early in April, 1861, there were neither arsenals, foundries, powder mills, nor Government workshops of any kind in operation within the limits of the Confederate States. The Tredegar works in this city was the only cannon foundry. No fire-arms had ever been made, except, perhaps, a few sporting guns made by hand. No powder had been manufactured for war purposes; no gun carriages built; no material of war had ever been prepared. All such work had been done at the North. The South was ignorant of these arts, and her mechanics were not numerous. Let us follow the progress of several important branches of manufacture, beginning with small arms. The machinery at Harper's Ferry having been secured in May, was transferred to two safe points, and in September following was stimulated, and private capital induced to invest itself in the building up of our establishments for making firearms. Nearly all these have passed into the hands of the Ordnance Bureau. At "When this war began, all the arsenals of the Confederate States contained, in the aggregate, 130,000 muskets, chiefly smooth-bore, altered from flint to percussion, and 10,000 rifles. These, with the arms possessed by the States, were the total stock of service arms. present all its armies are provided with the best rifles-the smoothbore having nearly disappeared. Many of these rifles, nearly all the sabres, and a good many of the pistols, in the hands of our troops, are the products of our own manufactories. It is not too much to assume that, with the proper application of the labour still at our disposalshould it become necessary, by the closing of our ports, to rely wholly upon ourselves-the armies of the Confederacy would be supplied with all the arms needed for an efficient prosecution of the war. "In the department of artillery, the labours of this bureau have been even more successful than in the porduction of small arms. At first there was literally no artillery in the possession of the Confederate Government. None had been accumulated at any point, and the only artillery available was a few batteries in the hands of volunteer companies, and some old iron pieces, owned chiefly by the State of Virginia. The field artillery of the armies of the Confederacy comprise now not less than a thousand pieces, most of which is in field batteries, well organized and equipped. The gun chiefly used is the 12-pounder, known as the "Napoleon," to which we added the 10-pounder Parrott rifle (the latter mostly captured). The number of heavy guns fabricated is to be counted by the hundreds, among them some rifle guns of the formidable description. In this latter kind of gun, the ordnance department of the navy has achievod especial excellence, and the Brooke gun has a foreign reputation, wherever our struggle is known. The number of cannon foundries built up since the beginning of the war is six; two of these have the capacity to cast guns of the largest dimensions. "In the manufacture of powder, great success has been attained. The President early directed his attention to this point, and the result has been the erection of not less than five powder mills in different parts of the Confederacy. One of these is alone capable of producing all the powder needed in the Confederacy, and is a work, the design and execution of which is unsurpassed. To sustain the consumption of these mills, nitre has been imported and mined, and nitre beds established on the largest scale. In this connection a curious fact deserves to be stated. The most reliable and fertile and nitre-producing district is devoid of a single nitre cave, and the earth used is obtained from beneath old buildings. The continued existence of this phenomenon is due to the sagacity and good management of one of his subordinates (Major Barney). "The manufacture of percussion caps is an instructive instance of the advance of arts and manufactures in the military service. No machinery to make caps existed at the South, nor was the art of making the fulminate of mercury to fire the cap practised. The ordnance department of the State of Virginia, under the direction of its late capable chief, offered a reward for a machine for forming the cap, and one was in operation about the 1st June, 1861. The caps made were rude enough and the product small. Since that day, such has been the progress that 400,000 have often been produced in the Confederacy in a day, and there are machines enough to make a million if needed. The caps compare favourably with those made in the United States, and are better and more reliable than the English musket cap. All the operations, down to varnishing the cap, are performed by machinery. "The whole number made and issued during the war has reached 150,000,000, consuming over 200,000 pounds of copper, 6,300 pounds of mercury, 50,000 pounds of nitric acid (made at home chiefly), and 60,000 pounds of alcohol. When it is considered that the machinery possessed by the United States at the beginning of the war would have required 12 years to produce this amount of caps, and that that machinery was some fifteen years in attaining its then perfection, the mechanics of the Confederacy have here something to boast of. "Excellent machines for drawing friction primers for cannon, and for pressing lead balls of the various calibres, have been designed and successfully executed in several parts of the Confederacy. The machine used in connection with the Richmond Laboratory is ingenious, and the results very satisfactory. At the same laboratory are a half dozen highly-finished machines for driving time forges, invented and constructed here. "To sum up the labour of this departmeut, it has established seven first-class arsenals, five second-class arsenals, one large harness shop, six armouries of its own, two armouries through contractors, four powder mills (two through contractors), one laboratory for smelting lead now in charge of and extended by the Nitre and Mining Bureau), and various smaller depots and works. At each of these first-class arsenals are fabricated all the material of an army, from a gun carriage to a linstock or a horse-shoe nail. Wood work, iron work, tin work and work in copper and brass all go together. Each has its extended carpenter's shop, with its endless machinery for sawing, turning, boring, and planing wood; its machine shop for drilling, milling, and paring iron in all its shapes; its blacksmith shop, of twenty to fifty fires, with its cranes and hammers and fans; its harness shop, where saddles, harness, cartridge boxes, cap pouches, belts and all products of leather are made; its tin shop, its brass furnace, its cupola furnace, its store house full of raw material and finished products, ready to go to the army. "To the armies of the Confederacy it has supplied, east and west of the Mississippi, over half a million of small arms, quite two hundred well-equipped batteries, countless small-arm cartridges, hundreds of thousands of accoutrements for infantry, and full a hundred thousand accoutrements for cavalry. All this is but a feeble exhibit of what has been done in one department, and speaks well for the energy with which the resources of the country have been applied in this struggle. It should go far to make us hopeful for the future. A couutry that has developed such things in such a contest exhibits a vitality which will sustain it throughout the struggle, however protracted." To this we will only add, that such a people may be "exterminated," as the meek Abolitionists propose, but it is very clear that they cannot be conquered. It has become a fashion of late years for Members of Parliament to give an account of their stewardship to their constituents, and, if they happen to hold an official position, to give also some details of their respective Departments. Lord Clarence Paget and Mr. Childers have recently done this, and both their speeches contain explanations that ought to have a more permanent record than the columns of a newspaper. Under the head of "The Admiralty on Naval Affairs," a resumé of these extra-Parliamentary utterances will be found, and we recommend it to the notice of all who may have been disquieted by the attacks of certain ill-informed public writers; they will find then, after all, there is something to be said on the other side. CORRESPONDENCE. [With the view of promoting the interests of the Service, this department of the MAGAZINE is open to all authentic communications, and therefore the editor cannot hold himself responsible for the opinions expressed.] THE ROYAL ARTILLERY. Sir,-In your November number, a correspondent signing himself 'Mentor," condemns in the most wholesale manner the scheme for the re-organization of the Royal Artillery which I ventured to put forward in your pages in October. 66 66 Mentor," says that I "totally ignore the first principles of organization of such a service," and that the basis of all calculations depends on the number of guns in charge of an officer according to his rank in the regiment." A close examination of my scheme will show that in principle I entirely agree with "Mentor," and that his condemnation would return upon himself. "Mentor" bewails that "at present there is no system or regularity observed in maintaining the efficiency or discipline of the corps, hence the variety of complaints which are daily brought to notice, and what is more essential, no single professional authority competent to decide on all doubtful points under reference." This statement on the part of " Mentor," is equally sweeping and quite as erroneous as his opinion of my proposals, for the Royal Artillery has been famed for its system, regularity, discipline, and efficiency, ever since its first formation. That some changes and reforms would be beneficial to the service is my firm opinion, or I would not have the audacity to make proposals with that object in view. It is worthy of remark that although "Mentor" does not approve of my idea, and also considers the service in a bad way, yet he does not suggest any remedy for the evil, and contents himself by simply finding fault with others who endeavour to do so. With regard to the rank of major, I am perfectly aware that it has not existed in the Royal Artillery for many years, but at the same time many officers consider that great hardship was inflicted on the Regiment when that rank was refused for it by one high in office at the time, and there always has been a current of feeling towards obtaining the rank of major for all first captains. While viewing this plan as purely chimerical, I am inclined to think the difficulties of the present organization can be in a great measure got over by the re-organization which I am about to capitulate, and the objects of which are 1st. That there should always be with batteries a sufficient number of officers of each rank effective, so as to secure the following chain of responsibility unbroken, viz.: a Lieutenant in charge of 2 Field Guns, (or a half Battery) a Captain in command of a Battery of 4 Field Guns, a Major in chargeof a wing of 2 Batteries or 8 Guns, and a LieutenantColonel in command of a Division of 16 Guns; the Garrison Brigades being treated in a similar manner with regard to charge of half batteries, batteries, wings, and brigades. 2nd. That a sufficient number of Artillery Officers of the different grades should be available (without injuring the efficiency of the service Batteries) for the many important commands and appointments which can be held by Artillery Officers only, leaving also a proper margin for depôts and for officers employed on the General Staff of the Army. In order clearly to show the bearings of my proposals I wili briefly detail the strength and organization of the old Royal Artillery. The Old Royal Artillery in November, 1864, consisted of, 2 Horse Brigades. 5 Field Brigades. 10 Garrison Brigades. Depot. The 2 Horse Brigades contained 10 Batteries of 6 guns each, equal to 60 guns. The 5 Field Brigades contained 40 Batteries of 6 gnns each, equal to 240 guns. The 10 Field Brigades contained 80 Batteries of officers and men. The Horse Brigades have each the following officers with them on paper. 1 Colonel-Commandant. 2 Colonels. 3 Lieutenant-Colonels. 1 2nd Captain as Adjutant. The Field and Garrison Brigades have each a detail of, 1 Colonel-Commandant. 2 Colonels. 4 Lieutenant-Colonels. 1 2nd Captain as Adjutant. All the Batteries in Horse, Field and Garrison Brigades alike have, 1 1st Captain. 1 2nd Captain. 3 Lieutenants. There are 2 Batteries of Officers more than there are Batteries of Guns and men, owing to the 11th and 14th Brigades having each a skeleton battery. The number of Batteries of officers is therefore 132, and the number of officers on paper with Brigades and Batteries is as follows: 17 Colonels Commandant. 34 Colonels. 66 Lieutenant-Colonels. 132 1st Captains. 149 2nd Captains. 396 Lieutenants. In the Regimental Seniority List of November, 1864, there are officers as below, besides the lists of the old Indian Artilleries. 33 Generals, 17 of whom are Colonels-Commandant. This would show that over and above the officers nominally with Brigades and Batteries there are, 16 Generals. 6 Lieutenant-Colonels. 24 1st Captains. 23 2nd Captains. 109 Lieutenants. A large number of these Lieutenants really belong to old Indian Brigades, for the old Indian Lieutenants are replaced (as casualties occur) from Woolwich. There are even more officers actually away from their Brigades than are shown above, as colonels-commandant are of course not with Brigades, and many officers of various ranks are in staff employ and at the depot who are on paper with Brigades. The expedient of skeleton bttteries is obliged to be resorted to in India, in order to keep enough officers actually with Batteries owing to the many and great draws made upon the paper strength of Brigades. This is a summary of the present organization and I will now proceed to my proposed reforms. I propose to divide each Horse Brigade into 2 divisions of 16 guns each (after increasing the old Royal Horse Artillery by 4 guns), and the Field Brigades into three divisions of the same strength, and to leave the Garrison Brigades as they are now with respect to number and strength of Batteries. This would give, 2 Horse Brigades each of 2 Divisions of 16 Guns, equal to 64 Guns. 5 Field Brigades each of 3 Divisions of 16 Guns, equal to 240 Guns. 10 Garrison Brigades each of 8 Batteries, equal to 80 Batteries. To each Division of a Horse or of a Field Brigade I propose the following officers, 2 Lieutenant-Colonels. The 4 Divisions of Horse Artillery and 15 Divisions of Field Artillery, together with the 10 Brigades of Garrison Artillery will then comprise, 58 Lieutenant-Colonels. 58 Majors. 214 Captains. 428 Lieutenants. The Adjutants for Garrison Brigades could be furnished from among the Captains belonging to each Garrison Brigade, and the Adjutant for each Division of Horse or of Field Artillery should be one of the Lieutenants of such Division. Comparing then the above numbers with the actual numbers on the list for November 1864, we should have, 33 Generals, 17 of whom are Colonels-Commandant of Brigades. 34 Colonels available for Staff employ. U. S. MAG. No. 434, JAN. 1865. K |