Handbook for Light ArtilleryDyer, A. B. (Alexander Brydie)
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Handbook for Light Artillery
Dyer, A. B. (Alexander Brydie)
Artillery, Field and mountain
The feed-troughs and the nostrils of the horses are washed every
morning and evening with diluted vinegar.
Water is allowed at the rate of six gallons a day per horse, and one
gallon per man.
During the voyage the artillery commander will make it his especial
duty to act in harmony with the master of the vessel. There must, of
necessity, be divided authority and responsibility. Order and neatness
among the men and cleanliness with the horses are to be looked after by
the commander of the troops. In attending to these duties care will be
observed not to interfere needlessly with the duties of the crew nor
with the belongings of the ship.
Officers are always to be furnished with cabin accommodations, and the
men with proper messing arrangements. This should be specified in the
charter, and should be clearly understood by all parties previous to
setting out on the voyage.
The fitting up of the vessel is generally done by the Quartermaster's
Department, but the commander of the artillery to be embarked will, as
the one most concerned, give his special attention to see that the work
is thorough and complete.
DISEMBARKING.
When this can be done at a wharf, the operation is simply the reverse
of embarking.
When wharf accommodations are not available, arrangements will have to
be made for transferring the men, horses, and material from the vessel
to the shore. Bridges may be made of pontoons, or of trestles and
pontoons combined, and the horses and material carried ashore on these;
canal-barges may be used and towed close to shore by light-draught
steamers, from which horses and material can be landed by a gang-plank;
by lashing two of the canal-barges together, placing the boats some 12
feet apart, and throwing a false or additional deck over the whole,
a platform is formed, about 40 feet long, capable of holding all the
pieces and caissons of a six-gun battery, or from 40 to 50 horses. A
raft of this kind should have a strong railing around it.
In disembarking horses the same precautions are necessary as when
embarking them. For some days after a long voyage they should be
led about at a walk, and no weight put on their backs unless it is
absolutely necessary.
The disembarkation of horses by swimming is more easily effected than
their embarkation by the same method, as their instinct assists in
bringing them ashore. The horse should be lowered in the sling over the
side of the vessel, without fastening the breast-strap or breeching.
When the tackle is unhooked, the sling opens and is at once slipped
from under. In smooth water a horse can easily swim half a mile.
When the deck of a vessel is low, say not over 10 feet, and there is a
gangway, the horses may be backed off into the water without slinging.
This method should never be resorted to if it can possibly be avoided;
it is liable to strain and injure the animal, and it is said to injure
his pluck and make him shy about entering water.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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