The artillerist's manual and British soldier's compendium

by F. A. Griffiths

ON THE INTERIOR MANAGEMENT OF A BATTERY.

1. The greatest care should be paid to the fittings of the saddles and collars; extensive sore backs and galled shoulders arise chiefly from neglect on the march: and by prompt attention on the part of the officers, many horses may be preserved to the service, which would otherwise be disabled for months. The drivers should never be suffered to lounge in their saddles, or to sit uneven. A folded blanket under the saddle is found to be the best preventive of sore backs, as it adapts the shape of the saddle to any loss of flesh in the animal.

On long marches, the shaft horse should invariably be provided with a half blanket under the pad saddle; every driver should also have attached to his harness a pair of pads of basil leather, about six inches by four, stuffed with hair; and the moment any tenderness is perceived in a horse’s shoulder, the pressure should be relieved by placing the pads above and below the tender part.

2. On a march, there will always be an advanced and rear guard; the advanced guard of one day becoming the rear guard of the next. On arriving on the ground where the battery is to be parked, the advanced guard will immediately pitch their tent, and post sentinels. When the battery quits its ground, the non-commissioned officer of the guard is responsible that nothing be left behind.

3. When a battery is to march, the camp kettles, and everything that will not be required before morning, should be lashed on the carriages at sunset.

4. In parking guns, the usual interval is ten or twelve paces; but on a march, that everything may be better under the eye of the sentinels, the intervals may be diminished to three or four paces. The guns are to be in the first line, covered by their respective waggons; the spare ammunition and store carriages in the third line. The tents of the detachment are sometimes on the flanks of the battery, and sometimes in rear of their respective sub-divisions: the officers in rear of the battery. The horses are sometimes picketed in rear of the whole, and parallel to the line of guns, and sometimes perpendicular to this line, and on the flanks between the detachments, tents, and the carriages; but in general, the form of encamping will depend on the nature of the ground and local circumstances. In every situation the approach to the park, and the road by which the guns are brought out, should be kept clear and open.

5. If the battery is parked in hot weather, the naves of the wheels must be defended as much as possible from the effect of the sun, by sods or other covering.

6. When a battery arrives in camp, quarters, or cantonments, each non-commissioned officer will immediately examine every part of the carriages of his sub-division, especially the wheels, to the greasing of which he will attend. Any damages, to be repaired without delay, he will report to the officer of his division, who will report to the commander of the battery.

7. When a battery is in stationary quarters, there must be a weekly inspection of every part of the battery, and a parade in marching order, when circumstances will permit; at which parade, every part of the harness and appointments of gunners and drivers is expected to be in the best order. Particular attention should be paid to the state of the ammunition, which should be frequently aired; and no fresh ammunition should ever be received without being gauged to the guns.

8. The drivers must immediately report any loss or breakage of their harness; and, on the instant, make known to the non-commissioned officer of the sub-division, any gall or other hurt which may have happened to the horses committed to their charge: any neglect on this point must be punished. Airing and beating with a knotted rope the stuffing of the collars and saddles is an important part of the driver’s duty, which should never be omitted on continued marches. In camp, greasy heels are the most common disability which horses labour under; and as they proceed from cold, occasioning humours to settle, the best preventive is hand-rubbing and exercise, to keep up a circulation.

9. Unless for some particular purpose, the elevating screws should never be raised higher than the half of their length; on a march, they should be covered with a piece of canvas, or an old flannel cartridge, which will prevent their being clogged with dirt; and the travelling chain should be always applied. The pintail, and the trail plate eye, should be greased previous to marching.

10. After a field day, or an action, the bores of the guns should be washed, and then laid under metal.

11. If a wheel be so disabled as not to be worth repairing, the nave, if not damaged, should be at any rate saved. If the nave be good, a new wheel can easily be made from materials perhaps found on the spot, but it is very difficult to find a nave.

12. In marching in ordinary circumstances, the officer next for duty will always proceed in advance, to take up quarters, and to choose ground for parking, or encamping on; and the officer on duty for the day will always march in, and bring up the rear.

13. When a battery is to march, and “Boot and saddle” has been sounded, the officer of the day, the non-commissioned officers, drivers, and horses will turn out, and immediately proceed to the park and put-to; if encamped, tents to be struck, and lashed to the carriages. At the sound “Turn out,” the whole of the officers, non-commissioned officers, and gunners, repair to the park; and when the usual inspections have been made, and the regular reports delivered to the commander, the battery will be marched off.

14. Feeding will always take place three times a day at the park, under the inspection of the officer of the day; when the nose-bags have been filled by the non-commissioned officer in charge of the forage, the trumpeter is to sound “Feed,” the nose-bags are put on, and the drivers fall in, in front; after the feed, the nose-bags are rolled up and buckled on.

15. A non-commissioned officer is to have charge of and serve out the corn and forage, which for security will be deposited at the park guard; but on a march, when the corn is carried on the ammunition waggons, no more corn should be taken off the carriages than is likely to be wanted.

16. Buckets are provided for watering the horses on a march; by this means they can be watered from wells or places inaccessible to the animals, or at least to more than one or two of them at a time: but the operation is a long one. If on a march a small river or stream of water is to be forded, this opportunity of watering them, or at any rate of giving them a mouthful of water in crossing it, should be seized: it saves much time. Should the stream, however, be very rapid, or deep, or should there be troops immediately in the rear, no halt should be made in fording it.

17. The Serjeant-major is to superintend all parades and drills, under the inspection of the officer on duty. The Quartermaster serjeant is to draw provisions and forage; he is to make out returns, and have charge of the spare stores.

18. The Trumpeter is always to be quartered in the nearest billet to the commanding officer; and the men and horses of each sub-division and division to be as near together as possible. A gunner from each sub-division, or a gunner of the guard, is to be made acquainted with the quarters of the commander of the battery, that in any emergency there may be no delay in finding him out: the same applies to the officers of divisions as far as their divisions are concerned.

19. The Farrier is to report every evening to the commanding officer the state of the sick animals; and on the ——, (the particular days to be mentioned) a return, in writing, of the number of horse (and mule, if any) shoes, and quantity of horse medicines expended.

20. The senior Collar-maker, the Jobbing-smith, and the Wheeler, to make similar reports of the stores expended in their several departments: these reports to be delivered to the serjeant-major, to be laid by him before the commander of the battery.

21. The Artificers are to work as near as possible to the park guard, the non-commissioned officer of which is responsible that no work is done, or horse shod, except for the battery, without written permission from the commander.

22. The Forge, when employed, should be removed to a proper distance from the park. It should, at night, be brought back to its place, and everything arranged on it, so that, should the battery be suddenly ordered to march, there may be no delay.

LASSO.

Lasso harness consists of a brown leather surcingle, and one trace. The surcingle is rather wider than a common girth, and is composed of two pieces (joined together by rings), one of which is placed over the saddle, and the other round the belly of the horse. There are also rings at the end of the surcingle, which is drawn very firmly round the horse, and fastened tight by lapping a white leather thong (fixed at one end of the surcingle) through these rings. There are two descriptions of traces, one being 8, and the other 12 feet long. They have hooks at each end, and, when the lasso harness is made use of by cavalry, &c., to assist draught horses in moving very heavy carriages, or in dragging guns, &c., up steep hills, one of these hooks is fastened to a ring in the surcingle, and the other to the carriage, &c.

Lasso harness may be advantageously employed with all horses; even those unaccustomed to draught having been found perfectly tractable and efficient the first time they were required to draw by means of the lasso. When two horses are in draught, the traces must be inside, and each rider should keep his horse’s croup a little outwards.