Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume I.djvu/786

750 my's centre with fresh troops, as soon as the state of affairs showed that his last reserves were engaged. Keserves, which in line tactics would have been out of place and would have detracted from the efficiency of the army m the decisive moment, now became the chief means to decide an action. The order of battle, ex- tending as it did in front, extended also in depth ; from the skirmish line to the position of the reserves the depth was very often two miles and more. In short, if the new sys- tem required less drill and parade precision, it required far greater rapidity, exertion, and intelligence from every one, from the lowest skirmisher as well as the highest commander ; and every fresh improvement made since Napo- leon tends in that direction. The changes in the materiel of armies were but trifling during this period ; constant wars left little time for improvements the introduction of which re- quires time. Two very important innovations took place in the French army shortly before the revolution. The first was the adoption of a new model of musket of reduced calibre and windage, and with a curved stock instead of the straight one previously in use. This weapon, more accurately worked, contributed a great deal toward the superiority of the French skir- mishers, and remained the model upon which with trifling alterations the muskets in use in all armies up to the introduction of percussion locks were constructed. The second was the simplification and improvement of the artillery by Gribeauval. The French artillery under Louis XV. was completely neglected ; the guns were of all sorts of calibres, the carriages old- fashioned, and the models upon which they were constructed not even uniform. Gribeau- val, who had served during the seven years' war with the Austrians, and then seen better models, succeeded in reducing the number of calibres, equalizing and improving the models, and greatly simplifying the whole system. It was with his guns and carriages that Napoleon fought his wars. The English artillery, which was in the worst possible state when the war with France broke out, was gradually but slowly much improved ; with it originated the stock- trail carriage, which has since been adopted by all continental armies, and the arrangement for mounting the foot artillerymen on the lim- bers and ammunition wagons. Horse artillery, invented by Frederick the Great, was much cultivated during Napoleon's period, especially by himself, and its proper tactics were first developed. When the war was over, it was found that the British wer^ the most efficient in this arm. Of all large European armies, the Austrian is the only one which supplies the place of horse artillery by batteries in which the men are mounted on wairons provid- ed for the purpose. The German armies still kept up the special class of infantry armed with rifles, and the new system of fighting in extended order gave a fresh importance to this arm. It was especially cultivated and in 1838 ARMY taken up by the French, who felt the want of a long range of musket for Algiers. The tirail- leurs de Vincennes, afterward chasseurs d pied, were formed, and brought to a state of efficiency without parallel. The adoption of this forma- tion was rendered necessary by the great im- provements in small arms, and especially in rifles, by which both range and precision were increased to a wonderful degree. The names of Delvigne, Thouvenot, and Mini6 thereby be- came celebrated. For the whole infantry, the percussion lock was introduced between 1830 and 1840 in most armies; as usual, the English and the Russians were the last. In the mean time, great efforts were made in various quar- ters still further to improve small arms, and to produce a musket of superior range which could be given to the whole of the infantry. The Prussians introduced the needle gun, a rifle arm loaded at the breech, and capable of very rapid firing, and having a long range ; the in- vention, originated in Belgium, was consider- ably improved by them. This gun, although by no means the best of its class either for ac- curacy or range, simplicity of construction or certainty of action, was early adopted and given to their troops ; it was used with great effect in the Schleswig-Holstein war, and more recently in the remarkable campaigns of the Prussians in Bohemia and France. Many mili- tary writers have expressed the opinion that the Prussians owe their great successes in their recent wars at least as much to the superiority of their artillery and small arms as to any other single cause. But this is scarcely true ; for while they were probably provided with better arms than the Austrians, they were cer- tainly inferior to the French in rifles, it being generally conceded that the Zundnadelgeicehr or needle gun is a less efficient weapon than the Chassepot. The English were the first to arm the whole of their infantry with a superior musket, viz., the Enfield rifle, a slight altera- tion of the Mini6; its superiority was fully proved in the Crimea, and saved them at In- kerman. But the Americans have surpassed all other nations in the invention and use of rifles and carbines. The rifled musket made in the government shops at Springfield, the Spencer and Henry magazine guns, and the Remington carbine and rifles, as well as many others which were fully tested during the civil war, are now acknowledged to be superior to any English, French, or German arms of the same class, and have been adopted by many Euro- pean nations. In tactical arrangements, no changes of importance have taken place for infantry and cavalry, if we except the great improvement of light infantry tactics by the French chasseurs, and the new Prussian system of columns of companies, which latter forma- tion, with some variations, is now ha general use. The formation in several European armies is nominally three deep, but in practice all nations have adopted the two-rank formation introduced by the English shortly after the