ntended
points of attack; 3d, to force an enemy to evacuate a position by
overthrowing obstacles with which he has covered himself; 4th, to keep
up the action till the other troops can be prepared to strike the
decisive blow.

The force of this arm depends upon the rapidity and accuracy of its
fire; rash valor is therefore far less desirable in artillery than
skill, patience, and cool courage. Artillery always acts at a distance,
and in mass; single pieces are seldom employed, except to cover
reconnoitring parties, or to sustain the light infantry in a skirmish.
Mounted batteries sometimes approach within two or three hundred yards
of the enemy's infantry; but this is only done with a strong support of
other troops, and to prepare the way for a charge of cavalry. The
batteries do not accompany the charge, but they should always follow up
and complete the success; mounted batteries are particularly useful in
pursuit. If Murat, in 1812, had accompanied his attacks upon
Neveroffskoi's retreating columns of sixty thousand infantry by two or
three batteries of mounted artillery, the whole column must have been
captured or destroyed.

Artillery, on the field of battle, is very liable to allow its fire to
be drawn, and its projectiles wasted, while the enemy is at too great a
distance to be reached. It is a very common thing in a battle, to employ
two or three pieces of heavy calibre at the beginning of the fight, in
order to provoke the opposing batteries to open their fire before the
proper time. The waste of material is not the only loss attending this
error; the troops are fatigued and disheartened, while the courage and
confidence of their opponents are always revived by a weak and
inaccurate fire. To avoid such an error the commanding officer of a
battery of artillery should be perfectly familiar with the effective
ranges of his pieces, and accustomed to form a correct estimate of
distances. For this purpose the eye should be frequently practised in
time of peace in estimating the ranges for different calibres.

The effective range of a 12-pounder field-piece

is about . . . . . . 1000 yds.
" " " " 6 " " 800 "
" " " " 24 " howitzer, 600 "
" " " " 12 " " 500 "
" " " " grape and case shot is
from . . . . . . 300 to 500 "

Even at these d