Practical Manual of Artillery

election of sites, and distinguish between the good or bad quality of the places from which, once the battery is planted, he can offend the enemy in safety and preserve his Artillery and army without any damage. And how much less effect it would have if, after having made the breach in the wall, the assault were so difficult that, due to some impediment, the attack could not be delivered. And how much worse it would be if, being forced to save the Artillery, the General were forced to move from that site with haste, and because he was lazy and ill-practiced, he let even a single piece be lost. A thing that, among all the losses of war, is esteemed the most ignominious and of greatest infamy. For the correct administration, therefore, of such a charge and of such importance (as has been said), Princes and Lords of armies, to whom it falls to make the election of the General of Artillery, should procure that he who is to rule and administer such an office be as worthy and deserving of it as the charge is worthy of any man, even if he were most wise and of great genius. Which General, if he can be found born of noble progeny, I say that (just as enamel and an artistic hand ennoble nature and the fineness of gold much more) this person will give greater splendor and authority to the office, and even more so if he is adorned with some sciences. However, not being able to have such a one, as has been said, one must make an election of some well-deserving Soldier, practical in things of Artillery, and of much industry and genius; for in effect it cannot be denied that more praise and honor are due to any virtuous man of valorous and gentle spirit, even though he be born of humble progeny, than to another ignorant and presumptuous one, procreated of illustrious blood. Returning therefore to my reasoning, I say that the General of Artillery must of necessity be a Soldier who is judicious, practical, and so intelligent in that exercise that the King or Prince and other Generals of the army do not disdain to come often to consult with him. The sciences in which the General of Artillery must be instructed are three, namely: The first is Arithmetic, which of all the mathematical disciplines is the only foundation and norm. The second is Geometry, which is also the nerve of the whole exercise of Artillery, and without which its effects would be vain and of little efficacy. Perspective is the third, by means of which the correct way of measuring distances, heights, and depth, together with that of fortification, is learned. And because he must employ the power of Artillery against the terrible machines and ingenious defenses that have been found by human ingenuity in opposition to it, and are found day by day, and so that the designs of an excellent and prudent General of Artillery have place and honored execution in the enterprise, he is obligated (as has been said) to have great intelligence of all the operations of Artillery and exercises concerning it. And that he alone knows as much about the way of offending the enemy with his greatest advantage as all the other supreme officials, engineers, gunners, and other practical men of the army know and understand. For otherwise he will hardly be able to render an account of himself in the ordinary occurrences of the enterprise, being questioned by the King or Prince Lord of the Artillery, nor even correct the errors that his subjects will commit from hour to hour, from which great confusion and blame would result for him, because it is a business that concerns him rather than any other man in the army. Besides this, he must know that in the art of Artillery he must serve his Prince on four principal occasions of war and find himself in battle. The first of these will be when, with the army formed, it will be necessary to lay siege to some City or Castle. The second will be finding himself besieged and in the defense of any garrison. The third, when in a land faction and with Artillery in the field, he will be forced to come to battle with the enemy. The fourth and last occasion will be when, with a maritime fleet, he will have to find himself in a naval enterprise. Of all which occurrences of times, and provisions that must be made, and warnings that the General of Artillery and practical Gunners must have in them, it is treated very diffusely in the progress of this work; however, it particularly behooves him to consider the following warnings, insofar as in each of the aforesaid war factions, without any doubt, by putting them (as one should) into execution, one will acquire supreme praise and honor before the sight of his Prince. The first of which will be this, that the General of Artillery must be