Salt Lake evening Democrat. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1885-1887, 1885-10-14
Won MOLTKE'S HANDIWORK.
The German Soldier Under Drill
And Discfplfne-The Process by
Which Mem Are Transformed
into Rigid Military
Machine.

otCp luOit accurately VI Jake SuCn long
and swinging strides. Every foot was
lifted quickly and just high enough, all
heads were held up straight, the guns
were evenly shouldered, and the battal-
ion, as it marched down the street, re-
minded me of coat of chain armor. all
the links being closely knit and very
strong, and yet the whole light and sup
pie. When properly clothed I ran after
the "sojers" as eagerly as any schoolboy
would have done. The Place d'Armes,
vast open field, was full of men in uni
form, and all were hard at work. The
first thing that struck me was the close
attention being given to individual in
struction, to gymnastic exercises, and to
bayonet drill. A non-commissioned
officer took the "greenhorns," one by one,
and drilled them separately he kept each
recruit at work for a long time, and care
fully criticised and corrected each move
ment if made incorrectly. All of this
was done under the eye of commits
stoned officer, but he did not say word
while I was on the ground to any of the
men. He was very courteous to me,
however, and gave me much useful in
formation. A great deal of trouble is had
in teaching the newcomers the step; it is
the same old-fashioned one invented by
Frederick the Great, and the movement
looks somewhat automatic or mechanical.
Some military critics assert that it is
fatiguing, but do not know about that,
and certainly German officers deny it
most energetically. The stride is 311a
inches and the cadence 112 per minute;
that of an English soldier is 80 inches
stride and 116cadence; that in the United
States is % inches stride and 80 cadence
in common and ITO in quick time. This
shows that the German infantry would
gain 4S inches every minute on the Brit
ish and almost mile every hour on the
Americans. Even the French, who are
VIGOROUSLY short-legged, are ahead of us
in both stride and cadence. But the
troops over here are
MUCH MORE HEAVILY WEIGHTED
Than they are in America. There are
few things that a soldier oughtnever to be
separated from-his musket, his cart
ridges, his haversack and canteen, land his
knapsack; but the knapsack ought to be
reduced to the smallest possible compass.
After man has carried it day after day
through long and weary marches, he will
find it sufficiently burdensome, no matter
how lightly it may have been packed at
the commencement of the forward move
ment. The Germans, however, do not
lay much stress on the importance of
carrying shelter tents in the field, and l
am not sure but all armies would be bet
ter off without them. Campaigns are
won as much by legs as by arms, and
10000 men capable of marching 80 miles
in day are equal to 10000 men who can
only manage 20" remarked a Major in
my presence. These Germans are stout
bodied fellows, used all their lives to en-
dure fatigue, and few pounds of over
load in their knapsacks will perhaps not
tell on them as it would on American
soldiers.
Besides exercises in marching and the
manual, each German soldier is required
to pass certain time each day at gym
nastics of varied sorts; this soon enables
the most awkward peasant to leap over
wide bitches and high fences with all the
grace and ease of trained club athlete.
As for the bavonet drill, instead of being
an affair of show on the part of the whole
company, it is
A VERITABLE FENCING MATCH.
The men are paired off, each couple fenc-
ing with their bayonets fixed as though
they really wanted to kill each other.
They wear masks, padded protectors
cover two thirds of their body, and but
tons are on the bayonet tips. Aside from
the knowledge of how to use this weapon
to the best advantage in a hand-to-hand
struggle, this system is in itself an excel
lent gymnastic exercise and one that is
highly enjoyed by the men. When two
armies are drawn up face to face and
when the cannons have been pounding
away for hours, time arrives when the
troops must be thrown at each other,
which side the "God of battles" is going
to let remain in possession of the field.
1t is when that time comes that victory
will be mighty apt to perch on the colors
of the most steady battalions where the
men know how to make good use of the
weapons that have been placed in their
hands. The Germans ought never to
quail before the enemy, they are SO well
disciplined. 1t is discipline alone which
begets that confidence that every soldier
should feel, which renders them unfinch-
ingly brave and fixes them steadfast to
their flag The townsman as well as the
peasant is of a patient, phlegmatic dispo-
sition, and his sluggish mind is easily
bent to discipline. Accustomed to life
of hardship, they both support the labors
| and fatigues of war almost without a
murmur and obey without reflection.
Nothing is more striking than the rapid
| ity of their movements, except, OF course,
| the rigid accuracy and inelasticity of the
preliminary drills that have already re-
| ferred to. 1t is believed in the German
service that perfect regularity, silence
| and steadiness are of the utmost moment,
especially in changing position under
fire. Companies and battalions at drill
or on parade are unbending and are APP
parently but an iron mass of rifles and
steel-capped helmets. No one can see
the infantry at drill without being inn
pressed by the rapid pace of their UNI
| wayering. solid lines. No other country
protects its army so eXcellently from crit
icism by press or people as Germany,
| and yet the men are
RULED WITH AN IRON HAND.
| The social difference as well as that OF
rank between the common soldier and an
officer is far greater than it is in any other
country. The soldiers of France, though
animated by the general warmth OF their
climate and their wine, are dry and small
in body, but of strong sinews and lively
imagination. They are quick, active,
susceptible to enthusiasm, and march
with great rapidity, but they are sadly
lacking in discipline. Their enthusiasm
for fame and their egotistical love OF
country fills them on occasion with Won
| derful ardor and eagerness for the fray,
but they are as changeable as the wind,
simply because officers and men refuse to
danand ON each other. Political absurd