera
/ BILE; the portfolio, however small, is an embra
sure after all, and thus presents point how
= ever limited, of attack; and, finally, it is not
pleasant thing to have TO fight your gun in
close box, the mechanism of which may ge
out of order, and either cripple or hepiessl
expose You, At this point Captain MouCfis