The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1900-04-03

'As 1,o,on fitted with telescope self
SI ,s,o,,rc optics, capable of detecting a
S~..Inch distinctive badge at 1000
MS and unfaillngly putting a bullet
s.orgb IT the next instant. think
'1' ,,anId conduce materially to the
:, Of mind of many households II
r. tact were brought home to them
' "" the Boer is in reality man OF
S".b and blood, like ourselves, with
,..s,rbt a very little keener and nerves
Viii, steadier than the average of
~ Nv oun and that our troops in Africa
w. s-,.ess In their present allotment of
ssI5 artillery a power which, properly
"mD,oyed, can most efHectually reduce
.Sa slpadiness of both hand and eye
- ~ onr opponents to almost any degree
', .b,kiness they may desire. The
ruth is that the vast majority Of our
.,nntrymen have not the faintest idea
~ how the mechanism Of the army
really works.
Three Chief CompOnents.
An army is a machine built up Of
moo chief components. cavalry, artil-
,ary and infantry, whose functions are
- and SKATER and ultimately drive out
tho enemy from the chosen ground. and
his task is accomplished in the follow
,1g manner: The cavalry, by scouting,
,oc,te the enemy. This is an iudlpen-
,obIe preliminary, which can never be
neglected without certain punishment.
To crush IN enemy you must at least
know where he stands, or whether he
I, moving. Yet, obvious as that state
rapt appears in its bald form, the rec
ords of all armies, 1 regret to say, par
ticularly OF our own. disclose how often
and With what serious results it has
been omitted. But, assuming, in this
hypothetical case. that the cavalry have
duly and efficiently performed this du-
". the artillery can then gallop out and
BY a concentrated hail OF projectiles
proceed to break down and destroy
their opponents power of resistance.
4 result which is generally obtained.
not so much by the number OF adver-
sartes actually killed as by the sheer
nervous exhaustion Of The living. which
destroys ard paralyzes all marksman-
ship whatever.
craftsmanship is no permanent at
tribute Of any man; it varies from mo-
men, to moment, not only from external
Influences but with the internal nervous
condition OF the individual, and when
once a storm of shell bursts over po-
stlon state OF things is soon arrived
at which renders careful aiming incon-
celyaoe.
Accuracy Of Fire Falls shOr:.
Picture for a moment what it really
means. Let us take only four bat
tories concentrating their fires on a
front OF 100 yards. Four batteries will
deliver some forty shells a minute, each
Of which OH bursting throws out about
80 bullets and fragments. all of which
will generally pass about ten feet above
or below the line of targets aimed at,
50 that on an average each square foot
Of vulnerable surface exposed will be
hit once every three minutes. A man
standing UP exposes about five square
feet, and lying down about two. His
chances of surviving such storm for
half an hour cannot be considered ia
yorable, and on the practice ground, as
rule, the dummies are actually riddled
10 the extent this calculation indicates.
Ca service the accuracy OF fire may fall
considerably short OF this. but there are
SIN other disturbances to be reckoned
with. The bursting Of shells smother
the whole line in a cloud of smoke, their
bullets and splintets tear up the ground
and raise masses Of dust, and iiinging
pebbles End rock fragments in the
faces OF the defenders. Let US assume
even that these are endowed with su-
perhumaH nerve and courage. but will
any one contend that through such an
atmosphere minute distinctions OF dress
and ornament can be distinguished ut
even quarter OF a mile or less?
Under cover OF this storm the infau-
Try approlch. and soon their bullets are
added to The general hail. By a sue
eession Of rushes they work their way
In TIL only 4 short stretch divides them;
the fire is redoubled in volume. the re-
serves come up, and with one last rush
the position is stormed. Cavalry and
horses sweep around the TANKS or fight
their way through the crowds OF all
their own men as best they can, and the
pursuit is pushed to the last breath OF
man and horse.
Considered the Ideal Attack.
This is the ideal attack to which
every leader endcavors to approximate.
bui one which they rarely succeed in
attaining. The point, however. that
wish to make is that in a cavalry which
can find and an artillery which can pre-
'''- SlI way n ieader Possesses Two
weapons in his hands with which, given
uine enough. he can reduce the finest
craftsmanship in the world to the con.
aitIon OF pure random fire. and from
ms curious consequence results,
Given a position OF certain front de-
'sPaed by weapoEp Of a known range
ana rapIdlty Of IRE, we can calculate
win fair degree OF accuracy the
losses which must incur in passing over
The bllIet-rwept zone.
some four years ago we made two
calculations, onc assuming the tactical
coalitions and armament or the pcnln-
'lia' and the other the existing weapons
ana pnctiCa Of tho nrpsant day tho