The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-08-30
THE LOUISVILLE DRILL.
The Light Infantry Awarded the Third Prize
and the Tredway Rifles the First.

"A dispatch from Louisville, last night, an
nounced that the judges Of the prize drill there
had made their report, their markings on the
drills Of the various companies being as follows;
Tredway Rifles, of St Louis, 979; Montgomery
Guards, of Montgomery, Ala, $50; Light In
fantry, of this city, 953; Porter Rifles, of Nash
vile, Tenn, 1885, Quapaw Guards, of Little
Rock, Ark, 9O9. The Tredways, therefore,
get the first prize of $4,000, the Montgomery
Guards the second, $1,000 and the
Light Infantry the third, $500. The
result is somewhat disappointing to the
Light Infantry, as they had confidently expected
the second if not the first prize The figures
show the drill was very excellent one all
fundamentally so when the fact is taken
into consideration that it occupied thirty-five
minutes, and there were lao movements to be
executed The Light Infantry returned home
yesterday evening, and were escorted from the
depot by the Richardson Zouaves. They all say
they had a pleasant time at Louisville and were
treated with much courtesy and consideration.
Major Ross said he was disappointed
in the place given the company, as
they had put up very creditable
drill and one that they could well be proud Of
They must have been marked down for in
dividual mistakes, as there were no company
errors. OF the exhibition given by the other
companies he had seen but part of that by the
Tredway Rifles and it was excellent but not
so good he thought as that given by the Chicka-
saw Guards here two years ago. Several of the
boys told journal reporter that the company had
put up good drill, the chief fault being in
their alignments and field movements, while the
manual was almost perfectly done.
OF the drill, the Courier-Journal yesterday
said
THE Indianapolis Light Infantry responded
to the artillery summons, and entered the drill
ground in magnificent style, and began their
work cautiously, smoothly and thoroughly The
company had arrived only the night previous,
and had not taken part in the exhibition drill Of
the first day, and it was, therefore, a compare
tive stranger to the audience, and much anxiety
was expressed as to its ability in the drill field
After inspection, which was glided through with
out hitch, the team took up the manual, and
soon convinced the audience that it was
able to hold its own in any field. 1t
soon became evident also that the company
had friends in the audience, and it was
not difficult to locate them. A large number of
the friends of the company reached the city at
noon, and they were determined that their favor
ties should receive announcement, and when
the team began to put forth its most artistic
work the applause became strong and enthusiast
tic. The company did not make such an i'm
pressive appearance as its predecessors. but IN
the drill work it soon attracted the attention of
all. The familiarity of the audience with the
movements of the schedule as presented by the
Tredways had tendency to subdue in a meas
ure the intensity Of the interest, but as
new arrivals stretched the audience IN throngs
around the guard ropes, and the fine
work of the drill team began to impress itself
the enthusiasm became great. There was, how
ever, an apparent sluggishness in the general
movements of the company which prevented the
spectacle from being as impressive as that pre-
sented by other companies, but in the accuracy
of alignments and precision in covering dis
tances the work was thorough and natural. The
movements in single and double ranks were
most admirably executed, and the circle wheels
in fours, platoons and company were as regular
and artistic as clockwork.
I'm the matter of errors the Light Infantry
seemed to have guarded its movements most
successfully, and when the time expired the
company marched of the ground with large
following. Some regarded its work as perfect as
that of the Tredways, but there was a prevail
ing opinion that the latter company stood first,
with the Indianapolis company ard the Porter
Rifles close contestants for second money. The
time in which each company executed the 140
movements of the schedule was as follows: The
Porter Rifles 81 minutes; the Montgomery
Grays, SO minutes; the Quapaws, All minutes;
the Tredways, IS minutes, and the Light In
fantry, 81 minutes
The Louisville Commercial said: sfWhen time
was called the Tredways marched from the
grounds, and then came the Indianapolis Light
Infantry, performing their work in admirable
style, eliciting loud outbursts of applause. At
the opening of the drill they seemed little
nervous, but this soon wore away, and only q |
few slight errors were noticeable. The men
were thoroughly familiar with all the details of
the work. and the regular line movements were |
almost perfect"
READ the SUNDAY JOURNAL to-morrow-Price
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