(1.) The men load and fire as individuals, and generally with great rapidity, and under more or less excitement, rarely stopping to take a deliberate aim. The consequence is, that very few shots take effect, and the fire is, for the greater part, wasted, as is shown by the well-established fact that, in every engagement, for every man killed or disabled, there have been from three to ten thousand musket or rifle bullets fired. (2.) Except on windy days, a cloud of smoke soon collects in front of a line firing at will, hiding, more or less completely, the enemy from view. The fire being then at random, it is, of course, unreliable. (3.) The fire at will leads to a rapid and enormous consumption of ammunition. To show how serious is this objection also, it is only necessary to consider in how many instances victory has been turned into defeat by the premature exhaustion, by one or more regiments, of their ammunition. (4.) As a necessary consequence of this rapid consumption of ammunition, the pieces soon become fouled, and thus, to a great extent, useless. (5.) Troops under a musketry fire at will, soon become accustomed to it, and its incessant din produces on them a stunning effect, which deadens, in no small degree, their sensibility to danger. 7. On the other hand, _volley firing_ has often been attended with decisive results, especially when it has been reserved to the proper moment, and delivered at short range. Instances of this have occurred in almost every great battle we read of in history, as also in the late War of the Rebellion. For example: at the battle of South Mountain, Doubleday's brigade was engaged with a heavy force of rebels at some thirty or forty paces in its front. Our men were behind a fence, firing at will; but their fire made little or no impression on the enemy, who attempted to charge at the least cessation of the fire. Our troops were then made to cease firing, to lie down behind the fence, and, on the enemy's approach to within fifteen paces, to spring up and pour in a volley. This was so deadly, that the rebels fled in disorder, leaving their dead and wounded, and could not be rallied again. At Chickamauga, in 1863, the regiments of Hazen's brigade fired only by volleys; every one of which, it is officially reported, was powerfully effective in checking the enemy's attacks. 8. Nevertheless, it has been a common military saying, and supported even by high authority, that the fire at will is _the only one possible in action_. This assertion implies that the rank and file are not sufficiently cool to reserve their fire, and that they must be kept constantly occupied by the excitement, noise, and smoke of their own fire, in order to make them remain steady in their ranks under that of the enemy.