CHAPTER VI.
THE BATTERY IN CAMP WHEELER.
At this point in the history of the detachment, it would be well to
give some account of the reasoning which led to its formation and the
personnel of the detachment.
Since the days of '65 the armies of the civilized world have adopted a
rifle whose effective range is more than twice as great as that used
in the Civil War. Very able discussions have been made upon the
theoretical changes of the battle-field thus brought about, but no
proper conclusion had been reached. It was acknowledged by all
text-book writers that the artillery arm of the service would find
much greater difficulty in operating at short ranges, and that
assaults upon fortified positions would be much more difficult in the
future. But only Gen. Williston, of the United States Artillery, had
ever taken the advanced ground that in a machine gun arm would be
found a valuable auxiliary as a result of these changed conditions.
This theory of Gen. Williston's was published in the Journal of the
Military Service Institute in the spring of '86, but never went,
so far as Gen. Williston was concerned, beyond a mere theory; nor had
the detachment commander ever heard of Gen.
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