The bayonet charge.
--The
Army and Navy Gazette, &c., of June 4th, gives the following practical suggestions on that subject.
They may be found useful:
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"It is a general rule in the service of Her Majesty, as well as throughout the armies of
Europe, that troops, before charging with the bayonet, should fire a volley, in order to throw confusion into the ranks of the enemy, as well as to cause a smoke for them to advance under.
The advantage over the present system would be ten-fold were the rear rank alone to fire, the front rank remaining at the shoulder till the word to charge be given, and then firing from the hip as they crossed bayonets with the enemy.
Such a fire could not but be most effectual; for it requires neither aim nor skill of any kind — in fact, nothing but a mere pressure on the trigger — to insure the result being most deadly, it being an impossibility that a bullet can miss when the rifle is not three feet from the enemy.--When the men fire, they would be able to act instantaneously after the volley, and therefore there would not be sufficient time for the gaps caused by the fire to be filled up in the ranks of the enemy, and consequently there would be a greater certainty of putting them to confusion.
At present, from the smoke and confusion likely to take place at a period immediately preceding a charge, the men are unable to take that accurate aim, without which the rifle is useless.
The bayonet would be much more effective when preceded by a fire as certain as it is deadly.
At present, an enemy has at least some three or four minutes to right itself after receiving ineffectual fire.
The most simple plan must be the best, and nothing can be more simple than that which requires neither aim nor skill of any kind beyond the power of pressing the trigger and advancing on the enemy."
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