The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1900-02-13

SaDiilN kHiEel' used ms Cuttings to
shake TIE ,spaIiards in their trenches
in front of the American infantry as
sara, and succeeded in doing what the
field batteries had failed in But it
ts;..aa a deal of flying metal to destroy
:. line Of battle. to say nothing of ami
hilaring its personnel.
~ Gettysburg the Confederates rain
ed shots upon Cemetery hill until they
supposed the Federals were silenced
but when Pickett's columns got within
close range they found that they had
been dcluded. The batteries cut down
the Nirginians with canister. and few
machine guns would have annihilated
them. but had there been machine
guns on Cemetery ridge Pickett's
charge would not have taken place.
And it will never come to it that men
of highly trained armies will walk up
to the slaughter as the dervishes did
at Omdurnlan.
Theory figures out what a weapon
cali do against a given target. One
enthusiast. writing of the Creusot gun
now heard of in South Africa. says.
with such pieces one can in sevei,
minutes put hors de combat three
quarters of the effective of the
troops of Il covered campaign battery
at distance of more than two miles,
He means that it would be possible.
but every experienced soldier knows
that it would not occur one time in
100. Hundreds of thousands of pro-
iectiies have been rained upon inclosed
towns with only triiling casualties. 1t
is said that it takes Il mans weight
in lead to kill him, and it can be shown
by statistics that for every man hit in
battle there are from 800 to 700 mis-
siles fired All of this is taken into ac-
count in the study of maneuvers. and,
while leaders and soldiers expect to
take chances, there is just as much in
genuity put upon devices for covering
the troops in battles as there is upon
means to hit them. 1t is only in cases
of accidental miscalculation or rare
foolhardness that mass of troops is
exposed to the murderous fire of
breechloaders or of quick firing can
non.
The war in South Africa is surprise
to those whose views of the subject are
based upon theory. 1t has been deadly
for the British. who We're supposed to
be provided with the newest forms of
weapons. Their machine gun is the
MaXimNordenfeldt which fires at a
high rate of speed an ordinary rifle bull
let. But it seems that the Beers have
these same guns and, in fact. are sup
pied with up to date materials for
either defensive or offensive warfare.
Being upon the defensive. they have
the advantage. for the long range quick
shooting gun destroys the assailing col
umn before it can bring its powers into
play. AT Tugela river Colonel Longs
guns were outclassed. compelling him
to push dangerously close to the Boer
position
Since the Franco-Prussian war there
has not been prolonged conflict be-
tween armies equally equipped until
the present When the Turks fought
Russia, they had inferior weapons and.
being fanatical fighters. were slaugh-
tered by breechloaders and also dyna-
mite mines. In 1881 Chile invaded
Peru from the sea with an army only
equal in numbers to the foe, which was
on his own soil. yet having breechload-
ers and modern cannon with machine
guns. she won at all points and in the
decisive battle of Mirafores actually
attacked with an inferior force and
gained a victory.
Aside from the officers, there has
been no remarkable execution in the
battles between Boer and Britain thus
far Some Of the correspondents give
lurid pictures of British shells crushing
the Beers into the earth, but it always
turns out that the Beers are on time
when the British get within smashing
distance. At Reitfontein. Ladysmith
and Modder river the British artillery
worked spitefully, but with indecisive
results. The British naval guns which
We're brought up to Ladysmith fire
at high angles of elevation and
drop shells in the enemy's lines. but
the range is uncertain.
The Creusot gun, which is often men,
toned in connection with Boer artil-
lely, takes it's name from the manufac-