The solution of this problem, then, was the principal difficulty of the modern battle-field; and yet, strange to say, the curtailed usefulness of artillery does not seem to have suggested itself to anybody else in the service previous to the first day of July. This problem had been made the subject of special study by him for several years, and had led to the conclusion that some form of machine gun must be adopted to take the place of artillery from 1500 yards down. This in turn led to the study of machine guns. The different forms in use in the different armies of the world had been considered, and it was found that there was none in any service properly mounted for the particular use desired. All of them required the service of animals as pack-mules, or for draft, while the very conditions of the problem required a gun to be so mounted that the use of animals could be dispensed with.
The Maxim gun has been reduced in weight to about 60 pounds, and is furnished with a tripod weighing about the same; but this is too heavy, and the supply of ammunition at once becomes a critical question. The Colt’s automatic rapid-fire gun has been reduced to 40 pounds, with a tripod of equal weight, but here again the same difficulty presents itself. The soldier is capable of carrying only a limited amount of weight; and with his already too heavy pack, his three days’ rations, together with the heat, fatigue and excitement of battle, it did not appear possible for any tripod-mounted gun to be effectively used.
The problem therefore resolved itself into the question of carriages: A carriage capable of carrying any form of machine gun using small-caliber ammunition, capable of being moved anywhere by draft, capable of being dismantled and carried on a pack-mule, and, above, all, capable of being moved by hand; required also some device for getting the requisite amount of ammunition up to the firing-line. A carriage and ammunition cart was invented fulfilling all these conditions and the invention was presented to the adjutant-general of the army for consideration, accompanied by a discussion of the proper tactical use of the gun so mounted. This discussion, in part, was as follows: