The New York herald., 1878-11-04
MODIFICATION OF TACTICS.
Personal "Reminiscences Of
the Mexican War.
THE PORTER INVESTIGATION.

"well. yes. like to be here on the island. MY
quarters and those of the staff on the spot whero
some of the troops stationed. 1t well enough
while we were in New York. but whether economy or
prudence dictated the action of the government
In moving headquarters here. there can
be no question to its perfect right
to do 1t appears to be that meets with
public approval and am the army officers would
be the last men in the community to object to any
thing that may tend to the public good Look around
and you Will see number of buildings going up here
the foot Of the gacs They required for the
accommodation Of some of the officers who have
moved over from New York"
"The island seems to be healthy spot"
"It is" said the General. "You know it was the
first place settled about this harbor by the Dutch but
finding it too small for them, they crossed over to
Manhattan Island. We now bringing water over
from the nearest point in Brooklyn. 1t will be car
ried over in flexible pipe laid flush with the bottom
of tho channel encased in boxes Of threeinch plank
lined with cement for the piping to rest in The tee
graph wire to pass through the centre Of the water
pipe. In excavatng for the foundations we have
found coins over one hundred years DID,"
IMPROVEMENTS IN FIREARMS.
While conversing upon the subject Of small arms
for the army General Hancock went into discussion
Of the improvements that have been introduced since
the adoption of the percussion musket some years
before the outbreak Of the with Mexico He told
how the principle of rifing barrels had been made
available by the inventions Of Devgne and Mimic of
the French army, how the elongated bullet to be
used in the carabine hge, the pilor rihc how
this rifle gave place to the Mimic system and at last
how the bullet made to expand and take the
grooves by Of its upset" after the develop
ment of the elastic gas generated by the burning Of
the powders also how the of breech-loading rifcd
arms had attained ranges and penetratons hitherto
unattained by any other means
REDUCING THE CAVALRY.
"As . matter Of course said the General "the
vastly increased ranges and accuracy Of fire from
small arms gradually brought about modification in
tactics. For instance line cavalry ceased to oc-
cupy it's former important place in the organization Of
armies The reason must be obvious even to the un-
professional. With the new system of arms cavalry
could no longer charge squares face good in
fantry force in line, for 1t would be destroyed by the
rapidty and accuracy Of the infantry fire before It
could come within striking distance This new state
of affairs led to the Of the infantry and the
decrease Of the cavalry forces in all well organized
armies. As the Improvements in artillery have kept
pace with those OF the infantry arms even the tactics
Of the latter arm had to be remoulded to speak in
order to render the requirements flexible easily
handled and better able to protect themselves under
good ust add greatly the of the soldier
continued the General Now look at the advantage
war with these people we used percussion arms
altogether while they armed almost entirely
with the old Tower OF London flint lock musket. The
difference between these arms Is just great be-
tween breech-oader and q muzze-loadcr and in
some instances greater Some of the American volun
teers armed with the Mississippi rife-a weapon
that for range and penetration had equal In those
days. The consequence was that our morale was all
that could be desired, while that OF the Mexicans
| whom regard a brave. rcsolute people, became
worse every day. after they found out that their
| placed them at disadvantage"
n In r,rnt tfv Arht
| though"
HANCOCK IN MEXICO
Indeed they did. was then twenty-five years Of
| age and second lieutenant My captain was absent
and at Mono del Rey the first lieutenant was killed
mand of the company devolved upon me. The Mexi-
fought with desperate valor at this battle par.
ticularly, and for while victory seemed doubtful It
| Is trne that the enemy, under Generals Icon and
Edragaray, Obliged to retreat twice for short dis
| tance; but on both occasions returned to the
| day. Now, had the Mcxicans been armed equally
| as well MS ourselves there is saying what
might have been the results. Superior arms and SUI
perior Skill rather than superior vaor enabled an
American army, which at no period exceeded 10000
in the field. to walk through that magnificent coun-
try, with its splendid mountain passes and deAes
| each one Of which might be made Thermopylm or
Khyber Pass. Certainly in several battles the conduct
General Scott entered the Valley OF Mexico with not
over ten thousand men. and took possession Of the
| force had fought army three times as numerous
| and defeated 50. 700 MUxicans at Churubusco."
"Do you think America could Cheaply
achieve victory over Mexico?
shoud any trouble arise thnt diplomacy could not
aetle 1t would. with the present advanced knowledge
OF the art OF war by Mexico be necessary to send at
least 900 men down there before could hope
gain possession OF tho keys Of the country. Mexico
| Is now MS we'll prepared rs with respect to
Of precision and hor troops have time and again
proved their vaor both against the French and our
selves. We have other advantages that would enable
TO conquer in the end but tho victory would not
| be cheap one. But then you know nobody among
wants TO ght Mexico. II il interest and that
L is true that the United states sns who e1
acting strict compliance with the Treaty Of Guada-
that compact and now. IL appears that the suthori
ties In Northern Mexico cannot, or will not, control
the lawiess element on their side Of the river. and
OF American cattle, doubtless this country will send
down strong force to the frontier line back to
some mountain ranges that viii effectually keep out
the cattle thieves"
MAGAZINE GUM
Hero the Generals eye fell upon the well filed
'The experience of the last decade and half which
N known to army officers and embodied in the best
professional reports. shows indisputably that tho
coming arm for all nations must be magazine gun.
1t is necessity of the future, because Of the addi
IL imparts TO the troops. Although
general writer's and number Of respect
ton OF the bayonet rs weapon Of war, not ono Of
the military Powers has dared to net upon their
omnendsticn. The reason Is obvious-to deprive the
confidence which they feel in that weapon ~ last
sort For similar reason the magazine gun must be
adopted, apart from any consideration or Its real cf
fcctivencss. The men must be made to fcc that in
addition to the Of their arms brcechoalcrs,
they also rely reserve Of from six to dozen
rounds, the may be, for In an emergency"
IMPROVEMENT IN SMALL ARMS.
"why hns not something been done toward provid-
ing good magazine gun for tho armys asked the re-
porter.
''Som,ethng has been done In the direction of i'm
proving our small arms" General Hancock replied;
'but not enough. AT the end of the war in 1865
had on hand more than million small arms many
of them muzze-loading guns. In 1866 army
board was appointed to select good breech-loader
Meantime the Springfield Armory busy In con-
vcrtiug the muzzle-loaders into brcech-loadcrs and
suppose that by this time tho operation must be
pletcd. The converted weapon, which became known
the Springfield gun Is the result of combination of
a number of Inventions. The old .55 calibre was
abandoned not suited TO throw q considerably
elongated projectile OF medium weight, and the As
calibre was by almost universal consent substituted
Ear ihnan hmm IL y