Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-10-25

tional artillery yet to be mounted
Then. as now. the superior weight Of
metal, barring adequate shelter. forced
a decision. 1t is possible that the mari
cliffs facing the river afforded some re-
lief from the allies fire, but there was
no protection from sickness.
Heavy Continental ARTILLERY.
At that time it is probable that the
American forces experienced some of
the improvements in artillery reSom-
mended by the French officer Gribeau-
val. who did much toward organizing
that arm for the French armies.
Twelve-pounders were the heaviest Of
field pieces and IL horses broke no
speed records in pulling them.
Leaping $50 years, as exhibited at the
Aberdeen demonstration, the 155-mm.
gun provides. in its ease OF mobility
and SerViceability, startling contrast.
It's range Of IA miles and attainable
speed on its carriage of 40 miles an
hour makes the l2-pounder, with its
maximum range OF 5000 with solid
shct) something of Fourth Of July
demonstration.
Again. contrasting 16-pounders or
those of little higher caliber capable
OF casting large Sheel nearly 1000
yards, let us consider Mai. Gen John
w. Gulick's report pertaining to one
of the new l4-tnch railway guns: The
gun can be fired at the rate Of one
round minute; the maximum range
is 10000 yards the normal rate OF
movement from IS to 20 miles an hour"
Two such guns are assigned to a bat
terry and the operating personnel con-
SlStS CT officers and 100 enlisted men,
Were such guns to exist contempt
raneously with the Yorktown event It
Is at once apparent that the defenders
would have been annihilated in the
space OF few minutes without having
single enemy within sight to fire back
at. On the other hand. had CORVALLIS
possessed such a battery, 1t Is certain
that his comparative isolation would
have been free from any molestation
from the ships of De erase. With
the additional aid Of airplanes he would
have had ample time TO have aScer-
tanned the movement Of the allied armies
against him with the assurance OF flu
ture junction with the forces Of Sir
Henry Clinton.
A Civil War Feat.
1t is of interest to note that 81 years
after the surrender Of Yorktown the
ability Of Federal batteries to throw
700 pounds of shot and shell into the
Confederate works from a distance Of
miles was regarded ss something Of
feat: Gen. Rodman's 20-inch gun,
made in 1864, mounted at For. Hamil-
ten, was the monster Of its time. Al
though never in active use against the
South. 1t had proved ability to hurl q
projectile to q distance or S,0O1 yards!
In 1866 1t was held by many that
the handling of ordnance weighing
tons was the limit fixed by the physical
strength of man. The idea Of q gun
such as the 16-inch type discharged
q 6VtV% @lA~n L. -
ton in weight. would have been dis
missed as an absurd speculation.
Again the mobility of troop move
mentS and the velocity of heavy shells
alter the technique involved in the
capture Of fortified community. The
defenders OF today will be extremely
reluctant to establish themselves within
fixed area such as suggested by Corn
wallis at Yorktown. The activity Of
the French at Belfort In the Franco
Prussian War, or again at Verdun.
more recently, point emphatically TO
the necessity OF maintaining elasticity
in defense.
Mobile Defense.
Where attack may come primarily
from the sea the present theory Of the
United States Coast Defense Engineers
tends to favor the mounting Of the
heavy guns en- barbette and in open
gun emplacements. In the Aberdeen
exhibition the 14-inch gun mounted
on disappearing carriage reveals, with
all Of its ingenious ability to utilize
the recoil to throw 1t back into
battery" behind the parapet, q passing
type of ordnance. The l6-inch gun,
on the contrary, through the very
nature Of its design, can attain an
angle as great as so degrees. permit
ting, therefore, O much greater range.
Were the past to become present and
CORVALLIS has conceivably again dug
in" at Yorktown he will place less re-
lance on gabions-wicker containers Of
dirt-in his intrenchments. but more
on outlying pill boxes" miniature
forts constructed of concrete and steel.
These will be armed with machine
guns and a. few pieces Of heavier cali
Der. He may have recourse to wide
bitches with vertical sides; he prob
ably will have mines planted generously
in advance Of his position. To the rear
will be deep shelters with supplies
where men may recuperate from the
exertion of the struggle and, especially,
take refuge from an enemy who may
soar at high attitudes above their heads
and drop bombs.
Across the Virginia fields his eyes
will ever search for another enemy
never thought of in 1881: moving on
wheels or odd tracks, ypitting proJec-
tiles, diminutive fortreSses, the en-
bodiment of the latest thought to as
Sault intrenched positions.