grooves of the rifle; and thus it would fail to acquire the motion of rotation. Again, as formerly, soldiers were seen to throw aside their rifles in action, in order to pick up muskets. This rifle was soon abandoned. Its efficient range was 400 yards.

The next step was the rifle of Captain Thouvenin, called by the French, “Carabine à tige" or stem rifle. The chamber mentioned, was suppressed. From the centre of the bottom of the bore rises a steel pin or stem, one inch and a half in length, and thirty-five hundreths of an inch in diameter, the calibre of the peice being double or seven-tenths of an inch. The space between the stem and the barrel contains the powder, and is so calculated, that it will still contain it after fifty shots. The ball enters free, and its base rests upon the top of the stem, which is flat. Three blows with the ramrod force the stem to penetrate into the ball, thus expanding it by its welge-like action and forcing it to fill the grooves closely. The charge is 69.7 grains. The balls are cylindro-conical. This leads us to say a few words of this kind of projectiles.

It had long been known that the spherical form is not the one which reduces the resistance of the air to a minimum.

But all efforts to use elongated projectiles have failed. Experiment had shown that, upon leaving the barrel, these projectiles took a motion of rotation about their centre of gravity, and struck the target sidewise, even at very short distances. After many trials, it was found that there is a certain relation between the inclination of the grooves, the charge of powder, and form of the ball. If the grooves have too much twist and the charge of powder is heavy, the ball will not follow the grooves, but will be forced across them (or will strip) without taking any motion of rotation. If the grooves have too little twist, the motion of rotation will be too feeble to overcome the causes of deviation and the projectile will turn over.in its flight. In the rifle "à tige," the grooves have a twist of one turn in six and a half feet. The balls are about one calibre and a half in length. Numerous experiments have proved the

immense superiority of elongated balls over the spherical. In the first place, a much larger portion of their surface being in contact with, and held by the grooves, they are not so likely to strip. Their pointed form diminshes vastly the resistance of the air, and augments also their depth of penetration into solid bodies. The weight of the elongated being much greater than that of the spherical balls of the same calibre, the former retain their velocity longer. Therefore, though their initial velocity may be smaller, their absolute velocity is greater. Their trajectory for the same distances is consequently much flatter.

Experiment has also shown that the cylindro-conical balls should have at their base at least three grooves presenting a sharp surface perpendicular to the axis of the ball and facing towards its point. These grooves act like the feathers of an arrow in keeping the projectiles in the same plane, and in preventing it from turning over.

The rifle "à tige," when tried in the schools of practice, and in active service before the enemy, fulfilled the expectations which had been formed of it, both as to range, accuracy, and solidity. It was furnished with a breech sight with sliding piece or "hausse" which could be adjusted to all distances up to 1421 yards. At 600 yards, the firing was accurate, and the ball could inflict a deadly wound at 1400 yards, and even beyond. This rifle has been used in the French service since 1842, and was probably used to some extent in the Crimean war. The French also transformed numbers of the ordinary percussion muskets into muskets "à tige," by rifling the barrels, screwing a steel stem in the breech and adapting a "hausse.”

It would seem that the invention of the weapon and bullet just described, left nothing more to be desired. But although excellent, and infinitely superior to all its predecessors, the rifle “à tige” had some drawbacks. It was difficult to clean, and required for this purpose a wash-screw which would straddle the pin. It was almost impossible to extract the ball with the ball-screw. The prin

cipal objection, however, was the difficulty of ramming the ball uniformly. Some would ram the ball too hard, and it would lose its shape, especially in the grooves of its base, and the accuracy would be diminished. Others, not ramming hard enough, the ball would not fill the grooves of the rifle, and the ball, failing to acquire the motion of rotation would turn over in its course, and fly at random. Capt. Minié having observed these disadvantages, conceived the idea of forcing, or rifling the ball by the action of the powder itself at the moment of explosion; thus dispensing entirely with the steel stem, or "tige." The ball which he proposed to use is the same in its external form, but its base hollowed out in the form of a frustrum of a cone; and into the opening is inserted a sheet iron cup, destined to act as a wedge and spread the ball. The ball goes down free and rests upon the powder; it requires no ramming, but merely to be pushed home. When the charge is fired, the action of the gas on the sheet iron cup forces it into the hollow of the ball which resists by its "vis inertiæ." In this way, the ball is expanded and forced into the grooves with immense, and constantly increasing force. The result of numerous trials made at Vincennes in 1849, showed a superiority in favor of the Minié bullet. This superiority increased with the distance, and it is attributed to the fact that the ball is forced evenly by the pressure of the gas, which acts uniformly, whether the loading has been performed carefully or not. The cartridges used with this bullet, like those of the rifle "à tige," are simple in their construction. The balls are used naked. Their base being dipped in a composition of tallow and beeswax, the barrel is kept lubricated. On one occasion, in an experiment performed at the Springfield armory, one gun was fired 200 times without cleaning, and no difficulty was found at any time in driving the ball home.

But perfection was not yet reached. The Minié bullet was complicated in its manufacture; each ball requiring a sheet iron cup to be inserted in its base. More

over, this cup was sometimes driven up so violently as to break the ball. In order to remedy these defects, Mr. Burton, master armorer at Harper's Ferry, hit, after many trials, upon the expedient of increasing the cavity in the base of the ball until its sides are so thin, that the powder is sufficient to expand it at the moment of explosion. This throws the centre of gravity nearer the point, which is an additional advantage. This is the ball, known in our service under the name of the Harper's Ferry ball.

Such is the history of what is called the Minié rifle, although the peculiarity is in the ball rather than the rifle. And we will be so bold as to assert, not only that it is the best fire-arm that has ever been put into the hands of troops, but also, that it has reached the limit of possible improvement in its principal features. And we support this assertion by the following considerations.

First as to its range. At 1500 yards (twice the point-blank range of field artillery), it sends a ball with sufficient force to penetrate through two pannels of poplar wood two-thirds of an inch thick, and indeed a third; the pannels being placed 20 inches from each other. It is said, that at 1200 yards, it may send a ball through a soldier and his knapsack, and kill the man behind him. This may surely be called a very respectable range and force of impulsion. An increase in these particulars would be of no practical advantage in small arms, because it becomes impossible to judge of their effects beyond 1000 yards, and even inside of that. With artillery it is different. Cannon balls, when they strike the ground, throw up a cloud of dust or earth which is visible at very great distances; thus affording the means of rectifying the aim. Cannon may, in this way, be considered as an instrument for measuring distances; and well trained artillerymen never require more than two or three trial shots in order to get the range, that is to say, the degree of elevation to be given to the piece in order to hit the object. But with small arms, men might fire a whole day at a mark judged by the eye to be distant 1500 yards, but

which in reality was 16 or 1700; and their balls would all fall short without their being able to perceive it. Greater range would therefore be useless.

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2d. As to accuracy. This is as perfect as the nature of things can allow. The "rebelliousness of matter," as Bacon terms it, must forever prevent man from drawing a perfectly straight line and from forming any solid of which the sides shall be perfect mathematical surfaces. But, practically speaking, the Minié rifle may be said to be nearer perfection than any other previously invented because the causes of deviation are less. And here, we will endeavor to correct a misconception which has been formed by some persons accustomed to the use of fire-arms of a certain description. person used to handle rifles or pistols of superior make, with very delicate hairtrigger-locks and fine sights, may, by practice, attain a wonderful skill in the use of these weapons within certain limits. If you place in his hands a service Minié rifle made very differently, and for very different purposes, he will generally be unable to shoot it with any great accuracy, and the results of his firing with it will be far inferior to his ordinary practice with the other weapons. Hence he will very often denounce the Minié rifle, and all such arms as altogether wanting in accuracy. But let us examine into the case. In the first place, those delicately made weapons which seem so superior in accuracy never could withstand the wear and tear of the service; besides which, their cost is too great. But suppose these objections removed. In what does the superiority consist? At fifty yards and under, perhaps up to a hundred yards, a very good marksman, by placing his piece in the more careful manner, generally at a dead rest, aiming as leisurely as he thinks proper, and firing usually not more than once in five minutes, may strike a half-dollar tolerably often. He

takes a Minié rifle and finds that he cannot do this, because the sights are coarser, and the lock is not so delicate. But then the object of weapons of war is not to perform such feats. The marks to be hit in active service are never so small, and the circumstances in which men fire are, generally, very different. It will be found that the Minié rifle, at one hundred yards and under, will strike a man just as certainly as any other weapon, then go on a little further; that fine rifle which could strike a half-dollar every shot at 50 yards, is hardly able to send its balls 200 yards; at 300 yards it is as efficient as a pop-gun, Its extreme range is not great enough to be fair, short practising distance for the Minié.

Then it will be said, that at four or five hundred yards, not to speak of 800 or 1000, it is extremely difficult to hit a man even with the Minié. Granted. But where is the fault? In the human eye itself, to which a man six feet high reduces at such a distance to a mere

speck. In the unsteadiness of human nerves and muscles, which make it impossible to keep the sights of the finest weapon ever made, bearing upon this mere speck for over a fraction of a second. These are faults which no skill can overcome. When we speak of an arm of such a range as the Minié, the accuracy which we must expect is not one of fractions of inches. It is comparable to the accuracy of cannon. The objects to be hit are not single men, but groups or bodies of men. With the Minié, half a company of men, or the group standing around a field piece, may be struck every fire at 6 or 800 yards. We have now before us the record of an experiment made at the Springfield armory in 1855, in which at 1000 yards, 24 balls out of 25, were placed in a space of about 18 feet square, with a mean vertical deviation of only 47 inches; and a horizontal deviation of 29 inches.* This is better by far than a twelve pounder gun could

do. It will always be easy to have a few rifles in each company more finely sighted than the rest, for the use of the best shots who are to use them out of ranks; but for the usual service the coarser sighted are the best.

Now, as to the ease and rapidity of loading, this is all that can be desired. We have already seen that the Minié ball slips down with perfect ease even after 200 shots, and requires no ramming, but merely to be pushed home. In the hands of a slow soldier the Minié rifle can be loaded and fired at least three times a minute; in the hands of a quick man, five times. Any thing beyond this, would be a positive disadvantage; for troops fire too much at all times, and what is wanting is, that they should fire more deliberately, and not more rapidly. If by breech-loading, or having several chambers, as in Colt's pistols, it was possible to fire ten or twenty times a minute, the result would be a great increase of noise and smoke, with very little more effect. Moreover the whole supply of ammunition destined for an entire campaign, (which is limited by the means of transportation) might easily be consumed. in a single action. But there is another reason why to transform the Minié rifle into a breech-loading weapon, would make an egregious blunder.

The gases generated by the inflammation of powder are so subtle and so powerful, that no joint, however closely fitted, can effectually prevent their passage. This we see exemplified in every breech-loading weapon; the powder penetrates the joint, at first slightly, but at every explosion it burns the surfaces a little, and makes the crack larger; so that after a comparatively short time, the weapon begins to leak fire to such an extent as to be unmanageable. This is not all. No breach-loading weapon can stand the wear and tear of a campaign, and the careless and awkward usage of the soldier. It will necessarily be weak at the breach, and easy to break; or its mechanism will be so delicate as to get easily out of order; and if this happens in the field, the weapon is useless, for you cannot mend it or even load it at the

muzzle. Every one who has used Hall's carbines, knows that they unite in themselves all these defects. As to Sharp's rifle, the best weapon of this kind yet made, besides being vastly inferior to the Minié in range and accuracy, this is what Col. Huger says of it in his report, "After being fired four or five rounds, it was found impossible to force the cartridge in, without bursting it. The firing was continued by separating the bullet from the cartridge, forcing it into the chamber with a stick, and afterwards pouring in the powder. The slide frequently became very difficult to move. When the arm was taken to the shop to be cleaned, after the firing was concluded, the slide could not be moved at all, until thoroughly soaked in oil, to soften the dirt around it. The paper of the cartridge is always left behind in the chamber after each shot, and is frequently on fire when the succeeding cartridge is inserted."

If we come to the question of cheapness and durability, the Minié rifle has, greatly, the advantage over any breech-loading weapon. It is necessarily cheaper, for its construction is perfectly simple. As to its durability, there is no reason why it should not be as great as that fixed for the musket, viz: fifty years, (or 25,000 shots). We do not believe that any breech-loading gun ever made can stand the fifth part of this. Furnished with the sabre-bayonet, the Minié is the more formidable weapon ever placed in the hands of troops. Listen to a witness from the bloody field of Inkermann. "The Minié, says he, is the king of weapons. Inkermann proved it. The regiments of the 4th division and the marines, armed with the old and much belauded "Brown Bess," (the English regulation rifle) could do nothing against the massive multitude of the Muscovite infantry; but the volleys of the Minié rifle cleft them like the hand of the destroying angel, and they fell like leaves in autumn before them." It has been said that there have been instances of one single Minie ball's killing five men.

In our rapid review of the improvements in ordnance, we pointed out the

changes which resulted from them in the tactics of battle. It is not to be supposed that the introduction of such a weapon as the Minié can be without effect upon the formation and evolutions of troops. It is true that the emotions of conflict, and the different temperaments of men will always prevent soldiers from using any fire-arm with the utmost degree of accuracy of which it is susceptible. Vast numbers of shots must always be wasted, but it is allowed by the least sanguine, that the introduction of the Minié arms will, (at the lowest calculation) treble the effects of the fire of infantry. What changes will this produce in tactics?

In order to answer this question intelligently, let us examine what is our system of tactics.

The system in use in this country is a translation and adaptation of the French system; it was arranged by Gen. Scott, and bears his name. It is nothing more nor less than a reproduction of the regulation for the evolutions of the French infantry, which has been in use in the French armies (with the exception of some unimportant modifications), for the last seventy or eighty years. Where did the French get the system? From Prussia. Who gave it to Prussia? The Prince of Dessau, one of the generals of that monarch who had such a fondness for tall grenadiers, and who used to cane his courtiers, and his wife and children whenever it suited his royal fancy. This general re-invented the cadenced and equal step, for he was too ignorant to know that the Greeks and Romans had used it; and he introduced the principle of equal subdivisions occupying, whether by flank or in column, spaces always equal to their front in the line of battle. This was precisely what Marshal de Saxe had advocated in his "Reveries" in his ludicrously pathetic style. The Prussian army was instructed upon this principle, and became a fit instrument for the genius of Frederic the Great, who improved upon the evolutions which he found in use. The French adopted the system and improved upon it also,

during the long wars of Napoleon; and now we have it in its utmost perfection. What is one of the great principles upon which it rests? To substitute the action of masses in the place of the action of the individual soldier; and we will show that this principle has been carried to a disastrous extent.

We have already seen how arduous was the education of the soldier in ancient times, and in the middle ages. Long, long indeed must have been the training required to fit the man of war for all the duties of his profession. But all this has been changed. In one month you can make a soldier of a very awkward clod-hopper. Let us see, however, what he can do. He can face to the right and left. He can keep time and dress in marching; he can perform the manual of the musket, which is no doubt very pretty when executed simultaneously by a battalion of a thousand men. If he is attacked, he can stand still with his musket and bayonet sraight before him. If it is he that attacks, he can march forward with his weapon in the same position. And above all, he can fire! (God save the mark!) he can fire with the certainty of hitting the enemy (taking the highest average), once in a thousand shots!! Remember,

he can do all this in the ranks. But suppose that the ranks are broken and he is isolated, whan can he do then? Alas, tactics does not say, for it does not consider an isolated soldier worth a paragraph. It considers masses only. It has never taught him the art of offence or defence. He may fire his shot, which will most probably miss, and then what? The manual of the musket will not save him, and a very moderate swordsman will push aside his bayonet and cut him down in a twinkling. There is but one thing left for him. He may, according to the instruction which he has received from the drill-sergeant, "face to right about " by "turning on his left heel," and then stepping off with his left foot," march off "in double quick time," "which may be increased to a run."

The great fault of this Prussian system is to have made of the soldier a mere