In preparing this work it has been my endeavor to place in compact form all the data I could obtain that might prove of service to those persons interested in the subject of light artillery, both in the Regular Army and in the National Guard.

I have held strictly to the lines laid down in Army Regulations, Drill Regulations, Official Reports, etc., as regards the matter extracted from such sources; and such as has not been so obtained has been carefully selected from the best authorities I have been able to consult.

I make no claim to originality in this work. It is drawn on the lines of similar handbooks in foreign services; and a great deal of the matter has been copied verbatim from the works consulted. To the writers and compilers of those works I hereby express my thanks.

While I do not consider that machine-guns are proper weapons for the light artillerist, I feel that occasions may arise when knowledge regarding them may prove of service; hence the chapter pertaining to them.

I express, with pleasure, my thanks to Lieut.-Colonel E. B. Williston, 3d U. S. Artillery, for his assistance.

I am particularly obliged to Captain L. L. Bruff, Ordnance Department, for having permitted me to copy from the manuscript of his work on Ordnance and Gunnery (now being published), and also for the use of many of his cuts. His friendly consideration in so doing is fully appreciated.

I also express my appreciation of the assistance given me by Colonel A. R. Buffington, Ordnance Department; Captain V. McNally, Ordnance Department; Captain J. L. Lusk, Corps of Engineers; Captain James Parker, 4th Cavalry; Captain L. A. Craig, 6th Cavalry; Captain S. W. Taylor, 4th Artillery; Lieut. E. B. Babbitt, Ordnance Department; Lieut. M. M. Patrick, Corps of Engineers; Lieut. E. Russel, 5th Artillery; Mr. J. E. Trautwine, Jr.; Mr. Charles W. Parker; and Mr. L. V. Benet of the Hotchkiss Ordnance Company.

The following is a partial list of the works consulted:

U. S. Army Regulations; U. S. Drill Regulations for Light Artillery; U. S. Drill Regulations for Cavalry; U. S. Drill Regulations for Hospital Corps; Soldier's Handbook, U. S. A.; Reports of the Chief of Ordnance, U. S. A.; Ordnance Notes; Manual of Heavy Artillery Service, United States Army, Tidball; Manual of Guard Duty; Ordnance and Gunnery, Metcalfe; Gunnery for Non-commissioned Officers, Cronkhite; Description and Service of Machine-guns, Mills; Lectures on Explosives, Walke; Modern Explosives, Eissler; Interior and Exterior Ballistics, Ingalls; Preliminary Tactics, Baker; Handbook for Field-artillery, R. A. Service Institution; The Soldier's Pocket-book, Wolseley; Manual of Military Engineering; Aide-mÉmoire de Campagne; Aide-mÉmoire, R. E.; Artillerist's Manual and Soldier's Compendium; the handbooks of Trautwine, Haswell, and Kidder; The Future Training and Employment of Mounted Infantry, Parr; The Soldiers' First Aid Handbook, Dietz; Nystrom's Mechanics; Horses and Stables, Fitzwygram; The Veterinarian's Vade Mecum, Gamgee; The Book of the Horse, Sydney; The Mule, Reilly; Special Report on the Diseases of the Horse, U. S. Department of Agriculture; the pamphlets of Hotchkiss, Gatling, Maxim, Driggs-Schroeder, etc. etc.

A. B. Dyer,

1st Lieut., 4th Artillery.

West Point, N. Y., March 1, 1896.