Handbook for Light Artillery

by A. B. Dyer

Loading cars with horses at night should be avoided. The battery should be drawn up in the most convenient position for loading; and during the operation of loading quiet and order must be maintained. Dismount; let the men fall out of ranks if necessary and then reform, and have personal equipment, etc., placed on the ground; unhitch; unharness and tell off the horses to the cars, cannoneers assisting drivers. Station a non-commissioned officer and one private at the door; the former to superintend the work and the latter to count in a loud tone the horses as they enter. Two more privates should be present to assist in putting horses in position, etc.

After horses are loaded all assist in loading the material. The battery is then reformed, retake equipments, etc., and the men are told off to cars.

The horses should be driven or led in, following one another as closely as possible, but should not be tied. They should be alternately led to either end so as to fill up the middle of the car last, and should stand alternately head and tail. If the journey is to be continued beyond 18 or 20 hours, the horses will require to be watered and fed. Nose-bags are generally used for the grain. If the drivers are attentive, they, by taking advantage of the short halts made by the train, can feed grain and hay quite easily by hand. Half-rations will be sufficient under any circumstances. Before placing the horses on the cars they should be thoroughly groomed and cooled; they should have nothing more on them than their halter head-stalls. They should be fed before being loaded, as it tends to keep them quiet.

If the journey is to continue for more than 36 hours, the horses should be unloaded every 24 hours, and should be watered, fed, groomed, and exercised before being loaded on the cars again. If there are stockyards near by, the horses should be turned loose in them for exercise. On long journeys, run all night and until about 10 A.M., then unload at a convenient place, and water, feed, and groom; give the horses gentle exercise, and water and feed again so that the horses can be reloaded about 4 or 5 P.M. to resume the journey.

Horses are best loaded and unloaded from a stock-chute, but where this convenience is not available and there is no platform a ramp or chute may be improvised, using for it planks about 12 feet long and from 2 to 3 inches thick, depending on the strength of the wood.

A ramp should be about 4 feet wide, with the planks firmly fastened together with transverse battens. These battens furthermore prevent the horses from slipping. A strong trestle or crib of logs supports the end of the ramp next the car, while the other rests on the ground and is secured from slipping by strong stakes. An intermediate trestle or a support of logs should be placed to prevent the planks from springing with the weight of the horses. Three or four posts of suitable height are set in the ground on each side, to which side-rails are lashed or spiked for the purpose of keeping the horses from stepping off. A board should be placed on each side to prevent the horses' feet from slipping over the edges of the plank. When planks are not procurable, a ramp of earth, supported by means of logs or stones on the end next the track, may be constructed. The cars are brought up in succession to the ramp to be loaded or unloaded.

In the field, where no chute or ramp is to be found at the place of unloading, material ready prepared for constructing one should be carried with the train. After loading the horses enclose the harness in sacks, each marked with the designation of the horse, team, and carriage to which it belongs.

Artillery-carriages are carried on platform or flat cars. These cars are generally from 28 to 32 feet long by 8 feet wide. When properly loaded, cars of 30 feet will carry two field-guns and two caissons complete. To load them, the carriages are unlimbered and the spare wheels removed from the caisson; the body of a caisson, its stock to the rear, is run to the front end of the car and its stock rested on the floor; another rear train is run forward in like manner until its wheels strike or overlap those of the first, when its stock is rested on the floor. A limber is then placed on the car with its pole to the front, resting on the rear train; the second limber is backed on and its pole held up until a gun, trail foremost, is run under it; the trail of the gun is rested on the floor and the pole of the limber on the gun-carriage. The other gun is run on in the same manner, and its trail rested on the floor under the first gun; a limber is next run on and its pole rested on the last gun; the remaining limber is run on with its pole under the preceding limber. All of the carriages are pushed together as closely as possible and firmly lashed to each other and to the sides of the car; the wheels are chocked by pieces of wood nailed to the floor. When the carriages are liable to chafe each other, they are bound with gunny-sacking or other stuff.

A side-platform, such as is found in depots, is the best for loading. The carriages are first run on to a spare car; from this they are crossed over on planks to the one upon which they are to be carried, and arranged on it as already described. When there is no side-platform, the carriages are run up at the end of the car by means of way-planks. Twenty-four thousand pounds is considered a safe load for one car on a good track. Baggage, harness, forage, etc., are usually carried in box-cars. These cars have the same dimensions as heretofore given for those carrying horses.

The passenger-car of average size will seat 60 men, but a small car will seat only 50. Allowance must be made for men's equipments, and if the journey is of any distance each man should have a full seat. Then by arranging the seats the men can extend themselves for resting or sleeping. The men must be provided with cooked rations for the whole trip. Each car must be liberally supplied with drinking-water, lights at night, and all other conveniences, to make it unnecessary for the men to leave them during stoppages of the train. The "tourist sleeper" carries 48 men. It is provided with bunks (and some cars with cooking-stoves) and should be used for long journeys when obtainable.