The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1878-09-21
THE BENEFITS or CREEDMOoR.
some Results Of New York Militia Rine
Prncticc-W hat Col Clark Says.


To THE EDITOR OF THE SUN-.Sr Your
correspondent. VI. V. NJ" in saying. in his let
ter of Sept. o. that he " had been unable TO learn
Of any very brilliant returns from rife practice
in New York" shows himself to be- either I'M
informed Of what is well known to all military
mon. or else to be too much affected by local
prejudice to do Justice.
The facts in regard to New York riHc practice
no; only appear in the official military reports.
but they are matters Of public notoricty. There
is scarcely leading paper which has not fro
1urnty alluded To tho matter. In Tue SUN.
Sept. -. 1870 And the great improvement in
military efficiency which has resulted from this
practice has been often testified 90 10y army Off
ccrs before committees Of Congress. For the
benefit Of d" VI. V. NJ" and all who nrc in a stint
lar stntc or Ignorance. It may be VOL to state
TINT. nror 10 the establishment 81 Creedmoor.
ia 1913, il wa, the rul" in the New YORK M
tiunNl Guard. n in all other militia Urgnni2a-
tions for mon 10 serve their full torn vi rnlst-
mrnt without firing u shot In 1873. Creedmoor
was thrown open TO voluntary prnrtcc by the
First and second Divisions. with tho result of
crenting some fair teams and individual shots.
Nothing, however. WAS accomplished in The
way Of insiril"ing the rank and Tile. In 1874,
the regiments Of these divisions wcre ordered
there inr ono tny each Nosystrmntic plnn of
instruction having been adopted. the only re-
sut WAS TO demonstrates that the men. rs n
cnss. knew nothing about shooting.
since then the progress has been continuous.
According 90 the official reports The numLrr
NJ aeains, To- aiG in is7G. and 7.G76 in is75. oi
ilrrr s.u2i tor Gs per cnnt) dunlilcd ni loo and
80 yards, ~ against j.3ll IN 1916. md 223j IN
1913. or these 1 $50 tor Gl per rrni qualified
ut 300 aud 4uu wards. M against 1000 in 1876.
and so2 in 1879. TITO numhrr qualifying m
murksmcn being 2.12G ms against ~ ia 1916 Ia
gain ot ISL per cont. and 533 m 1873.
Although the rules have been made strlctcr
and the unnli llrutiOns forth mnrksnnn badge
the Improvement in 1875 will bc even grcnter.
While in 1871 It was considered cred table for n
regiment tn get 81 per cent; OF a shooting de-
tarhmcnt out OF tho third clnss. 1t Ia common
now for s0 psr cont. to qualify.
When thn Forty seventh Regiment took down
its duncr, ON the 9Th inst. out 81 ~ who shot
in the third class ~ qualified. Thcs". with "a
Second clnss men who hnd previously failed to
qualify. shot Tor the marksman's badge. and Al
puHlliird-uNpr ~ per cent. To-day there ara u
number 81 companies IN the National Guard
lsuch ~ Company \. Forty-cighth Regiment;
Companies and III. seventh md ujl"rsl fully
half uf whose men are nIarksmen, and 10 be-
come n marks man IL 10y no means an rusy task
srntrd hy The tulli's,s for the Nevada badge. rs
those required % men To compete md their
scores therefore form fair tost NJ the skin Of
th' rompanics competing In ESQ T. roe com
punra shot. the averages lrinE 2j. - aud 20
per inun respectively. In 1873 twelve cnmpn-
Mos have entered one Company \. Forty
eighth making .222 or % per man. and others
scores between 800 md 100 In fact. the score
u this company at 300 yards iG2 wns CT points
l"'trd from the different regiments ot tho Mus
sachusctis miliiia who shot in their annual match
NJ South Frnmneham July 80. and their aver
ngc tn"ary i 1850 per man IA nearly three
points more than the qualification for comprti-
tors ior the tenn which Is TO represent NlH-sn-
"hu@"its in the Interstate and int Irrational
rifle matches ~ prescribed in Col kingshury' =
circular Of Aug. 30. 1873. II the figures ot New
York teams were to be- given they would be-
found much higher. hut do not consider them
fair criterion. rs Il poor shooting regiment
may hnvc strong tenn.
A.. Fstt ~ al %.
which W. '. VI. refers. nrr concernod. II my
not Toe Improper TO remark that. while the rie.
men OF this State conccdr To- Capt. Jackson and
his companions the honor OF being fuy ns "N-
pert as any of themselves and ns entitled 10 hr
! considered the pioneers OF rine shooting III
Massachusetts. they also know that the most
| discOuraging thing those gentlemen huvc had
| 10 contend with has been the want of encourage
mcnt from the military authorities Of MussA-
| chu~rtt-. aud have frequently heard them com
pare with regret the runtlly with when the Stntn
| ~ Nrssnrhu~r,t- rngnrdra the instruction Of liz
| militia in ride practice with the course of Now
| York. Surely v. V. NJ. has never seen the
! pamphlet published by the Massachusetts Enr
| Association not only making this comparison.
| hut giving some Of tn" above Agur"s with other
| dnta ns to ranges a.. D from the Now York Off
! militia Massachusetts -tili rnmnu~ ignorant
| ~ the most important element entering int
| the possible wariar" igr ,wntcl th"y are SUP.
| posed 10 hr trained II he hat h" would not
| have SPOKEN 30 dispnraginGly of New York
| This irt,cr has already outgrown it, intended
! limits. yet | rnnNOi clos" II without protesting
agniu,t VI. Y. M" argument tina, dtsciplin,
| il more important than rife pra'lrr. A. not d
| fair statement of the cusr. Every intelligent
| ullccr will concede That cncamp'nents nrr q
! good thing. and il ia a. he r"gr-,ted that W
! have not more II th"m IN New York. H. vii
| ni-l cnncelc that discipline Is Indispensable
| But dis'ipl NJ is ~ -lnw growth. md the iici
! Of ANYTHING worthy at ia" name being devr
| oppd In an annual ily" davs' encouragement j,
| prcpostrrous. II r. simply lmpossih To cr"ni,
In militia force tn" discipline III rrEulul
| army. cn"Dmpmenis or no rn'Amuments
There t. hut one way To supply II. and that r. h'
the personal confidence which COMES To- clrl
| man when he knows that he and hie eomrgdc,
| are nlI-tor- oi their rln -, and therefore per
spnnllN superior To thrlr alv"r-url"s.
| Win all RESPECT ior ihr Nass1chu@ It's militia
| | think that any officer would lrcf"r /, faec "
large and determined mob with "a rinsl" com
| plny IL trained murksmen. who tot certain %
| hitting thor man every timc a. 2ol yards. Hn'
| being abe to lire twelve TO fifteen shots a min
| ute taking aim. than with ono VINO hNd devoted
| ilv" DAYS annually in camp t. learning how L
| do rvrrythiug with their rifles ."lt Ia shoe
! with accuracy. and who know their own an,
| their comrades want ui skill.
In CONCLUSION. may r'narS that Col. En-
| mons Glars. comnuuiing "a r"gi m"ut known AZ
the seventh. y. q. =. \. v, NJ which VI. Y. VI =
may p"rhAI- have heard. recently stated pub
licly t. "a" Administered that comparin.
the llring ~ his regiment when on duty In ~
with that which be had observed when n WI
under arms upon former o'"asions, h" rou-id
cred that u, efficiency had increased NOR" than
t"nfold, through IN" skill Il had aclu r"'l il
| rli!H practice stu'c $50. ILFLEMAN.
NEW \ OkK. sept. Ii, 1873.