The methods prescribed contemplated, first, aiming and then position drills, subsequently firing with caps or candle practice, and finally estimating distance, drill as all preliminary to regular target practice. For ball practice it was pre scribed that the targets be placed at 150, 225, 250, 300, 325, 350, 400, 450, 500, 55o, 600, 7oo, Soo, 9oo and L000 yards, at all ranges; the surface fired at was 6 feet high, and either 22 inches wide or some multiple of that dimension at 600 yards, for instance, being Ito inches (9 feet 2 inches) in width; the targets be ing divided by a horizontal and vertical line, of a width depending upon thc dis tance at which they were used, varying between 4 ,and 20 inches. Four rounds were to be fired at each distance. After practice at the first seven ranges, the Company was to be divided into three classes of about equal size, the first com prising those men who had hit the target the greatest number of times, the sec ond class of those who came next in order, and the third class of the poorer shots.
Three exercises in skirmish firing were contemplated, to shots being fired at each drill, fiVC when advancing, and five when retreating. The number of tar gets was only limited by the circumstances of the ground; for the first practice they were 6 feet high and 22 inches broad and placed six yards apart, fire was opened when the Company had arrived within a range of 35o yards, the point where the advance was to cease and the retreat commence was not stated. In the second practice the size of the targets 1N-as doubled and fire opened at 600 vards. In the third practice the width of the targ,ets was increased to SS inches, the Company commenced to fire when at a distance of Soo yards. Both file and volley firing were also required, at the distances, 3o0, 400 and 5oo yards, two cartridg-es being fired by file and two by volley at each distance.
In the first prosecution of target practice, the Army was greatly aided by the "Manual of Rifle Firing,- of General George W. Wingate, the General Inspector of Rifle Practice of the State of New York. General Wing,ate through his per sonal efforts, succeeded in introducing rifle practice as a part of the inilitar2; in struction of the National Guard, and his system, undoubtedly at that time the best extant, was very g,enerally consulted throug,hout the Army. In some par ticulars, it was not, however. deemed the best that could be devised for Army use. About this time the author, having returned to Washington from several year's active field service in Oregon and Idaho, conferred with General Wingate, and as a result, Wing,ate and Farrow's of Target Practice was prepared and sub mitted to the War Department. The author, who had been in command of In dian scouts and had just ,gone throug,h the Nez Perce and several other hard fought Indian campaigns, contributed to the System many valuable features and suggestions, based on his actual experience and observations in the field. This System was appropriated bodily by the War Department, and after some chang ing and remodeling, appeared as a "Course of Instruction in Rifle Firing," by Col. T. T. S. Laidley, in accordance with directions given by the Chief of Ord nance, and by a General Order, was announced as the System allowed in the Ser vice for the Instruction of the Army in the use of the Rifle. The order further prescribed that the necessary' aiming stands, targets, etc., were to be obtained from the Ordnance Department, and the labor and expense of setting them up and preparing the shelters, etc., borne by the Quartermaster's Department. This System placed the instruction of the men at each Post in the hands of an Instruc tor of Musketry, aided by such assistants as the size of the command required. Company officers, while required to be themselves instructed, and to fire annually a number of cartridges, yet only participated in the education of their men as As sistants to the regular Musketry Instructor. The course comprised exercises in which the soldier was taught successfully, to take the best position for holding the rifle. to aim it accurately, hold it steadily and pull the trigger withottt deranging,
the aim. In firing, standing or kneeling„ only the tactical positions were per mitted, while for firing lying, the prone or tactical position was not alluded to, but a special side-position required. For range practice the targets used by the Na tional Rifle Association were adopted, and the practice commenced at ioo yards, each man firing five shots, or additional single shots in cases when each succeed ing shot showed an improvement over the last. The most expert were then to be advanced to 200 yards, where firing was held in a similar manner. Each man was, however, prohibited from firing more than 15 shots, or from practicing at more than two distances in any one day.
In March, 1882, General Alfred II. Terry, commanding the Department of Dakota, issued an order requiring all Company officers to practice with their com mands, and also further requiring the presence for instruction of all the extra and daily duty men of the Company. He prescribed that all firing should commence at too yards, each one firing at least one score of five shots; firing in a similar manner was to be conducted at the other ranges, the soldier being advanced from range to range as he exhibited proficiency, but not sooner. The percentages, which, as a general rule were to be considered as a necessary requisite for ad vancement, were also established. In December of the same year, General Terry, in announcing to his Command the result of the year's labors, remarked as fol lows: "No one can doubt that the average capacity of the men to learn how to use their arms effectively is the same in all Companies and at all Posts. Nearly all the men enter the Service without previous experience in the use of arms, and the number of those in any organization who have had previous experience, is too small to affect its character. Moreover, the experience of that small num ber is seldom such as to be of value in the prescribed course of Rifle Instruction. It cannot be supposed that there are any essential differences in the averages of either physical or mental qualification in the different parts into which the Army is divided. This being the case, the different results obtained in different organ izations must he due to the officers who command them, and to the officers alone. Where officers are obedient and carry out in good faith the orders which pre scribe the course of rifle practice; where they are intelligent and zealous; where they not only demand obedience from their men, but seek to awaken their inter est in this, the most important part of their instruction, and especially where they endeavor to excite emulation by practicing with their men and by becoming good shots themselves, excellent results will assuredly follow." In 1884, an improved System was prepared by Captain S. E. Blunt, of the Ordnance Department, who had sent interrogatories throughout the Army ask ing suggestions pertinent to the subject on which the opinions and recommenda tions of the officers addressed, were solicited. As compared with the former Sys tons, the most marked features were the recognition it gave the Company Com mander, as the appropriate Instructor of his men; the definite rules prescribed for conducting the various steps of instruction from the recruit stage through all the phases of range firing up to that for the grade of sharpshooter ; the incorpora tion of the most approved orders; the simplification of reports and records; the adoption of targets, both for rang-e and skirmish firing, which would most pro mote the education of the soldier in the direction for which the knowledge ac quired would prove most efficacious in war, and especially the measures taken to insure careful attention to the skirmish firing; and to further and increase the control of the officer over his men on the line of battle, perfecting thereby the most essential of all the features of musketry instruction, the fire discipline of the Company.