The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1901-01-08
ular army have extolled it at the ex-
pense of the Krag- Jorgensen, which
has finally driven it from the army.

penSe or the hrag-JOrgeQSen, WHICH \
has finally driven it from the army.
1t turns out that the breechloader
and long range gun is not really supe-
rior as man slaughterer to the old
style of weapon, as might be supposed
from the ardor Of it's inventors and the
soldiers using it. 1t is really only a
question of being upon equal terms
with the enemy at close quarters. The
breechloader was first put to supreme
test in hard fought battles at Marsha
Tour and Woerth in the Franco-Prus-
sian war of 1870. Great things were
predicted by the Germans of their.
breechloading needle guns, but when |
it came to battle with the French they /
found their match in the chassepot
and the mitrailleuse. or machine gun.
The losses in the AFranco-Prussian war
at Mars Tour were 16 per cent and
at Woerth IA per cent, which are
| figures much below those of great bat
ties early in the century, when the |
troops carried flintlocks; also of the
civil war, with its muzzle loading rifle.
At Waterloo the loss was only IA per
cent, but at Eilau QS0D, Marengo
(1SOO) and Leipsic QS13) it was much
heavier. Gettysburg, Shiloh, Antietam
and Stone River were fought with per-
cussion rifles, and, while the percent
age of losses fell below that of Napo-
Icons big battle, it was still greater in
each case than at Mars-la-Tour and
| Woerth.
1t was no accident that the losses in
certain battles varied, showing an ap-
parent superiority for the old style
4 gun. 1t is fact known to military
men that the improvement in arms re-
suits in decreased casualty list. The
troops fight at longer range, and the
danger is recognized as being greater,
SO that soldiers individually and their
leaders as well are on the lookout for
cover when the armies, are in contact.
In South Africa the battles were not
of kind to test the effectiveness of
/, long range weapons as decisive ele-
ments in fighting. The Boer marks
men did we'll with their Mausers and
Mannlichers and made it hot for Brit
ish officers as well as for certain de-
tachments. caught under heavy fire.
, But the real test is when one weapon
: outshoots another on an extensive
r scale. The Germans came out Of the
war of 1870 boasting that their needle
gun had carried the day. Perhaps 1T
] had.
Long range guns will keep the con-
tending armies we'll apart except when
: charging, and the quick loading, accu-
rate rifle will make it deadly for the
3 assailants when they come to close
quarters. But for all it takes human
pluck to decide battles. When it was
y demonstrated that the quick firing
breechloader enabled men to cut down
: the enemy in great numbers so long as
he was desperate enough to expose
y himself, the next step was for more
shots in nick of time. 1t was often
L shown in contests with the Indians
that the lives Of band of soldiers
: hung upon their rapid shooting Win
chesters. A machine that would poul
steady rain Of bullets in crisis was
n the next best thing to the magazine
% rifle. Experiments in the machine gur
a extended over many years and finally
! resulted in the American Gatllng, thu
% Maxim and the Nordenfeldt Gatling'
Is were used against Indians before tn
\. Spanish war, and at Omdurman, il
% central Africa, the English slaughtered
a the dervishes by the thousands will
10 machine guns because the fanatica
s hordes stood game to the last. Rarel.
+ will foes endure fire as did the der
,e wishes, but it stiffens the soldier
20 nerves to know that If in tight plac
Id and in danger of being oyerwhelme'
IN he has at hand means to hurl deaf
d. into the foe with the swiftness Of light
I'd ming and the force of thunder. Ma
81 chine guns constitute little arsenal
I'd wherever they stand in battle.
O. At Santiago Captain Parker OF tn
,e- American army made new use Q
ed rapid firing guns on land. They ha
fe been used chiefly in the reserve lin
70 for defensible purposes. Parker, bein
ny
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