NAVAL GUNNERY.

THE rules for the practice of artillery are distinguished by horizontal and oblique planes: practice upon horizontal planes applies to gunnery at sea. A fluid surface is so nearly horizontal within a circle of 1 mile radius, that the following hypothesis may be safely assumed: two bodies floating at sea, and not exceeding the distance of 5000 yards from each other, are in the same horizontal plane; and if right lines be drawn from one to the other at corresponding heights from their lines of floatation, such lines, being parallel to the surface of the water, are in a horizontal position.

The horizon, when visible, is, to the naval gunner, a correct guide by which he can determine the direction of a gun with respect to its elevation above, or depression below, the horizontal line; and it is by the horizon that a ship's artillery may be pointed preparatory to action, so that, when the guns are brought to bear, they will require none, or at most a trifling adjustment.

It is suggested, therefore, that upon approaching an enemy's vessel, to lay the guns by the horizon; if, for instance, it be intended to engage within the right-line range of the guns, level them by their dispart-sights at the horizon; for it will be found when they are brought to bear, that they are directed at such parts of the enemy's vessel as are the same height as the guns from the surface of the water; and, consequently, if the two vessels be of like dimensions, the guns on the respective decks will point at those on the corresponding decks of the enemy. Recourse may be had to the horizon should the distance exceed the right-line range; elevation in such case being necessary, the index of the tangent scale must be placed to the height required, and the aim directed to the horizon, as in the case of the right-line range. If the distance at which action is likely to commence cannot be accurately judged, it will be better not to elevate to hit the object at first graze, but try the effect of ricochet.

When the horizon, from darkness or other causes, is not visible, perhaps the following expedient may be resorted to: make, with a piece of chalk or pipe-clay, two marks, exactly on the middle of the base-ring, one nearly on the top, and the other as low down as it can be seen by a person standing about three feet from the side of the gun; let such person be supplied with a plumb-line, which must be held so that the plumb hangs freely and perpendicularly, the sight being directed by the line to the base-ring: when, by the roll of the ship or movement of bed or quoin, the two marks on the base-ring are brought to coincide with the plumb-line, the axis of the gun will point horizontally. This simple method may be as correct a guide as any that has hitherto been proposed to obtain accuracy of fire under certain circumstances, as when an enemy's ship is hidden by smoke, and her position determined only by the flashes of her guns; in such case the bearing may be known, and the guns can be accurately trained; but there is no other guide for the elevation than that which can be obtained by some pendulous instrument. In using the means here suggested, the horizontal direction of the gun can be ascertained without reference to a detached instrument. The person intrusted with the management of the plumb-line should, at the instant the gun attains a horizontal direction, (the gun being previously trained to the object,) give the word "fire!" to the man appointed to pull the lock-lanyard or to apply the match.

J. H.

OBSERVATIONS ON THE HANOVERIAN KNAPSACK.

BY CAPTAIN KINLOCH, 68TH LIGHT INFANTRY.

IN the United Service Journal for October, 1830, we gave a full and accurate description of the improved knapsack invented by Captain Heise, of the R. H. Jäger Guards. The subject has been lately taken up by Capt. Kinloch, 68th Light Infantry, who, having recently visited Hanover, has had a good opportunity of judging of its advantages,- advantages which have induced him, at his own individual expense, to fit out his own company with these knapsacks. We have therefore much pleasure in laying before our readers the result of that officer's experience; and shall, no doubt, also stand excused for repeating the description and other particulars as furnished us by Captain Kinloch.—ED.

In the course of a military tour in Germany, last year, I was struck with the appearance of the knapsacks of the Hanoverian infantry; and on learning from the officers that they had found them much superior to those worn by the British troops, and which they had, until lately, made use of themselves, -I was induced to bring over one of them to this country, as a pattern worthy of imitation.

This knapsack met with the most unanimous approbation of the Colonel and officers of my regiment, also of many other most distinguished and experienced officers in Dublin; and the knapsacks I found in use appeared so much inferior, after being accustomed for some time to see the Hanoverian, I requested permission of the General commanding-in-chief to allow a trial of the Hanoverian knapsacks to be made by my company of the 68th Light Infantry, which his Lordship was pleased to accede to. His Lordship was further pleased to grant me leave of absence to go to Hanover, and order the knapsacks to be made; and I took this opportunity to institute the most minute and particular inquiries respecting the wear of these knapsacks, of the material of which they are made; and, at Hamburg, made further inquiries as to the supply of that material.

The result of these inquiries was, in every way, most satisfactory, and I am most sanguine in my opinion that the experiment will prove equally so; and that the advantages of the Hanoverian knapsacks being now beyond doubt established, our gallant infantry will be relieved from the oppressive and unsightly pack with which they are at present burdened, and that by this means the health, comfort, and efficiency of the soldiers will be mainly benefited.

The very great inconveniences of our present regulation knapsack are well known to all our officers of infantry; and although many alterations and improvements have, at different times, been made, and many others suggested, it still possesses many faults; the most, if not all of which may now be obviated by at once adopting the excellent knapsack of the Hanoverians, and such as may be seen in wear by my company in the 68th Light Infantry.

Those persons who carry the knapsacks must be the proper judges of which is the best method of carrying them. Our soldiers must carry theirs according to regulation, however inconvenient they may find it.

In Germany, pedestrianism with knapsacks is practised to a much greater extent than in this country; every tradesman must, during his apprenticeship, travel a certain distance, and visit certain parts of the country to learn and practise his trade, before he can set up shop and work for himself. These persons cannot afford any means of travelling but on foot, and they carry their goods, clothes, or other necessaries in knapsacks. They can, of course, wear their packs in whatever manner they please; but one mode of carrying them is universally adopted, as being found by long experience to be the easiest for carrying a load any long distance on foot. This mode of

carriage, principally owing to the arrangement of the shoulder-straps, has been closely imitated in the knapsack now adopted by the Hanoverian infantry. It was first proposed by Captain Heise, of the Hanoverian Jäger Guards, an experienced and gallant officer, who has seen much service in the campaigns during the Peninsular war, and those of 1814 and 1815, in the 1st Light Battalion of the King's German Legion, to whom I am much indebted for the interest he has taken in my introducing this knapsack into the British army; and he has rendered me the greatest assistance in superintending the manufacture of the knapsacks for my company, and afforded me every information on the subject. This knapsack was submitted to a board of officers at Hanover, appointed to fix upon a new regulation pattern for the infantry, and it was approved by the board, after having been tried for some time by experienced non-commissioned officers and privates, who unanimously declared its very great superiority to the old regulation knapsack, the same as that still worn by our infantry; and eight years' experience has realized, beyond their most sanguine expectations, all the advantages that were expected from it.

I cannot better describe the peculiar merits of this knapsack, and the details of its construction, material, &c., than by quoting principally from a pamphlet written by Captain Heise, and addressed to" the AdjutantGeneral of the British Army," in 1828, when he proposed a knapsack to the notice of the Commander-in-Chief, but a new regulation pattern having at that time been fixed upon, it was not tried in our service. The pattern which was then chosen, however, not having answered all that was expected from it, being still very faulty, and the Hanoverian knapsack being now further improved, from some alterations suggested by experience, and adopted with advantage, I trust that its superiority will entitle it to an early and universal adoption in the British army, where an improved knapsack is so much required and looked for by the infantry.

Although experience has fully supported the judgment of the board, and the pattern might simply be referred to in proof of its good qualities, I shall proceed to detail the reasons which influenced me to suggest so considerable an alteration in the material and construction; and I trust you will feel satisfied that the design has not been founded upon any crude theory, or untenable hypothesis, but upon principles deduced from practice, and facts established by experience.

"The fundamental properties of a good knapsack appear to me to be three in number:

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1st, The exterior construction.

2d, The interior construction.

"3d, The material.

"1st. Of the exterior construction. The shoulder-straps form the most important part: these should be such as to enable the soldier to carry his knapsack without impediment to his action, or injury to his health.

"2d. The interior construction should be such as to enable the soldier to pack and unpack his knapsack with the greatest ease, and in the least possible time.

"3d. The material ought to combine the qualities of durability on service, and imperviousness to wet and damp, to the highest possible degree.

EXTERIOR CONSTRUCTION.

"The shoulder-straps are fastened to the upper part of the knapsack in such a manner as to prevent it moving from its proper position, either by lowering itself or hanging back, at the same time their construction renders the breast-strap superfluous, an effect which may be considered as the most important advantage of this construction.

In order to ascertain the comparative facility of carriage of the knapsack proposed by me, and those already in use, the board of officers at Hanover, to whom the investigation was entrusted, directed a detachment, consisting

of experienced non-commissioned officers and privates, under the command of an officer, to make trial of the several patterns. This detachment was provided with knapsacks of every known form and construction, with and without breast-straps, &c.; and these several knapsacks were alternately changed from one to the other of the men, and minutes taken of their observations. The trial was carried on for fourteen days over all varieties of country, and at the end of this period the men unanimously declared their preference for the new pattern.

"It must be allowed that the person who carries the knapsack is the best judge of what lightens his labour, and what increases it. During the Peninsular war our men were furnished by government with knapsacks with breast-straps; these straps were generally either unbuckled by the men, and thus rendered non-effective, or detached and thrown away."

This is still the case at the present day: on a march the men generally loosen the breast-straps; and most of them would be thrown away altogether, but for the regulation which obliges them to be worn*.

Many a soldier's health has been permanently injured by these breaststraps. I have heard old Hanoverian soldiers, who have served in the King's German Legion, declare, that if they had worn these new knapsacks during their campaigns in the Peninsula they would have been saved from many a painful march, and they were sure that our soldiers would be greatly benefited by adopting the same, instead of those which they now wear.

The lower ends of the shoulder-straps of the Hanoverian knapsack are fixed much lower on the knapsack than in ours, and, by this means, do not cut the soldier underneath the arms, which our present shoulder-straps do, to a very painful degree: his arms are frequently benumbed and deadened by the pressure of the shoulder-straps, which stop the circulation of the blood, and render him unfit to make proper use of his firelock. I have heard men say, "that they scarcely knew if their arms were off or on." Every officer must have observed, on parades, field-days, or other military cccasions, how frequently men fall out sick and faint. These men invariably complain of the straps of the knapsack as the cause of it. Captain Heise says, "Our men generally declared that the pressure of the old shoulderstraps was double that of the new."

The shoulder-straps of the Hanoverian knapsack give to the soldier the free and unimpeded use of his arms. The weight of the knapsack is, for the most part, on the front of the shoulder, where a man can bear more than on any other part. Those men, who tow or track vessels on a canal or river, attach the traces by which they pull so as to press in front of the shoulder, as the straps of the Hanoverian knapsacks are made to do. Both shoulderstraps are fixed in the centre of the upper part of the knapsack, behind the poll of the man's neck; they then separate, and are attached to the outer corners of the lower part of the knapsack.

"The angle of separation of the shoulder-strap should be regulated by the size of the man; broad-shouldered men ought to have the straps separated one inch more than men with narrow shoulders. If this precaution be neglected, the knapsack will acquire too high a position, lie too tight on the neck, and not derive its main support from the shoulders!"

The left shoulder-strap is fastened to the knapsack at both ends, the right one at the top only; the other end is furnished with a ring, by which the soldier may put it on, or take it off a hook, attached to the lower part of the knapsack on the right side. By hooking on the ring, the knapsack is

* The Prussian infantry wear their breast-straps as well as their other belts very broad, the King of Prussia conceiving that they will prove a considerable protection to his Fantassins from the sabres of an enemy's cavalry. These broad straps are very oppressive to the man's chest, prevent a proper circulation of air, and, on a march in warm weather, the Prussian infantry suffer more than the troops of any other nation, as they become nearly suffocated by the pressure of the breast-straps.

firmly put on, and will remain immoveable in the proper position on the man's back; and he may take it off, after unhooking the ring, by slipping the knapsack over his left shoulder, with the greatest ease, and without any assistance*.

This is particularly convenient on a line of march; the soldier can slip off his knapsack in an instant every time there is a halt, (which it is customary to give the men for a few minutes in every hour,) and he can thus rest himself and yet resume his knapsack, without any delay, when ordered to "fall in." The difficulty of taking off and putting on again the present regulation knapsacks, prevents a man from relieving himself of his load during these short halts; and therefore, in order to rest himself, he will lean against a bank or wall, or prop himself up behind on the end of his musket, which, after all, will not rest him nearly so much as if he could take off his load altogether.

During a late march in Ireland, a part of my company only was provided with the Hanoverian knapsack. Every time the men were halted, those who carried them acknowledged the very great relief they found in being able to take them off so easily; and those men who were not yet provided with the same, expressed an anxious wish for the rest of them to arrive from Hanover, and begged the other men to change packs with them.

By this mode of wearing the shoulder-straps of the new knapsack, its weight, pulling upon these straps, tends to press back the man's shoulders, open his chest, and improve his upright carriage; whereas the old shoulder-straps, and the breast-strap in particular, tended rather to contract his chest, give him a stoop, and round shoulders.

These new shoulder-straps are much simpler than the old straps with slings, which, from being sewed together in so many places, and being much more complicated in their construction by innumerable buckles, are more liable to become unsewed, and out of order, and of no use in carrying the packs, for which they are intended. The new knapsack rests so firmly on the man's back, that non-commissioned officers of squads are not at all necessary to inspect and alter the arrangement of slings and straps, to see that they are placed properly parallel and perpendicular to one another, as is the case with our present arrangement of the shoulder-straps with slings. Thus much trouble and annoyance are saved, both to the non-commissioned officers and privates.

The Hanoverian knapsack is three inches narrower than our present regulation, which is of very great advantage to the men when standing, or moving in closed ranks.

In the first place, the men can go to the right or left-about without jostling, and knocking against the men on each side of them; and, in the half-face and diagonal march, the men can preserve their proper front, without incommoding their neighbouring files.

The men can "secure arms without striking the butts of the firelocks against the bottom of their knapsacks; and when "secured," they can keep the muzzles straight to the front, instead of inclining them across the body, as they must do with the old knapsack.

This knapsack, being narrower, allows the rear-rank men more room to bring up their firelocks to a proper level for taking aim, which, with the old knapsacks, was next to impossible.

These knapsacks also rest higher and closer to the men's backs, so that the rear-rank can move up closer to the front-rank than they can at present, which will also assist them in giving a more effective fire; and now that so many manœuvres are executed by threes, and the sections are the more

* This is a very great convenience to the soldier: for it may not be known to many persons, not in the service, that our infantry soldiers cannot put on, and can with difficulty take off, their knapsacks without the assistance of a comrade! and yet this is a part of his equipment that the soldier must have with him at all times when on service!!