War, columns have never been actually opposed to lines. Columns can not exist under modern infantry fire, and it is infantry fire that decides the issue. In 1858 George W. Morse, of Lowell, Mass., sent to England, for trial by the English military service, the first primed, flanged, expansive metallic cartridge ever invented. It was intended to be used in breech-loading small-arms. Morse's invention was tested at Hythe, in September of that year, and the following is an extract from the report of the British officers who condemned the primed cartridge: "The introduction of fulminating powders into cartridges is a dangerous element in their construction, and, for military service, an insuperable objection. The manufacture, the packing, and carriage become alike dangerous, and these alone, the committee concludes, are sufficient reasons for condemning the ridicule. When Abraham Lincoln became President of the United States (1860) it was the only breech-loader in the hands of troops of any foreign nation. In 1861 the smooth-bore musket and spherical ball had been superseded by the muzzle-loading rifle and the elongated ball. The principle of the rifle was not well enough understood to lead to the general adoption of any particular form of the arm as the best. There was much variety. Credit is due to the United States as the birthplace of a successful breech-loading system. When the civil war began, the infantry of the United States army had just changed its muzzleloading rifle. In 1860 the Maynard primer rifle was changed to the percussion cap, despite the protest of Gen. Winfield Scott, and the Springfield rifle, muzzle-loading, was adopted instead. As late as December, 1861, our Chief of Ord A, JAMES P. LEE DETACHABLE MAGAZINE RIFLE (AMERICAN PATTERN). BOLT ACTION. B, THE SAME, WITH SYSTEM OPEN AND MAGAZINE DETACHED. employment of cartridges with caps attached." Col. Hope, military attaché of the British legation at Washington, dissented. There is not now a military firearm in the world, except revolvers, in use in any army in which the combination is not used. The Morse combination made the breech-loading system possible. In 1841, in Prussia, some Dreyse breech-loading needle-guns, paper cartridge, were adopted. This has been termed the original of the modern military rifle, but its existence did not disturb the equanimity of nations using muzzle-loaders. The needlegun was criticised because it permitted the escape of gas at the breech, and because it was possible for a soldier to waste his ammunition; the latter especially was looked upon as a fatal defect. For more than twenty-two years the soundness of the criticisms of the Dreyse needle-gun was scarcely questioned. The faults of the arm were apparent, and the weapon was the subject of nance condemned the Spencer and the Henry system because these breech-loaders required a special kind of ammunition which had the fulminate, or priming, in the cartridge itself. Gen. James Ripley also said, substantially, that, "Considering the rapidity of discharge attainable from all breech-loaders, and the inconvenience from the additional weight of the additional cartridges in the ordinary use of a magazine gun, but little advantage could be derived from any repeater." Despite the obstructive policy mentioned, Americans concentrated their minds upon improvements in implements of war, and demonstrated the superority of their inventive capacities and manufactures. After the "Trent" affair, Nov. 8, 1861, Queen Victoria issued a proclamation prohibiting the further exportation of ordnance and ordnance stores from England. Although the order suspending the delivery of foreign-made small-arms was rescinded Jan. 17, 1862, the influx was checked by this affair. At that time the objections to breech-loading small arms were that they were complicated, liable to get out of order from fouling or escape of gas at the joints, and wanted strength. Owing to the facility with which they could be loaded, it was asserted, in battle the soldier would load and fire without reflection, or without orders, and when the decisive moment should arrive, he would have exhausted his ammunition. The breech-loader invented by John H. Hall was patented in the United States in 1811, thirtyfour years before the Jean Nicholas Dreyse breech-loader was introduced into the Prussian service. It did not have a metallic cartridge. After the civil war began, the Spencer magazine gun proved an important achievement in small-arms ordnance, and it was a potent factor in the triumph of the national forces during 1864-'65. It was the first repeating rifle that was tested in battle, using metallic cartridges. A magazine rifle is one that contains in itself, or attached to it, a supply of ammunition independent of that in the soldier's belt or pouch. Eminent military men felt that the Prussian success in the Schleswig-Holstein war (1864) was due more to their soldiers than to their breech-loading rifles. In 1866 the repeated success of the Prussians with their Dreyse breech-loaders over the Werndl rifle of Austria occasioned a rush by important military powers for small-arms loaded from the breech. During these wars the Prussian breech-loader was tested in battle, and opened-as wars always do-a new era in tactics. So, too, in the Franco - German struggle of 1870-'71, when the French troops were also equipped with a breechloader, the Chassepot. The desire for, or the dread of conquest necessitated a revolution in matters of ordnance. All modern wars have been short, sharp, and quickly decisive. There are 28,000,000 men in Europe liable to be drawn into the next European war. The annual public cost for their support is $600,000,000. On March 4, 1861, the United States had on hand 336,788 smooth-bore flint and percussion muskets, 73,544 rifled muskets, and 32,855 rifles. In addition we owned nineteen different varieties of breech-loading carbines. The Chief of Ordnance purchased, in open market and from contractors, 1,055,862 foreign rifles, 670,617 rifled United States pattern muskets, and 113,034 old smoothbores. There were fabricated that year in the United States armory 805,537 rifled muskets. The total of smooth-bores was 449,822, and of rifles 1,559,698. By June 30, 1866, the total number of small-arms had increased to 2,649.439. The losses by wear and tear during three years of active warfare were for infantry about 13 per cent. per annum. In January, 1866, Gen. Winfield S. Hancock was directed to report what form and caliber should be adopted for breech-loading muskets and carbines, and what form of conversion for muskets from muzzle-loading should be adopted. After testing 22 varieties of breech-loading muskets and 17 varieties of breech-loading carbines, Gen. Hancock reported in favor of 45 Some of the foreign systems examined by Gen. Terry were the Martini-Henry (English), Chassepot (French), Dreyse needle (German), Mauser (Prussia), Werndl (Austrian), Berdan (Russian), Vetterli (Swiss), and Werder (Bavarian), also, the Spanish Remington. Four of these nine varieties named were of American origin. The weight of the Springfield rifle decided on was 8:38 pounds, and the trigger was adjusted to pull off at from six to eight pounds. In February, 1881, Congress appropriated for the manufacture of small-arms at national factories $300,000. Of this amount, $50,000 was directed to be expended in the manufacture or purchase of magazine guns, to be selected by a board of officers to be appointed by the Secretary of War. Forty guns were submitted. The principal ones were the James P. Lee, Chaffee- Reece, Hotchkiss, Spencer-Lee, MarVOL. XXIX.-47 A tini, Remington - Keene, Burton, SpringfieldJones, Elliott, Dean, Russell-Livermore, Trabue, and Boch. Two foreign guns were presented by Joseph Schulhof, of Austria, and F. Vetterli, of Schaffhausen, Switzerland. The board reported that the Lee, the Chaffee-Reece, and the Hotchkiss possessed efficiency as single-loaders, and considering safety, ease of loading, rapidity of fire, endurance, moderate weight, and simplicity of construction, it recommended them in the order named. The Spencer- Lee was mentioned as possessing novel and meritorious features. Ten years ago Switzerland was the only country whose forces were armed with a repeating rifle. The lapse of ten years finds six of the nations mentioned feverishly engaged in changing their small-arms system. When one cal that, from the little that can be learned of the magazine systems abroad, he is persuaded that nothing is to be gained by haste at this juncture, as the Springfield will continue to serve the purpose and the best interests of the army long enough to enable the determination finally on a magazine gun that will do credit to the inventive genius of the people. For more than twenty-five years Americans have been engaged in improving the Springfield rifle and its ammunition. Its parts are interchangeable, and it has been tested by extensive, accurate, and well-designed experiments. To ascertain its tensile strength, the barrel of the Springfield rifle has been filled with lead so tightly secured that the service charge-seventy grains of gunpowder- when exploded in the SPENCER-LEE DETACHABLE MAGAZINE RIFLE (AMERICAN). BREECH BLOCK. culates the expenditure involved in buying or making half a million rifles, the immense cost of rearming a nation with small-arms becomes appreciable. The Springfield rifle costs $13.12, the Lee $14.12, the Hotchkiss $16.58, the Chaffee-Reece $33.35. The Lee, Chaffee-Reece, and Hotchkiss magazine guns were issued to selected companies of our army for trial by troops. After a careful consideration of the reports rendered, Gen. Benet, Chief of Ordnance, reported to the Secretary of War, December, 1885, that he was satisfied that neither of these magazine guns should be adopted and substituted for the Springfield rifle. He has since reported that an effective and simple magazine gun has become a necessity, but chamber, was unable to move the mass of metal in front of it, and yet no rupture of any kind was produced. This proves that the barrel is able to stand at least 43,000 pounds to the square inch. It has been tried with charges of compressed powder, smokeless propellents, perforated cartridges, Hebler cartridges, and every conceivable variety of projectile. To European nations, these incessant changes of rifle, ammunition, etc., are almost synonymous with bankruptcy. France, Austria, Italy, Belgium, Portugal, Prussia, Germany, and England have either adopted, or are about to adopt new or converted rifles, with calibers varying but little from 31-inch. When the United States Ordnance Depart ment experimented to find out the effect of increasing the length of barrel of the Springfield rifle, it was found that with a barrel 112 inches long, using 70 grains of powder and regulation bullet, there was scarcely any smoke and very little noise accompanying the explosion, while with a barrel only 5 inches in length there was a cloud of smoke and a deafening noise. These phenomena are natural results of the complete combustion of the charge in the bore. In the near future the common black gunpowder will be entirely superseded as a motive force in guns. It is time that the mechanical mixture known as gunpowder, which was used in battle by the Chinese in the year 1232, and has practically been used in all portable firearms ever since, should be superseded by a chemical mixture, smokeless, noiseless, odorless, stable, without recoil, and a more po verful pusher than gunpowder. The term "pusher" is used advisedly; there is a difference between a blow and a push; we want a pushing propellant for our rifles, not a rending explosive. Using the Springfield rifle and service ammunition, the penetration at ranges of 3,500 yards is about three inches in pine wood; energy corresponding to a penetration of one inch in pine is held to be sufficient to inflict a wound dangerous enough to put a man out of action. For reasons both humane and politic it is better to wound a man in action than to kill him. The time of flight for the Springfield bullet in traversing 3,000 yards is seventeen and three quarter seconds. An entire chapter could be devoted to the subject of the motion of bullets. In the barrel of the Springfield rifle are three grooves; they are inclined to the axis of the barrel; the twist is uniform from left to right, that is, the groove on the top turns from the left to the right, and makes one turn in 22 inches. The bullet in moving through the barrel thus receives a motion of rotation around its longer axis. When it reaches the muzzle, the points on the surface have an axial motion of 92 feet a second. In slide upon the rear sight. Of course, the slide had to be moved slightly to the left. For this lateral adjustment of the sight, a knowledge was requisite of the force or velocity and direction of the wind, and of the value of one point on the wind-gauge in overcoming the motion of the bullet, due to drift and the wind, at different ranges. A wind blowing directly from the front (that is, from the direction of the target), is called a twelve o'clock wind; one directly from the left and across the line of fire, a nine o'clock wind, and so on. In 1884, Col. Adelbert R. Buffington, U. S. A., invented a rear sight which has since been used for the Springfield rifle and carbine. MUZZLE END OF UNITED STATES ROD-BAYONET, SPRINGFIELD RIFLE. plain language, it spins. A lateral motion of the entire projectile results. Its direction is determined by the rifling. As this latter is from left to right, the bullet deviates to the right of the plane of fire. This deviation is called "drift." At 600 yards, the drift is over 16 inches; at 500 When the sight is adjusted for the necessary elevation, it automatically corrects for drift. As at 200 yards, the drift of the rifle bullet is 3 inches to the right, the Buffington sight causes the soldier to aim nearly point to the left of the objective. At 200 yard range, point of the wind gauge compensates for a wind acting at right angles to the plane of fire with a velocity of about 8 miles an hour for rifle firing, and about 10 miles an hour for carbine firing. Breech-loading rifles may be divided as follows: 1, single-loaders, like the Springfield; 2, single-loaders and repeaters combined: 3, single-loaders with magazine attached; 4, repeaters with no cut-off to the magazine, like the Winchester and the Austrian Manlicher; 5, experimental repeaters; 6, de-tached magazines, like the James P. Lee gun. Repeating rifles may be divided into: 1, those |