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thrown up by the British when they held Rhode Island; and added others, particularly redoubts on Coaster's Island, and a strong work on Rose Island* armed with forty pieces of heavy artillery. With such a powerful battery to defend the right of the line of seven heavily armed French ships, and the guns and mortars of Brenton's Point to protect its left, the whole presented a formidable array of land artillery and naval broadsides to guard the main entrance to the bay. Till the departure of Rochambeau, June 10, 1781, he, with the assistance of many officers of engineers, continued to strengthen all the batteries, particularly those on Goat Island which had not been destroyed upon the British evacuation. Among the new works thrown up by the French was a battery on Hallidon Hill (see Plate I, Fig. 3) as this height commanded, at short artillery range, all the batteries at Brenton's Point and on Goat Island. It was then called Fort Chastellux, after the Chevalier de Chastellux, one of Rochambeau's Mareschaux de Camp. After the Revolution it was known as Fort Harrison, being on the Harrison farm, and since, it has acquired the name of Fort Denham from some local association. What remains of it is situated in front of the " Thorp " cottage. Other batteries on the southern shore of Rhode Island were built during the Revolution, of which the remains of one are still visible on the "Ocean Drive," near the southwest extremity of the island, at Winans' cottage.

[TO BE CONCLUded].

General GEORGE W. CULLUM,

Corps of Engineers, (Retired) U. S. Army.

This small island, called Conskuit by the Indians, was purchased, in 1675, by Peleg Sanford from the Sachem Mausup.

THE BICYCLE AND ITS ADAPTABILITY TO MILI

TARY PURPOSES.

(Continued from the September-October Journal, Vol. VI, No. 2.)

PART III. THE MILITARY USES OF THE BICYCLE.

Unless some radical and entirely unforseen improvement takes place, it would appear that the fire-arms of the present day have reached about the maximum state of efficiency in the small caliber bullet of the magazine and automatic machine guns, and in the shrapnel and shell of the quick-firing field piece. It would therefore seem that the most promising field for increasing the efficiency of troops now exists in the matter of improving their marching capabilities; and it is to this end that under suitable conditions the employment of the bicycle has been recommended.

We may state as a principle, that it is proper to make use of any means of transportation that will facilitate the necessary movement of troops between two points-either by increasing the rate of march, or by decreasing the amount of work performed in marching,-so long as such means do not tend to compromise the safety of the troops moved. This rule applies equally to a single soldier or to an army corps, and whether the method adopted be the railroad, the steamboat, horsed or horseless carriages, horseback, or the bicycle.

Let us apply this principle to the bicycle.

The following have been suggested as some of the possible uses of this machine in military transportation:

I.

2.

For orderly, messenger, and signal work.

For the "service of security and information."

3. For the rapid movement of large bodies of troops. These were the first uses that the military bicycle was put to, and it is in these rôles that the advantageousness of its employment is most generally conceded. In garrison and in permanent camps there can be no longer any doubt as to the value of the bicycle messenger. The economy of time and work is too evident for denial.

In the field the employment of bicycle estafettes has been found valuable for the purpose of keeping up communication between. the head and rear of marching columns, carrying despatches, preserving touch with troops marching on parallel roads, etc.

The extent to which their employment is permissible will be greatly dependent upon the character of the road. But in no case can the cyclist courier entirely displace the courier on horseback; each must be ready for use, and the one employed that seems best suited to the particular circumstances. On country roads, choked with troops or trains, and without side or foot paths, the cyclist would make comparatively slow progress and the horseman would probably be preferable. The same would also be true in carrying messages across country for short distances, as during the progress of an engagement. In very urgent cases the same despatch might well be entrusted to both horse and cycle messenger.

On the other hand where journeys of considerable length are to be undertaken, covering distances of from 12 to 20 miles or more, the bicyclist would generally have the advantage; and in longer distances he would gain proportionally. This is due to the fact that while the horse may be urged for short distances to a greater speed than the cyclist can make, and moreover is less embarrassed by obstacles met in the road, on the other hand the endurance of the cyclist far surpasses that of the horse, as does likewise the average speed which he can make in covering long distances.

The superiority of the cycle for courier work, where long distances are to be covered, is perhaps best shown in the races between the cities of Berlin and Vienna, arranged conjointly by the Emperors of Germany and Austria. An equal number of German and Austrian officers were specially picked, and mounted on the finest steeds to be obtained. The race tested to its utmost the endurance of both man and beast. 19 horses perished of fatigue on the way; as many more died shortly after the conclusion of the race; and all that were ridden were practically ruined. The winner made the distance in 72 hours, or almost exactly three days. The others were considerably longer, and very few completed the trip under four days.

In a wheel race instituted some time later, the same course was covered in 36 hours, or in half the time required for the winning cavalryman; and the wheelmen participating were by no means exhausted.

In my opinion cyclist couriers could be employed to great advantage within a permanent fortification.

Take for instance a seaboard fort, where the control of the various batteries-which may be separated by considerable distances, -is under the direction of the Commandant. Here good

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roads should be available, and all the conditions should be favorable for the employment of the bicycle. The Commandant, entrusting his orders (verbal or written) to the bicycle messenger, may depend upon their being accurately delivered in short order. Of course it is to be presumed that electrical communication will be maintained wherever important; but this may be overworked or break down entirely at a critical period. The telephone has not yet been proved altogether reliable, for military use, under service conditions; and in many instances the courier would be both quicker and more trustworthy than the telegraph in the delivery of a message.

Closely connected with the subject of military couriers is that of military signaling. We have already noticed two bicycles equipped for the use of the Signal Corps. One, a "Columbia" tandem, was provided with suitable flags, and carried a complete set of arms and equipments for its two riders. The other was equipped with an attachment for automatically unreeling and laying the cable of the field telegraph or telephone, and for rapidly taking up the same. In view of the progress that is being made in the use of a fine naked wire in field telephony (see Journal U. S. Artillery, Vol. II, p. 99; Report Chief Signal Officer, 1895, p. 6, etc.) it would seem that this application of the bicycle would be of the greatest importance in establishing telephonic communication between the outposts, headquarters, and the various units of an army in the field. Would not the motor cycle, similar to the one previously described (Journal U. S. Artillery, Vol. V, p. 247, et seq.) be of great value for this purpose, enabling a larger load to be carried, a heavier and stronger bicycle to be used, and the machine to be driven over roads impracticable for the common safety? Such a motor bicycle, it would appear, might well take the place of the "outpost cart" (see report Chief Signal Officer, 1895) in carrying capacity, while the fact that it is narrow and that its two wheels "track," would allow it to pass by trains, troops, and other obstructions in the road more readily than the "cart," and at the same time permit its use in narrow footpaths and trails where the latter could not be taken at all. The small amount of coal oil required (one gallon per 100 miles, or thereabouts) could be readily carried, or obtained almost anywhere in the country traversed.

The bicycle is as well adapted for carrying the heliograph, in countries where that instrument would be of value, and the flash

Journal 9.

lantern, as it is for carrying flags; and for all such light work seems to fulfill in many respects most admirably the needs of the signal department. It can, however, only be applied to convey light loads, and will never replace the regular field telegraph wagon and its equipment for establishing permanent and substantial military telegraph lines; while its use is still further limited to a country in which the communications, if not the best, are at least fairly good.

2. For the service of security and information."

For this service cavalry has always been deemed in general best suited; and it is universally admitted that if modern fire arms have resulted in reducing the importance of cavalry on the actual battlefield, strategical and logistic considerations have tremendously increased its importance elsewhere, so that a large force of cavalry is to-day, for an army, a greater necessity than ever before. On the other hand the limited time afforded for preparation, in modern war, the immense armies now placed in the field, with the consequent enormous demand for draft animals for the artillery, trains and other purposes, make it more difficult than ever to equip and mount anything like an adequate proportional cavalry force; while the continual loss of horses due to various causes, and the necessity of providing for their subsistence, have still farther increased the difficulties inherent in the situation. Not only will the service of security and information demand all the cavalry that can be put in the field, but a much larger force than this will be called for, so that the cavalry will have to be supplemented by large numbers of other troops. But unmounted infantry lack the necessary mobility to co-operate with cavalry to advantage; to mount infantry is, as we have shown, for lack of animals out of the question; and its conveyance in special wagons designed for the purpose, as sometimes recommended, will be generally impracticable; but to mount infantry on bicycles seems to us to be, not only the one alternative left, but entirely feasible under ordinary conditions.

Indeed, military cyclists seem to be especially well adapted to this service. Operating well in advance of the main army, the roads will be unencumbered, nor will they as a rule be cut up by heavy transportation over them. The cyclists will therefore possess much greater mobility on this account. Moreover, the screen will ordinarily be subdivided into many component parts -detachments and patrols ranging from a single man up to a battalion-and this is just the condition for the most favorable use of cyclists as combatants, since it gives them more "elbow

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