The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1870-08-25
HOW THEY MARCH.
What a French soldier Carries.

r rom the L4uuNuu AeAeLfa lIs
The whole Of the imperial Guard
has now left Paris The last regi-
ment that left-the Fourth VOltigeuFs
] were marched up tO Ia Villette this
afternoon The weather was intense
! ly hot f; the sun converted the long
} avenue 10 which King Hausmann
J has given his name into q perfect oy-
/ en-, and the march must have proved
I very trying. Nevertheless the men
! were picked men, very different from
some of the line battalliOns which
( went off last week, and carried cheer
I fully and with an elastic step the enOr-
nous load with which they were Ia
den. When Will generals and men in
authority take the advice given 80
many years ago by I4amOrieiere, more
lately by TrOchu, and acted on, be-
lieYe by HavelOck in India, and
''StOnewall1 Jackson i'm the Ameri-
can war? This advice, which is
I founded on experience of real war
fare was 10 the effect that to retain
hIs efficiency as fighting man the
infantry soldiers iHpooliRe'ltd should
be reduced TO a mihimum, and that
the weight he has to carry should be
reduced by twO-thiris at the very
least Marshal Neil did his very best
To effect this by organizing a regimen
/ tai train, consisting Of enc horse two
wheeled wagons, four of which We're
TO be attached 10 each company. But
he died before the organization of this
''Tegimental" train could be cOmplet-
/ ed, and the number of these carts is
80 insignificant that only the Imper-
ial Guard has had about dozen dis
tFibuted TO each regiment, aud they
are used for the purpose OF carrying
ammunition only. The result is, that
though the foot soldier has a much
/ lighter weapon In the ChassepOt than
in the old muZZle-lOader, he still has
To carry on his back and shoulders q
weight OF about seventy pounds
/ French, that Is, upwards Of One-third
of the regulation weight carried by a
Sumpter mule; one 0f these VOlti-
geurs, whom treated 10 "A glass OF
beer, supplied me with details Of his
"paek." First there is the ChassepOt,
seven and a half pounds j.; the sword,
| bayOnet and scabbanl, three pounds; /;
ten pounds of ammunition, distributed
partially i'm two pouches and partially
i'm his knApsack pair of shoes I;
fOur-pOund loaf Of bread canvas bag
slung over the left shoulder, and con-
tanning any creature comforts the
man may have procured it was
empty in many cases, but my friend
crried in il a pound Of tobacco, some
cigars, a flask of brandy, a good sized
veal and ham pie, and string of GER
Uelds q Tail. Over the knapsaek---
| first, n great coat I; secondly, a blank
/ ct thirdly, his share of The canvas
for the teate dd6ri, and sticks for the
same aud fOurthly, a huge camp ket-
le Inside the knapsack he had at
second pair Of trOwseTs, combs, BRUSH
es, needles, thread, buttons, a pair of
gloves, a couple of pairs of socks, and
three shirts in addition, flask Ca
pable of containing about quart OF
liquid is flung over the right shoulder.
A long march with such a weight
must ineapacitate all but the very
strongest men and il is only too
easy to understand how it happens
that knapsaeks and iBlpedinlentd are
invariably dropped the moment the
first shot is fired. In the French
army the practice is generally to or
der the men to lay down their KNAPP
sacks on going into action, but the
stamina of the men has been tried to
the uttermOst before they get up TO
the front by the carrying of such mOn-
strOns loads. Picked men may stand
it, but il is sufficient to look at an aY-
erage regiment of the line after q few
miles, marching to tor an opinion
of this vicious system of overlooking
for the maintenance of which that
sturdy old veteran, General Routine"
is alone to blame.