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**3rdUSRedleg** · 09-01-2008, 09:41 PM

Re: GENERAL ORDERS No. 5, Apr. 11, 64

ARTILLERY HEADQUARTERS, ARMY OF THE POTOMAC,
Camp before Petersburg, January 10, 1865.

Brigadier-General RAWLINS, Chief of Staff, Armies of the United States:

I have the honor to submit for the consideration of the lieutenant-general the
necessity for establishing general regulations for the organization of the
artillery of our armies, defining its duties, its relations to other troops,
the powers and functions of its officers providing for its government and
administration, and for the force necessary to discharge its duties. I do this
because of the many evils, which exist in this arm, not only affecting its own
character and standing but injurious to the whole service. The absence of any
such code, of any recognized head or central authority specially charged with
its direction, and of established prescriptive rights and duties, are
sufficient to account for the evils I refer to, and are my reasons for bringing
the subject directly to the notice of the lieutenant-general. The want of a
code of regulations would soon break down any branch of the service. Of the
two special arms, the engineers have a chief of bureau and a special code,
whilst its sister service, the artillery, has neither. In the case of neither
of them, however, are there any comprehensive rules adapted to the existing
condition of the service and providing for the relations of these arms to each
of their and for their duties in large armies. It can, I think, be shown that
as a consequence grave inconvenience and injury have resulted. I have here to
deal specially with the artillery, but the same general principles as to
organization and administration apply to both. If in an army the artillery
consisted only of field batteries, serving as auxiliaries with other troops,
the necessity would exist for a proper organization which would fix its
position and relation to those troops and provide for the casualties and
exigencies of service. The experience of our service proves this. A French
six-gun batter is allowed 234 enlisted men; an English, about the same number:
an American, but 147, a number barely sufficient to serve the "battery of
maneuver" efficiently, leaving nothing for contingencies. As soon as the
number of men is diminished by the casualties of battle, by sickness, details
&c., the number of guns in each battery must be reduced, or men must be
detailed from the infantry or cavalry to make good the losses. These men are
not serviceable as artillerists; the frequently dislike the duty; and from the
time the details are made a continued struggle is going on between regimental
and battery commanders for their possession. This is but one of the more
obvious evils to which even the field artillery is subjected, and which has
had a bad effect upon its efficiency.

Field operations, however, involve other duties for the artillery. In marches
near the enemy it is often desirable to occupy positions with guns for special
purposes; to command fords, to cover the throwing and taking up of brigades,
and for many other purposes for which it would be inconvenient and unadvisable
to withdraw their batteries from the troops. Hence the necessity for a reserve
of artillery, the batteries of which have labored under the same and oven
greater inconveniences than those attached to the corps, as they have no troops
upon which to call for details, the army corps furnishing men to their own
batteries with reluctance. Butter in a large army, especially in offensive
operations, there are still other duties to provide for: positions must be
entrenched and occupied lines of field-works constructed, depots, important
bridges, passes, &c., fortified, and all these require skilled labor and
artillery.

To furnish the armaments of these fixed positions from the field batteries
great and unnecessary expense, and hence the necessity for foot artillery
available for such duties. The construction and repair of batteries, platforms,
magazines, &c., is the proper work of the artillery, requires special
instruction to prepare the material and perform it well and expeditiously, and
in the organization of a large army all these things should be provided for,
even if the probability of such services is not foreseen for at any time the
necessity may present itself, and the consequent change and dislocation of
organized commands to meet the emergency occasions evils and waste of men
greater than those the original organizations were meant to avoid.

A siege train, or at least the nucleus of one, is an almost indispensable part
of the organization when operating in an enemy's country. The train would not
usually accompany the army, although I believe that eight or twelve siege guns
moving with it would always be of great value. The 20-pounder Parrotts are too
heavy for field guns and too light for heavy work. The material of a siege
train and a small force of well instructed men should always be held ready. The
value of Abbott's train to this army has been incalculable. When the train is
brought up for service, the artillery teams and wagon transportation required,
and the additional troops, can often be supplied for the special siege labors
from a well organized artillery reserve. At Yorktown the reserve was kept, men
and horses, hard at work on the labors of siege and furnished besides a number
of its officers for engineer duties proper. No command worked harder or was
more usefully employed.

In all armies excepting ours, and formerly in our army also, all ordnance
duties pertain to the artillery the officers not immediately on duty with the
troops constituting a part of the "general staff" of the army. The reasons for
this are obvious: artillery and ordnance duties are intimately connected with
each other and are coextensive with he army. It is impracticable for any
special ordnance department to furnish sufficient officers or men to perform
the ordnance duties of an army, and they must be furnished by details from
other branches of the service. The artillery can best provide for these details
at the smallest expense of men and material, as from the nature of its duties
it must have an organization of similar character throughout the army for its
own special purposes. The artillery of modern armies is therefore so organized
in men and material as to suffice for the ordnance duties, and the general
commanding the artillery furnishes from his command the special guards,
officers, &c., required and becomes responsible for all the duties. We have now
two organizations with distinct heads reporting to the general commanding the
army. An officer of the ordnance department on the staff of the chief of
artillery, and a comparatively small increase of the artillery staff, would
provide for all ordnance duties at a great reduction of expense and
transportation and to the manifest simplification of the duties of a commanding
general. By law the ranking artillery officers of divisions and corps are ex
officio, in addition to their other duties, "chiefs of artillery and ordnance."
It is therefore apparently the intention of Congress that the duties should be
united in the field. This cannot be well don unless the chief of artillery, of
the army is also chief of ordnance. The commanders of artillery brigades cannot
be expected to report to or receive orders from lieutenants or captains of
ordnance, and the positive law of Congress has not, except in rare instances,
been executed.

I have now sketched in general terms the nature of the duties of artillery of
modern armies when serving in campaign.
As an "arm of service" it has grown up from the modest beginnings, and every
step in advance has been forced upon the different nations by the lessons of
experience, from the time when each battalion had a company of grenadiers and
one or two cannon hauled by hand or by contract until as at present it forms
one of the most powerful and costly elements of an army: organized as a unit,
commanded and administered by its own officers, specially educated and set
apart for the purpose and distributed according to the wants of the service,
under the special code which the nature, variety, and extent of its duties
requires.

Our present organization or rather want of one, is a long stride toward the
ancient system; although it does not divide the guns up among the battalions,
it adopts that organization in principle, by considering the artillery as an
integral portion of the division or brigade or other fraction of an army with
which it serves. It thus breaks up the arm as a unit, deprives it of a uniform
system of administration renders esprit de corps impossible, and subjects the
army to the whims and caprices as well as the various systems, of as many
officers as there are distinct army commands with batteries assigned to them.

The prevailing idea in our armies that artillery and engineer officers above
the rank of captain are merely staff officers is the natural result of our
organization, and has led to infinite mischief ot the service. It belongs to
the same period and the some class of ideas which required that general
officers should reside at general headquarters and be detailed by the roster
for the direction of troops when work was to be done. In all other armies a
juster knowledge now assigns general officers of all branches of the service to
organized commands, and in ours infantry and cavalry generals are so assigned
whilst the theory is still maintained that an artillery officer of rank cannot
command artillery and if he does it must be as a staff officer, and his orders
must be given in the name of some general officer outside the artillery to give
them binding force. This has degraded the arm and deprived it of officers
essential to its efficiency, driven many of the best of them from the service,
deprived those who remained of promotion, and has led to a slur being
officially cast on a whole class of officers as being useless in General
Orders, Numbers 126, 1862, War Department, respecting field and staff officers
of artillery.

There was at the beginning of this war a special reason for adopting an
anomalous organization: there has been none for continuing it after that
special reason disappeared. But few artillery officers, and those mostly of the
lower grades, had been instructed in battery duties, not half a dozen of them
had ever commanded artillery in battle. In the new requirements of artillery
the field officers of volunteers were wholly uninstructed and it was deemed
proper in the first months of active operations to give to the officers who had
been instructed the command of the batteries on the field officers of
volunteers were wholly uninstructed, and it was deemed proper in the first
months of active operations to give to the officers who had been instructed the
command of the batteries on the field. The duties of field officers or chief
of artillery were made purely administrative. The batteries were assigned to
divisions then 12,000 strong, giving four batteries-one regular and three
volunteer-to each division the captain of the regular battery an instructed
officer, commanding the four. As time passed, battles were fought, the regular
captains were appointed to staff duties or otherwise promoted and removed from
the artillery, the volunteer chiefs of artillery became instructed in their
duties, the divisions were reduced in strength, half their batteries were
withdrawn, and a reserve for the corps placed under the command of the chiefs
of artillery the chief of artillery of the army being placed in command of the
whole.

It is scarcely necessary to state now why that organization has not been
carried out; the object of this paper is to have it restored and secured, and
by authority that will make it binding upon officers of all ranks.

I respectfully proceed to state the principles which, in my judgment, should be
adopted in establishing the organization, assigning when necessary some of the
reasons which commend them:

First. The proper proportion of field artillery varies according to
circumstances from one to five pieces to 1,000 men. In this army it has
generally been fixed at three; it might, if efficiently organized be placed at
two or two and a quarter as a minimum.

The total amount of artillery should be fixed and maintained without regard to
temporary increase and diminution of troops in the army. Two-thirds of the
guns should be attached to the troops, the remainder being in reserve. The
amount attached to troops is that which they would ordinarily require; for
emergencies they can draw on the reserve artillery.

Second. In attaching artillery to troops it should be laid down as a principle
that no artillery command should be of less strength than would warrant the
assignment to it of a complete staff, administrative and military, in order
that all needful supplies may be insured to it and its discipline and
instruction secured.

Whether the guns shall be assigned to divisions or army corps will therefore
depend on the strength of the divisions. In the artillery, as in other arms,
concentration is favorable to discipline instructions efficiency and especially
to economy. But as artillery is attached immediately to the troops of other
arms as auxiliaries and for special purposes its operations are subordinate to
those of the cavalry and infantry, concentration must not be carried so far as
to deprive the troops of the speedy use of their guns when needed. When,
therefore, the artillery is attached to the army corps and circumstances make
it desirable batteries may be, when near the enemy camped or marched with the
divisions but unless the division are detached to a distance from the corps the
batteries should draw their supplies, &c., from the artillery train. They
should always be considered a part of the artillery brigade, to which they
should return as soon as circumstances permit.

It is advisable in our service that the artillery should be attached to army
corps. A division of less than 10,000 men would not have sufficient artillery
with it to warrant a distinct administrative staff. There should be a major to
every two batteries of six or three batteries of four guns each and a superior
officer, a lieutenant-colonel or colonel to every four or six batteries. To
each artillery brigade attached to an army corps there should be assigned a
force of foot artillery for the various duties, artillery and other, required
of foot troops; this force would vary according to circumstances from two to
three battalions. The artillery of the corps should be under the command of a
general officer of artillery, to whom all orders for its employment should be
given. When two or more batteries are detached to a division they should be
under the command of a field officer, who reports and sustains the same
relations to the division commander that the chief of artillery does to the
corps commander. (See paragraph 489, General Regulations.) The grand park of
the artillery, consisting of the ordnance stores, tools, reserve ammunition,
and small-arms, &c., the batteries of reserve and of position, and a force of
foot artillery should be under the command of a general officer, who reports
direct to the chief of artillery.

The batteries should be organized into one or more brigades. The store and
ammunition trains should be under a field officer, with a competent command of
foot artillery, to insure the prompt execution of all duties connected with
them. Such an organization as the grand park is indispensable to a large army.
It enables the corps to move unincumbered with mass of material which they
could not otherwise dispense with, and permits of a safe reduction of the
total amount of such material with the army. Its reserve batteries furnish the
means of replacing inefficient ones in the corps and refitting the latter.

When the reserve artillery of this army was broken up this summer it was found
necessary to retain the ammunition trains, and during the summer no less than
eleven batteries which had become surplus with the corps, but were needed with
the army, were sent to these trains. The want of the previous organization was
immediately felt. There should be with the park not only a general supply of
artillery, but also of small ammunition. By such an arrangement 100 rounds
per man- 40 on the person, 40 with the corps reserve, and 20 in the grand
park-would probably supply the wants of the most severe campaign, the park
promptly replacing the expenditures of the corps after a battle.

The principal duties of the reserve batteries are:

First. To re-enforce the artillery of corps and on the line of battle.

Second. To occupy positions as the necessity arises, without depriving the
troops of their own batteries.

Fourth. To act in mass upon important points, or in certain cases to replace
large bodies of infantry or cavalry, which can thus be rendered disposable.

A battle rarely takes place without showing the necessity of a reserve of
artillery for some or all of these purposes.

The siege train, if small, could also be attached to the grand park; if large,
it would report direct to the chief of artillery, who would furnish its guards,
escorts, and additional troops for the service of the train when its operations
required them.

For the service of the artillery a certain force of foot troops is
indispensable. The duties required are the defined duties of foot artillery,
and require for the performance of most of them specially instructed troops.
This force furnishes details of men to the field batteries when shorthanded,
parties for the construction of works on the field and for other works, for
the construction and repair of magazines, the fabrication of gabions, facines,
&c., for preparing and laying platforms, and for all labors requiring special
instruction and practice to insure rapidity and perfection for the construction
of stables, shelters, &c., for the animals of the large trains, for guards
attached to the artillery for escorts on the march, pioneers, and all other
duties for which infantry must now be detailed. For detached works or lines,
such as those now held by us, it will furnish the garrisons so far as its
numbers will permit, or, at least, the men necessary to serve thee guns with
which they are armed, without drawing upon the corps for the field batteries,
which should always be free to move with them. It would thus save the increase
of field batteries to meet such duties with the enormous expense it entails,
and the injury to the batteries themselves, and to the extent of its own
numbers furnish the garrisons, and so far obviate the necessity of drawing on
the infantry division.

It is very certain that the nature, extent, variety, and amount of duty
involved are fully sufficient to demand this special force and have not been
fully appreciated in our army. For the purposes named a regiment of foot artillery
is required in the artillery command of each army corps.
For the grand park of an army of 100,000 men two or three regiments, at least,
should be furnished.
When these troops are not required for their special duties they can be used in
battle as a reserve for infantry purposes. They would thus act together, be
exceedingly useful, and inspired by esprit de corps on whatever duties
employed.
With so large a force of heavy (foot) artillery it is but just to provide
fully for the artillery duties before supplying these troops to infantry
divisions.

The whole artillery force should be under the command of the chief of artillery
of the army, who should be responsible for its organization, equipment
instruction supplies, discipline and efficiency with the necessary staff and
powers to meet his responsibilities. This unity of command and administration
is necessary to insure uniformity throughout the army, system, and economy, as
well as efficiency to enable the whole arm to be used according to
circumstances to the greatest advantage, to enable the experience of this arm,
now frittered away to be made useful, to insure uniformity of rewards and
punishment in the administration, and to protect the interest of all. Without
this unity that esprit de corps, without which the highest efficiency cannot be
obtained, is impossible.

The artillery serving immediately with the troops should be considered as
detached to the corps or division and not forming an integral portion of it. It
should be subjected to the ordinary rules of service of troops so situated-that
is, the commander should have the fighting use of the batteries, the artillery
commander making his stated returns, &c., to artillery headquarters which
should centralize all that relates to the personnel and material of the
artillery of the army as in the French service, upon which ours is modeled, as
well as in all other armies of whose organization I have any knowledge. There
is no necessity of any conflict of authority or powers in this case any more
than in the engineers, as the general instructions for the employment of both
emanate from the general commanding an army, to whom the chiefs of artillery
and engineers as well as corps commanders are directly responsible.

HENRY J. HUNT.
Brevet Major-General, Commanding.

The above reports and much more regarding the Federal Artillery can be found in
our "Historical Orders & Reports" section on our website for further research.

**3rdUSRedleg** · 09-06-2008, 12:34 AM

Re: GENERAL ORDERS No. 5, Apr. 11, 64

More reading, friends :)

GENERAL ORDERS,} WAR DEPT., ADJT., GENERAL'S OFFICE,
Numbers 45.} Washington, February 16, 1863.

Regulations for the care of the Field-Works, and the Government of their
Garrisons.

1. It will be the duty of the commanding officer of each work to provide for
the care of the armament, and the safety and serviceable condition of the
magazines, ammunition, implements, and equipments, and by frequent personal
inspections, to secure the observance of the rules prescribed for this purpose.

2. The fixed armament, consisting of the heavy guns, and those whose positions
are prescribed, will be numbered in a regular series, commencing with the first
gun on the right, as you enter, of the main gate. The ammunition will be kept
in the magazines, with the exception of a few stand of grape, canister, and the
solid shot, which will be piled near guns.

3. The gun carriages will be kept clean; they will be traversed daily, and
never be allowed to rest for two successive days on the same part of the
traverse circle. If the gun carriage does not move easily on the chassis, the
tongue will be occasionally greased. The gun carriage should not rest
habitually on one part of the chasis.

4. The elevating screw and its box will be kept clean and well greased. When
the guns are not in use the screw will be run down as far as it will go, the
breech of the piece being raised until the muzzle is sufficintly depressed to
prevent water running into it, and kept in that position by a wooden quoin or
block. The tompion to be kept in the muzzle, and the apron over the vent.

5. The piece is not to be kept loaded. It will be time to load when the enemy
appears, or when special orders to load are given.

6. The commanding officer will see that a shed is constructed for the
implements and equipments. For each drill these will be issued to the gunners
by the ordnance-sergeant or other non- commissioned officer acting as such, who
will receive and put them away after the drill is over, and be at all time
responsible to the commanding officer for their safety, and that the supply is
adequate. Until sheds are provided, the implements will be kept near the
pieces. The equipments (haversacks, tube pouch, &c.) may be kept at the
entrance of the magazine, where they will be sheltered. Platforms for
projectiles will be laid near the guns; for canisters a couple of pieces of
scantling for skids will answer. A watershed, made by joining two boards
together at the edges, should be placed over them. When the wooden sabots get
wet they and burst the canisters, so that they cannot be put into the gun. When
this happens, dry the canister until the block shrinks sufficiently, and tack
the canister edges together.

7. When not furnished by the Engineer Department, materials for constructing
the sheds and for skidding will be furnished on requisitions made to the chief
of artillery.

8. The magazines must in dry weather be frequently aired. For this purpose the
ventilators and doors will be opened after 9 a. m., and must be closed, at
latest, two hours before sunset. The ammunition for different classes of guns
will be carefully assorted, and the shelves, boxes, or barrels containing each
kind plainly marked. When there is more than one magazine the ammunition will
be so distributed as to be nearest to the particular guns from which it is to
be used. Cartridges must be moved and, if necessary, rolled once a week, to
prevent caking of the powder. Friction-primers will be carefully dried in the
sun once a week, and always after a day"s or night"s rain. At least two
lanyards for each gun will be kept in store. As soon as received, their hooks
will be tested, to see if they are sufficintly small to enter the eye of the
primer and yet strong enough for use.

9. No person will be allowed to enter the magazines except on duty, and then
every precaution against accidents will be taken. Lights must always be in
glass lanters, and carried only by the person in charge of the magazine.
Swords, pistols, canes, &c., will not be admitted, no matter what may be the
rank of the person carrying them. Socks or moccasins will be worn, if they can
be procured. No fire nor smoking will be allowed in the vicinity when the doors
or ventilators are open. Too much pains cannot possibly be taken to avoid the
chances of an explosion.

10. Companies will be assigned to guns in such proportions as will furnish at
least two, preferably three, reliefs in working from the magazines. From
fifteen to twenty men should therefore be assigned to each gun, and instructed
in its use. Companies should habitually serve the same guns, each man being
assigned a special number at the gun, and thoroughly instructed in all its
duties, and, as occasion offers, in the duties of all the numbers. Every night,
at retreats or tattoo, the men who are to man the guns in case of a night
attack should be paraded at their pieces and inspected, to see that all their
equipments, implements, and ammunition are good order, and the gun in
serviceable condition and easy working order. The men so stationed should "call
off" their numbers before being dismissed, and in case of alarm repair at once
to their posts, equip themselves, and await orders.

11. Each gun should be under charge of a non-commissioned officer, and every
two or three guns under a lieutenant, who will be responsible to the captain
for their serviceable condition at all times. The captain will be responsible
to the commanding officer for the condition of the pieces and the instruction
of the men of his company. Artillery drills will be frequent until all the men
are well instructed, and there will never be less one artillery drill a day
when the weather will permit. For action, all the cannoneers not actually
serving the guns will be provided with muskets, and will be stationed next the
guns to which they belong.

12. Each company should be supplied with three copies of the Tactics for Heavy
Artillery, and rigidly adhere to its directions. Tables of ranges will be found
in the work. One copy of Instructions for Field Artillery should be supplied
each company. They can be obtained on written application to the chief of
artillery, who will obtain them from the Adjutant-General of the Army. The
books so drawn are the property of the United States for the use of the
company; they will be borne on the muster-rolls.

13. The commanding officer will make himself acquainted with the approaches to
his work, the distance to each prominent point commanded by his guns, the
nature of the ground between them and his post, and the most probable points of
attack upon it.

Tables of ranges or distances for each point, and the corresponding elevations
in each case, according to the nature of the projectile, with the proper length
or time of the fuse when shell or case-shot are used, will be made out for each
gun, and furnished to the officer and noncommissioned officers serving it. As
these differ for different kinds of gun, the same men should be permanently
assigned to the same piece.

14. The projectiles should be used in their proper order. At a distance, solid
shot; then shells or case-shot, especially if firing at troops in line.
Canister or grape is only for use at short ranges. When columns are
approaching, so that they can be taken in direction of their length, or very
obliquely, solid shot is generally the best projectile, because of its greater
accuracy and penetrating power. If the column consists of cavalry, some shells
or case-shot will be useful from the disorder their bursting among the horses.
As to the absolute distance at which the projectiles must be used, they vary
with the description and caliber of the guy, and can only be ascertained by
consulting the tables of ranges. The prominent parts on the approaches to the
works should be designated, their distances noted, and directions drawn up for
the different kinds of ammunition to be used at each gun when the enemy reaches
them. During the drills the attention of the chiefs of pieces and gunners
should frequently be drawn to this subject.

15. Commanding officers will pay special attention to the police and
preservation of the works. All filth will be promptly removed and the drainage
be particularly attended to. No one should be allowed to walk on the parapets,
nor move or sit upon the gabions, barrels, or sand-bags that may be placed upon
them. When injuries occur to the earth-works, they should be repaired as
quickly as possible by the garrison of the work. If of a serious nature, they
should at once be reported to the engineer officer in charge of the work. All
injuries to the magazines or platforms of the guns will be promptly reported as
soon as observed.

16. Special written instructions as to the supply of ammunition at the
different posts, and the proportion for the different classes of guns, will be
furnished by the chief of artillery to the commanders of posts at the earliest
period practicable. Instructions will also be furnished as to the special
objects of each work.

17. No person not connected with the garrisons of the field-works will be
allowed signed them excent such as visit them on duty, or who have passes
signed by competent authority; nor will any person, except commissioned
officer, or those whose duty requires them to do so, be allowed to enter the
magazine or touch the guns, their implements, or equipments.

18. The garrison can greatly improve the work by sodding the superior (upper)
slope of the parapet, and also the exterior or outer slope, or by sowing grass
seed on the superior slope, first covering it with suface soil. The
grass-covered or sodded portions of the parapets, traverses, magazines, &c.,
should be occasionally watered in dry weather and the grass kept closely cut.

19. As a great deal of powder is wasted in unnecessary salutes, attention is called
to paragraph 268 of the Army Regulations, edition of 1861.

Paragraph 268. A general officer will be saluted but once in a year at each
post, and only when notice of his intention to visit the post has been given.

20. The practice of building fires on the open parades for cooking and other
purposes is prohibited, as it endangers the magazines.

21. The armament of a fort having been once established will not be changed
except by authority of the commander of the district, geographical department,
or army corps.

22. The machinery of the Whitworth guns will not be used except by special
orders from the commanding officer of the post. There shall be at each fort,
and redoubt at least one drill a day as artillery and one as infantry.

23. Particular care must be taken to keep the bores of the rifled guns free
from rust and always well oiled.

24. The forts will be inspected at such times as the chief of artillery may
direct, and a full report of their condition will be made. Particular attention
will be paid to the drill and police of the work in each case, as also to the
condition of the armament, ammunition, and magazines.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR FIRING.

1. The firing in action should be deliberate, never more than will admit of
accurate pointing. A few shots effectively thrown will produce more effect than
a larger number badly directed, although the larger number may have killed the
most men.

It is not so important to kill as to inspire terror. The object of killing a
portion is to so frighten the rest as to cause them to run; and to inspire this
terror, precision of fire and consequent certainty of execution is of
infinitely greater importance than a great noise, rapid firing, and less
proportional execution.

2. To secure accuracy of firing, the ground in the neighborhood must be well
examined and the distanced the different prominent points within the field
covered by each gun noted. The gunners and cannoneers should be informed of
these distances, and in the drills the guns should be accurately pointed at one
or the other of them in succession , the gunner designating the spot, calling
the distance in yards, and the corresponding elevation in minutes and degrees,
until all the distances and corresponding elevations are familiar to the men.

When shell or case-shot are use, the time of flight corresponding to the
distance must be given to the man who goes for the projectile. He tells the
ordnance-sergeant, or person who furnishes the ammunition, and the latter cuts
the fuse to burn the required time.

3. The gunner is responsible for the aiming. He must, therefore, know the
distance to each prominent point the field covered by his gun, the elevation
required to reach that point, and the time of flight of the shell or case-shot
corresponding to each distance or elevation. He must have a table of these
ranges taken from the Heavy Artillery Arctics, pages 265 to 269. a

For example: The cartridges for the 24-pounder guns all weigh six pounds as
issued to these works

The last table on page 269 should read: " Eight-inch sea-coast howitzer, on
barbette carriage, instead of 8-inch sea coast mortar."

Twenty-four pounder gun on siege or barbette carriage.

Pounds....... deg" .......... Yards.

...6............. 0..0 ............ 412
That is, the bore being level, a range of 400 yards.

...6.............1..0 ..............842
1 degree elevation, range about 850 yards.

...6.............1..30 ........... 953
1 1/2 degrees elevation, range about 950 yards.

...6.............2..0 ............1,147
2 degrees elevation, range about 1,150 yards.

...6.............3..0 ............1,417
3 degrees elevation, range about 1,400 yards.

...6.............4..0 ............1,666
4 degrees elevation, range about 1,660 yards.

...6.............5..0 ............1,901
5 degrees elevation, range about 1,900 yards,
the extreme range of 24-pounder round-shot.

Thus, if the enemy appears at a point 1,000 yards distant, look at the table -
950 yards requires 1 deg. 30" elevation; 1,150 yards requires 2 deg.;
therefore, elevate a very little, say 5" to 10" over 1 deg. 30", or simply give
1 deg. 30" full.

In the same way, for each 8-inch sea-coast howitzer, make out a table from page
269, noting, however, that only 6 and 8 pounder cartridges being now issued for
them, and of late only 8-pound cartridges, it must first be ascertained what
the cartridges in your magazine weigh, and them make out the table accordingly.

4. These tables will be promptly prepared under the direction of the commanding
officer,m and copies furnished for each gun and used habitually in the drills.
They will be examined and verified by the chief of artillery.

5. The attention of all officers in charge of artillery in the works is
directed to the articles in the Tactics on "Pointing guns and howitzers," pages
85 to 88.

6. Commanding officers of the works will keep themselves accurately informed of
the amount and kinds of ammunition in the magazines. The supply should be kept
up to 100 rounds per gun. When it is less than that amount a special report
will be made of the fact to the chief of artillery, with requisitions for the
amount necessary to complete the supplies. They will also see that the
necessary equipments are always on hand for the service if all the guns, as
follows:

For 24 or 32 pounder guns, the articles named on pages 47 and 48, article 97.

For 8-inch sea-coast howitzers, the articles named on page 58, article 117; and
for other guns, according to the tables as prescribed in the Tactics.

NOTE.- Two lanyards and at least 150 friction-primers for each gun to be kept
on hand; one lanyard and a very few primers to be kept in the tube pouch, the
other in the magazine.

One globe or dark lantern for every three guns. Two globe lanterns for watch
magazine.

By command of Major-General Halleck:
E. D. TOWNSEND,
Assistant Adjutant-General.

Announcement

Announcement

GENERAL ORDERS No. 5, Apr. 11, 64

GENERAL ORDERS No. 5, Apr. 11, 64

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