The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1870-12-03
TIE CBAssEp0T IN THE FIELD.


A correspondent of the Pail Mall Gazette,
who has studied abroad the character and per-
formances of the Chassepot, makes the follow
ing observations on that arm:-
The points in which the Chassepot Is assumed
10 possess superiority over the German needle
gun are the following:-1. Lightness OF the
weapon. 2. Superior range. 3. Greater ra-
pidity in fire. The German rifle is at least
twenty five per cent. heavier than the French,
and the formers range is only from seven to
eight hundred metres, while the latteris sighted
to twelve hundred, and Is effective even beyond
that distance. In the hands of well-driled SOL
diers the Chassepot can readily be loaded and
fred eleven times In the minute, while the
needle-guns stops short at seven times. These
advantages are claimed by the French and ad-
mitted by the Germans Officers and privates
alike--with whom have discussed the question;
but / am about to show that much of the ILL
success of the French armies in the present war
is due to these assumed points of superiority.
There Is degree of lightness Qf / may use
such an expressiop) below which rifles. like
cannon, must not fall: for durability in such
weapons is quite as important desideratum as
that OF hardness. The needle-gun of the Ger
man armies is by no means too heavy for men
even below the average in physical strength,
and the mass of the weight lies in the barrel,
especially at the breecb; while durability in the
Chassepot has been sacrificed to lightness, and
the weapon soon gets out of order. This liability
to arrangement 10 due to more than one cause,
but the barrel itself is the chief seat of the
difficulty, as shall prove further on.
The much greater range of the Chassepot,
strange as this may at first appear, has rendered
II inferior In effect to the needle gun on battle
fields. The French infantry have been made to
understand that their weapons are superior to
those OF their opponents, and that the latter can
therefore be struck down far outside the range
OF their own rifles. The French have CON-
menced firing away rapidly at from twelve hun
dred to a thousand yards distance, and by the
time their enemies have closed In upon them,
which, aided by their numerous aud superior
artillery, they have seldom failed to do quickly,
the barrel of the Chsssepot has become so
heated as to prove no longer serviceabe.
Rapidly in firing would appear to be great
advantage in rifles as in cannon, but there is
limit beyond which inventors should not VEN
ture If other desiderata are to be preserved. The
French infantry fire too much at random, while
the Germans coolly endeavor to make every
shot tell.
Having thus dealt generally with the two
weapons, will now proceed to point out the
particular demerits of the French arm. The
bore of the Chassepot is very much smaller
than that of the needle.g gun and the barrel con-
siderably shorter. To ensure superior range
the charge of powder is greatly increased, and,
the barrel being so light the recoil is something
terrible, particularly when the weapon becomes
heated The men are therefore in the habit of
firing from the hip instead of the shoulder, and
accuracy in aim is thereby sacrificed 1t is said
that the Prussians acted in a similar manner
against the Austrans in 1866; but since that
period the barrel of the needle-gun has received
| improvements, and the rifle is now discharged
from the shoulder with minimum of recoil.
But the chief fault of the Chassepot has
| hitherto lain not merely in the quantity but the
quality of its metal for the barrels appear to be
made of very inferior steel, If not simply of
| iron, and1 cannot believe they have ever been
| properly tested, if tested at all. Ny attention
was first called to this fact at the town of
Soultz, in Alsace, the headquarters of the Crown
| Prince of Prussia after the victory of Woerth.
| there saw many thousand Chassepots which
had just been received IRON the battlefield,
| N m her nf ham in
| dented and bent, but not fractured, by the ene-
mys shot. One of them thus I'M ured brought
away with me to Baden, and carefully
| examined it in company with an eminent
German gunsmith. This Chassepot had been
struck by rife bullet some two inches from
the muzze; the impress of the shot remained
stamped on the BARREL which was completely
bent at an angle of at least ten degrees from the
right line, and the square shoulder-piece or
which the bayonet locks had parted connection
with the barrel in the centre, bending likewise
under the force OF the conclusion. The mos
| rigid examination, with the aid, too, of mag
| nifying lens, failed to show the slightest frac
ture; and the gunsmith agreed with me that the
metal was of the most inferior description
Having seen many similarly injured, l ex
| pressed surprise at such weapons being served
! out By the Emperor to his troops; whereupor
my friend smiled grimly and said, "Oh, that
only just! He commenced by cheating tn,
French people, he has been cheating them fo
years, and now his own people are cheating
him."
1t is obvious that gun-barrels composed O
such inferior metal must quickly become heated
and swollen after short time of rapid firing
But the evil does not end here. The cartridg,
is faulty and soon clogs the chamber Afte
discharging the piece ten or fifteen times, If yol
pull back the lever to charge again, and inser
a finger in the breech, your finger is imme
diately coated with a thick, fatty black sub
stance, proving that the cartridges do not clear
the barrel in trGnsitu. This is not the cas-
with the German weapon; for, when a simila
operation is essayed upon it, the matter on tn
finger is certainly black, but perfectly dry
should add in this connection that the cartridg
OF the needle-gun is enveloped in paper; tina
of the Chassepot in fine linen cloth with
superabundance of grease.
The result of these various faults in tn
Chassepot has had wonderful effect in the pre-
sent war, for the French soldiers have fOuu
after certain time that it was impossible to in
sert the cartridge in the breech, and they hav
in numerous instances thrown away their am
munition on the battlefield. Tons of unex
ploded Chassepot cartridges have been gathere
at Woerth and other scenes of action.