Excerpt from The Tactical Employment of Quick-Firing Field Artillery

The great battles of 1870 are most instructive from an artillery point of view. Materiel in those days was, it is true, very inferior to that now at our disposal, but its inferiority was not such as to prevent us deducing, with some approach to truth, from the lessons of that campaign the modifications which the increased power of the arm may necessitate in its employment.

The majority of the examples serving as a basis for this work are, therefore, taken from the campaign of 1870, or rather, from three battles: August 18th (Gravelotte, Saint Privat), Sedan, and Beaumont. The two first are those which, of all the campaign, brought into play the most considerable masses of artillery; the last presents a characteristic example of the employment of artillery in a retreat.

Lastly, the recent war in the Transvaal, in which quick-firing guns have made their appearance, seems as though it should afford valuable examples of how to utilise their fire. But, as far as our present information goes, it does not appear to have given any conclusive indications as to the employment of large bodies of artillery, as much by reason of the abnormal character of the war as of the paucity of the batteries engaged and the lack of professional skill in their personnel.

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