The text establishes the foundational principles governing the training in peace and leading in war of horse, field, mountain, and heavy artillery in the British Army. The primary objective is to fit all ranks for the performance of their duties in combat through rigorous moral and physical instruction, instilling a soldierly spirit, discipline, and the capacity to endure fatigue and danger.
The manual details recruit training, covering foot drill, rifle exercises, signaling, and elementary gunnery, emphasizing practical instruction by officers and non-commissioned officers. The annual training of the soldier is systematically divided into individual training, which prepares the single soldier in horsemanship, reconnaissance, and gun drill, and collective training, which renders sections, batteries, and brigades capable of manœuvre and co-operation in battle.
Extensive instructions are provided for dismounted drill, equitation, and driving. Horsemastership is emphasized as vital, detailing the proper fitting of saddles, bridles, and harness, along with the care of horses on the march and in bivouac. The text outlines the mechanics of riding, the application of aids, bending exercises, and the retraining of awkward or difficult horses to ensure absolute control and endurance in the field.
Theoretical and practical gunnery form a major portion of the work, explaining the forces acting on a shell during flight, the resistance of the air, gravity, trajectory, and the causes affecting accuracy. Detailed procedures are given for direct and indirect laying, calculating angles of sight, applying deflections, and maintaining the parallelism of lines of fire. Ammunition components, including cordite, lyddite, and shrapnel shells, are thoroughly analyzed alongside the operation of time and percussion fuzes.
The final sections address battery and brigade tactics, the employment of artillery in attack and defence, co-operation with aircraft, ammunition supply systems within the field, and field engineering tasks such as entrenching and concealing guns. Through rigid discipline, precise gunnery, and flawless co-operation between arms, the manual seeks to ensure maximum efficiency in warfare.
