Parrott rifle

“ Four battalions—that is, 4,000 men—form a brigade of infantry, which is commanded by a brigadier-general, who is assisted by a brigade-major and a staff-captain.
Foot-soldiers are now armed with what is called a magazine rifle. The short Lee-Enfield, [178] which our infantry carry, can fire a dozen aimed shots in a minute; and if the magazine is opened, the ten cartridges in it can be discharged in less than thirty seconds. With this rifle, which is sighted up to 2,800 yards, a man can hit a large object a mile and a half away, and if he is a good shot, can kill a man at half a mile. ”

“ They got mad at our treatment of their infantry friends, furiously mad. “Boom” went a loud report, over the way, and, the same instant, a savage shriek right over our heads, of a twenty pounder Parrott shell. Another followed, another, and another. They began to rain over. We could detect the sound of different shells, three inch rifle, ten pounder Parrott, and twenty pounder Parrott.
Some fifteen or twenty guns joined in, and they hammered away most savagely. Most fortunately the treetops of that wood, out in our front, came up [Pg 148] just high enough to conceal us from the enemy. ”

“ Sometimes cavalrymen fight on foot, much as infantry do.
Now let us learn something of the guns and the men who work them. The gunner's weapon is simply a big rifle, very thick as compared with its length, and so heavy that it has to be hauled along by horses or motors. Guns meant for use in the field are mounted on a two-wheeled carriage. When the gun is in action the end of the trail or steel beam at its rear rests on the ground. On the march this trail is lifted up and hooked on to another two-wheeled carriage, called the limber. ”

“ There was the crack of a rifle—the German trenches were only a few hundred yards away—and a bullet passed through the back of his neck and out through the mouth. But without hurrying his pace he walked to his battery, gave them his final information, and then said, 'I think I'd better go and find the field ambulance, for the beggars have drilled a hole in me that needs plugging.' And he walked half a mile to the nearest 'collecting point.'
"In the infantry of the 14th Brigade men can talk of nobody else but 'Davidson of the Gunners.' They themselves face death every hour of the day and night ”

“ During the retirement many men fell, and some fine deeds of bravery were done. Private Gledhill of Ben Miller, near Goderich, Ontario, though hurled out of the trench by a bomb explosion which broke his rifle but did not injure him, found another rifle, and continued to fire while his comrades retired and he was almost alone. ”

“ They were called upon to come forward, and they did so, right to the edge of our trenches, and then most treacherously poured in a hot rifle fire. Many of our men were shot down; but happily there was a British machine gun, manned by a detachment of the Queen's, on the flank of the trench, and only 400 yards away. It opened fire at once, cutting a lane through the mass of the Germans, and killing three hundred of them. About one hundred of the survivors held up their hands and were made prisoners, while the rest fell back to their own trench. ”

“ Territorial Infantry marching along Fleet Street, London. Most of these men in private life are lawyers. Photo, Record Press.
Before a man can fire accurately at a distant enemy he must know the range, and must sight his rifle accordingly. To show you how this range is found, let us suppose that a platoon sees a party of the enemy on a ridge in front of it. At one end of this ridge there is a little sand heap. "The lieutenant calls for three good shots from your section, of whom you are one. ”

“ Each cavalryman is armed with a rifle and a sabre. In a Lancer regiment all the men carry lances as well; in a Dragoon regiment the front rank men alone are armed with these weapons. The rifle is carried with its butt in a leather case, and its barrel passes through a loop around the cavalryman's left arm. ”

“ Here also there was small use for the artillery, and the rifle and the bayonet played the leading part. Men, fighting hand to hand with clubbed muskets and bayonets, fought from tree to tree and ditch to ditch. . . .
"But at last the day came when the dirty, grimy, blood-stained soldiers of the Tsar pushed their antagonists out of the far side of the belt of woodland. . . . Once out in the open, the hungry guns of the Russians got their chance. ”

“ Instantly the men spring up, the breech is thrown open, a jet of water is sent along the barrel, and another shell is thrown in. Meanwhile the officer in command of the barbette calls out, "Stand by for No. 2 gun." When No. 2 gun has been fired the telephone bell rings, and the voice from above is heard to say, "Both miles wide; try to hit something next time." "We are here to fire the gun, not to range it," mutters the captain of the turret as he makes a few hasty calculations and some adjustments. "Both guns at once, dead line ahead," comes the next [192] order. ”

“ The gunners then know where their target is. Sometimes the range is found by means of an instrument known as the range-finder. When firing begins the aviator watches the shots, and signals to the gunners until they are aiming correctly. The aeroplanes also discover the position of the enemy's artillery, so that it can be fired at. In order to deceive the airmen, the guns are covered with straw or boughs, so that they cannot be easily detected from above.
Another type of gun which is used in the field is called a howitzer. ”

“ Along with every gun there are two carriages for transporting the shell and shrapnel which are fired from it.
Field guns are of various sorts and sizes, according to the work which they have to do. Our Royal Field Artillery is armed with a quick-firing gun, called an eighteen-pounder, because it throws a shot weighing eighteen pounds. This gun is made by winding strong ribbons of steel round a long steel tube. It can throw its charge for about three and a half miles, but it is most effective when the range is not more than about two and a quarter miles. ”

“ As you may imagine, the bullets work great havoc on men and horses within this area. Sometimes the fuse does not explode the powder at the right time. In order that the shot may not be wasted, it is provided with a cap, which causes the shell to explode when it strikes the ground. A quick-firing gun, such as is used by the Royal Field Artillery, fires about six times a minute. When necessary it can fire much more rapidly than this. As many as twenty shots a minute have been fired from a British field gun. ”

“ Then he heard the quick, continuous reports of the machine guns, which, he says, sounded like the noise of a very loud motor-cycle engine. The French made their last stand before the bridges of the Scheldt. They were mainly men of forty, but they held their ground the whole morning against a deadly fire, and only gave way when they were surrounded by the Germans.
Our seven hundred British with their guns were posted to the south-west of the town. An artillery duel began at 11, and continued fiercely until 2.30. Shrapnel continually burst over the trenches and batteries ”

“ A half-battery of the Royal Field Artillery, in a rather exposed position, greatly galled the Germans by the accuracy of its aim, and a combined attack was made on it by the enemy. One by one the British guns were silenced, and the men who had been serving them lay dead around. At last one man alone was left, and he went on working the gun steadily and calmly until he was called away by an officer. Similar instances of resistance to the last man abound in the history of the Royal Field Artillery. ”

“ As a matter of fact, however, there was no shelter of any kind at hand; so, as I meant to have a try for him at all costs, I sat down where I was, about sixty yards from him, and covered his great head with my rifle. I was so breathless after my run, and my arms were so shaky, that it was all I could do to keep the sight on the fierce-looking target and I thought to myself, as the rifle barrel wobbled about, "If I don't knock him over with the first shot, he will be out of these bushes and down on me like greased lightning -- and then I know what to expect." ”

“ Then it was found that the shells for the great Parrott guns were too large, and that the shells from other cannon failed to explode, owing to defective fuses. Soon the fleet found a point of fire from which it could enfilade the forts, and thereafter a perfect hail of shell and grape-shot fell in the trenches. One shell disabled eleven men. A solid shot struck a gun thought to be perfectly protected, and hurled it, with the men serving it, over the parapet. Every twenty minutes a gun was dismounted in Fort Walker, and at the end of the conflict Fort Beauregard had but nine serviceable guns. ”

“ It is generally admitted that the smaller "Parrott" guns, including the thirty pounders, approach very near perfection. The large calibres have precisely the same merits, as respects range, accuracy, and simplicity of construction and manipulation. This their work against Fort Sumter shows. But the deficiency of endurance belongs to the large guns alone; since the smaller, after an immense amount of service, have shown no sort of weakness. ”

“ The great difference between the action of an ordinary gun and that of a howitzer is the difference between a boy throwing a stone at a mark which he can see, and the same boy lobbing a stone over a wall so that it will fall on something hidden from his view. The ordinary field gun has a long, flat sweep of fire, and is therefore unable to shoot over hills, trees, or houses, or to drop shells on men lying close behind a bank or in a deep, narrow trench. ”

“ As we came to it I saw it was full of Germans, so I yelled 'Hands up,' and pointed the revolver at them. They all chucked down their rifles and put their hands up. Three officers and over forty men to ten of us with six rifles and a revolver. I herded them away from their rifles and handed them over to the Welsh Regiment behind us. I tore on with the trumpeter and the sergeant-major to the machine guns. At that moment the enemy's shrapnel and our own howitzers, thinking we were hostile cavalry, opened fire on us. ”

“ Small-bores have become the fashion of the day, and for military purposes they are decidedly the best, as a greater amount of ammunition can be carried by the soldier, while at the same time the range and trajectory of his weapon are improved. The new magazine rifle adopted by the Government is only '303, but this exceedingly small diameter will contain 70 grains of powder with a bullet of hard alloy weighing 216 grains. ”

“ From its warlike aspect it is pleasant to turn to the contributions of the rifle to peaceful amusement, if not peaceful industry. Contemptuously giving the go-by to its minutest phase in this field—the "parlor rifle," with a target against the chimney-piece or meandering, in feline form, along our neighbor's roof-tree—we go forth, with Snider and sunrise, to the forest fastness. ”

“ At least six of those, in sight, he was certain were twenty-pounder Parrotts. These guns, he said, commanded our position, and while the enemy had not yet seen us, for the treetops between, they soon would; and anyhow, the moment we fired a shot, and disclosed our position, we would catch it. There were enough heavy guns bearing down on us to sweep us off the face of the earth, unless we were protected. If daylight found us unfortified we couldn’t stay there, so we had better go to throwing dirt. ”

“ The black-powder, or slow-speed, cartridge has a relatively high trajectory, while the high-power smokeless cartridges have relatively low trajectories.
The adjustment of the sights of a rifle is also of much importance. Every rifle is targeted at the factory, but this may be done by a fair shot, using the following method: Arrange three boxes, so that the rifle barrel may rest upon one, and the arms of the marksman upon the other two. Place a bag of sand upon the box, so that the barrel may rest upon it, about 6 in. from the muzzle. Put the target into place, and adjust the sights for 100 yd. ”

“ For the last twenty years there has been much controversy between the advocates of two styles of rifles—that is, the weapon with a comparatively small bore and long, solid bullet and a moderate charge of powder, and the weapon of comparatively large bore with a very heavy charge of powder and a short bullet, often with a hollow end. The first is the type of rifle that has always been used by ninety-nine out of a hundred American hunters, and indeed it is the only kind of rifle that has ever been used to any extent in North America ”

“ The hunting and sporting rifles of the warehouses—even if the police has not rendered them useless by the removal of a part of the mechanism—are no match for the magazine rifle of the soldier even at close quarters. Up to 1848 one could make his own ammunition out of powder and lead, today the cartridge for each rifle model varies, being similar only in that all of them are the product of large industry and not to be extemporized, which renders most rifles useless unless one has the special ammunition made for them. ”

“ Further to our left the 25th Division was checked along the line of the little river, while the 24th Brigade and 7th Division were held up by machine-gun fire from the cross roads and the defences of Pietre Mill. The line of the river could not be forced without artillery "preparation." Everywhere in this part of the line there were German positions which our big guns had not touched. To push infantry against them was simple murder. So, as the evening closed in, we busied ourselves in strengthening the positions which we had already won. The village was ours ”