Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1898-08-04
HEAVY ARTILLERYMEN.
Their Duties in Handling the Great
Guns Make Practical Scfen-
lists of Them.

lists OF Them.
The heavy artillery is q great branch
of the army, and so distinct i'll it's stud
les as to make it independent of the
other branches of the service. just
now the heavy artillery branch is the
most important in the army, and it is
therefore pertinent to set forth the
fact that some military critics have for
many years maintained, that too much
work and too many drills are saddled
upon the heavy artilleryman.
The light artilleryman's drills are
many and his duties are heavy, but he
is consoled for this in the reflection
that he belongs TO the crack branch in
the whole military outfit. Foreign mil
itary critics of eminence have unhesi-
tatingly pronounced the ten batteries
of light artillery of the United States
army to be unsurpassed in the world for
Craftsmanship and rapid and scientific
handling of the pieces. But while the
American artilleryman has got to be as
nimble as an acrobat, and an absolute
master of Craftsmanship, he does not
have to use his head nearly so much as
his comrade in the heavy artillery.
An artillery recruit can be rapidly
fashioned into an automatic carrier of
ammunition, and in the course of a
few drills, if he be quick-witted, he
can master the duties demanded by his
one particular number on big guns
crew. But it talg6s years Of alertness
and attention and considerable study
besides for the cleyerest recruit to be-
come Il good heavy artilleryman in the
American army. tits commonly known
among artillerymen that by the time
an artilleryman in the heavy branch
has put in three years enlistment he
has picked up only smattering of the
small duties and drills imposed upon
him as the heavy artillery service is
at present organized. But men Of late
years have been getting enough of it
in three years experience, and if they
reenlist again a great many of them
join the "dough-boys" in the infantry
regiments for the sake of the compare
lively easy lone soldier one gum duty
required of the infantry. In the first
place, the heavy artillcryman has to
become proficient in infantry drills.
Up to within a few years ago the
heavy artillery branch was handicapped
by the lack of modern guns upon which
to drill. Even at the present time many
artillerymen in the heavy batteries
have had no opportunity to drill upon
modern breech-loading rifles such as
are at Fort Point and viii be at the
Denver rcsurvey and Bolivar Point
Notifications. There is all the differ
cnce in the world between a muzzIe-
loading and a breech-loading great
gun, and the drill upon each gun is en-
tirely different.
1t requires about two-thi Of an en-
tire battery 20 operate Que of these
big guns. The men are drilled upon
them Dvnumbers. The gunner givesthe
command and each man has a certain
work to perform, but each man is re-
Quired to master the duties of every
member of the guns crew. and for this
purpose he is shifted about from one
number to another.
As there are a thousand and one or
more movements to be executed in get
ting a great gun served and into firing
ECSt'tOH, AhS IIaSttiN u tbs UlS gun
tactics is no small matter for a heavy
artillerymcn, but there are so many
auxiliary drills besides the infantry
formation and drills on the big pieces
The drills called mechanical maueuvers
are the bane of soldiers in this branch
of the service. Properly, mechanical
maneuvers belong 10 the engineers. They
consist Of mounting and dismounting
the big guns, and the heavy artillery
man is expected to master the uses of
all the paraphernalia required in this
work-almOst every style of gun, jack
and tackle. 1t is very hard labor, and
besides it is dangerous. There have
been some serious and some fatal acct
dents in the army caused by the at
tempts of heavy artillerymen, unfanil-
lar with the work, to mount and dis
mount big guns.
Some of the artillerymen become in
tereSted in the instrument drill. or.
rather, the drills on instruments. and
take 10 the study Of mathematics for So
lutions. Butthe ma ority of them listen
to the elaborate scientific explanations
of the officers as to the uses of the in
struments, their mechanism, ETC.. and
promptly forget all about them until
the next instrument drill. The instru-
meDts are OF all sorts-tle aerometer