The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1877-05-04
LESSONS FROM THE WAR.
Major General Hancock on the
Oontending Forces.
INFANTRY, CAVALRY, ARTILLERY
Progress and Change IN the Service
Arms-F orificat,ons and Iron-Cads.

In the course Of an interview with Major Gen.
sral Winfield 8. Hancock, commanding the Depart
msnt OF tho Atlantic. that distinguished soldier ex-
pressed his opinion as to the war In the East with
some reserve. Ho had read with much interest the
HExALp's roviews OF the military situation the
Danube and In Asia Minor. These seemed TO give
good common sense, though unproiessional, view Of
tho march OF recent events at theatre Of tho war;
whe the maps afforded . pretty clear idea OF tho
principal strategic points around which the great srg
gle must be fought out There Is ut present q much
felt want OF MAPS properly 70 called. but this
desideratum would soon DO overcome and well de-
tailed field Of the operations placed before the public
General Hancock was glad 70 bear testimony 70 the
fact that hundreds Of thousands Of American soldiers
who participated In late war had become 90 thor
oughly acquainted with the leading principles OF the
military profession that be hesitated 10 express very
decided opinion upon important military points with
which he had not found limo to make himself thor
ougnly acquainted--points in the TureoRussa war,
tor instance.
GENERAL ORGANIZATION.
The general aspect Of military organization among
the conending Powers has altered but little the
time OF tile Crimoan Tho organization OF the
general and special xaIs remains as BEFORE also tho
proportion aud distribution Of tho different arms of
the service respectively about tho The most
notable changes that havo taken place since tho
FrancosPrusslau
recruitment In most European armies, whereby, in
times OF war; the different Powers can In very short
time place under arms nearly all their available
Tho great military nations have, in one form or
another, adopted the Prussian System OF obligatory
military service We are, therefore, not surprised TO
hear that Russia place moro than 100000 tight
ing men in the Held while Turkey hopes 20 make .
successful defence with something less than 700, 900
troops Whether the moving OF these vast numbers
VIII shorten tho duration OF the war re-
md lint hat rfftsu a
numbers engaged, war 10 no more bloody now than II
In the days Of the trst Napoieon-perhaps not
even 80 much Notwithstanding the introduction OF
bruechloading arms the percentage OF deaths In bat
tie increased. One to account for this
Introduction OF arms OF precision necessilated
notifications In the manner OF delivering and recciv-
ing battle Now troops when engaged 90 not. as a
passions OF The mon are not so much reused az they
were in days gone BY rho raPidny Of Are from mod
ern brecch diminishes the chances OF the
batants being brought within the roach Of cold Steel
Besides. good deal Of fighting now takes place from
behind temporary breastworks, u being At present
more generally the practice than formerly the
case both offensive and defensive forces IN opera
ton % cover their front and Hanks alter each days
and such obstacles The difficulties In the quarter
masters subsistence and transport branches OF mill
tary adm strution must increase 10 direct ratio to
the number OF troops in campaign; anu In these
lions Of service Russia viii lind one Of her greatest
obstacles TO overcome.
TIKI INFANTRY ARM.
The infantry Of both bclhgerents has each ono good
os Th az M 20
more fiery and daring Tor short time than It's oppo
nents, but the Russians are more tenacious Of pur
pose cool under rc and ought 10 be better acquainted
with excellent breech oadng rifles (many Of them
OF American manuacture) which are In their hands.
The increased rapidly and accuracy Of irc which
Their arms Of precision enable the Infantry 70 bring
10 bear upon an enemy advancing across q plain
VIII destroy the chances Of direct charge OF cavalry
squarcs This change In the offensive and defensive
relations between the Infantry and cavalry arms,
ns.~x olnut hU fhA fnfpr >1rnf
during our own civil war Tho adoption Of
weight for a given number OF rounds must
DO additional tax the vehicles OF the ball
ridge brigade general ps1aq n WIN a,so materially IN
carry In addition to their kits Otherwise Il Is
pected that no new phases in The application OF the
infantry In campaign will At present be developed
THE CAVALRY AZ AN ARM
Although II 10 a recognized TACT that the days OF
grand cavalry charges like those which challenged the
worlds admiration in the times OF Frederick the
Great and Napoleon have gone BY for ever, still this
arm mus! continue to play an important part on the
theatre Of war; Line cavalry, as such, Will now DO
seldom employed IN extensive operations, but light
corps and heavy bodies will still DO retained The
accommodating the enemys outposts making an 0cca-
sona dash NJ an exposed position, dong escort and
waverng ioros, pursuing flying Toe, or gathering In
the results Of victory. small proportion OF
heavy cavalry WI probably be retained IN service
escorng general headquarters artillery trains and
forming reserve for emergencies. During our own
war cavalry raids wore made very important features
In strategic combinations and even when sometimes
the troopers obliged 10 fight AZ mounted infantry
the results we're mostly satisfactory.
ARrILLERy-HEAvY AND LIGHT
The part which the artillery 10 to play In the pres
ent war VIII DO looked forward 70 by all scientific
soldiers with especial interest Millions OF dollars
have been spent In European countries experimenting
Tor perfect gun. or one nearly perfect the United
States have preferred TO wait ind see the uDshot OF NIL
these vast expenditures before Undertaking 70 adopt
any given system. For this reason we havo now.
sa lo "rmed vim
inch Notwithstanding steel r1ed guns, and the twelve
FOUNDER gun'howtzer which Napoleon ILL., invented,
and which that monarch was wise enough to subse-
Quenty condemn, but not before the Prussans caught
him with many or these ineffective guns still IN
service The weight OF metal carried by tho three
inch ride the United States army is light for the
general purposes Of field gun, and the gun howitzer
Is simply useless account OF its shortncss Of range
and lack OF penetrativo power. There are some
special ard unimportant uses 10 which this piece could
be put but these would not cntite TO DO considered
breeeh. loading rihed neld gun, the invention OF Sir
William Armstrong; but SO long ago as 1870 Il was
found from one cause another expedient TO return
TO the muzze- loading system, ridcd and with q much
improved description Of ammunition Experiments
which were carried on by scientific officers at Shoe
buryness showed that while the new gun could DO
discharged as rapidly as the breechoader Its range
and penetration under similar angles OF elevation
compared iavorabiy with the Armstrong gun OF
the same calibre. and AZ Il had no breecn
machinery TO gel out OF order tho piece
preferred. The French use rlned guns both for
pcan Powers-sCme OF them being breech and others
muxzle leaders, The Germans have adopted Krupp's
model OF breechloading guns, both tor garrison and
field service. IL was found during tho recent Franco
German war that the French tour FOUNDER field pieces,
which attached 10 the battaons were altogether
inferior 70 the sevenpoun dcrs oil the Prussians; and Il
frequently happened that the Germans superiority in
range ana weight Of metal cnabled him silence his
French enemy when the latter could not reach him.
The Turks have mostly followed the English method OF
arming their batteries but tho Russians havo adhered
greatly to tho German system. There doubt but
these TWO systems the best the world and II
hard 10 say which 10 the better. Tho Turks
not remarkable Tor ability arterists, while IN Sc
bastopol aud elsewhere the Russians have demon.
stratcd both skill and tact in the Of this special
and privileged arm
THE ENGINEER CORPS
II Ii TO be remarked that the Turks have mani.
tested much skill either in constructing arming
permanent fortincationA Constantine ple itself,
although nne position defence a grand scale,
poorly provided with modern works the same