Weekly commercial herald. (Vicksburg, Miss.) 1884-18??, 1885-07-10

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Columbus Ridemen. Of historic record,
having been organized 10 1887 and
gone through two wars maintaining
their Organization for nearly city
years. They are = splendid l0t az
men.
hThe Claiborne Light Guards. Capt.
G. Englessing commanding. was
the last company Of those entered TO
arrive, having been delayed By 3 run
of on the Valley road. They are a
fine set Of men.
The judges, Capt. Frank 7. Hamil-
ton, Second Artillery, Y, s. a., station.
cd at Little Rock, Ark. (senior judge)
Lieut.. H. Z. Hawthorne, Second Artil-
lery, U. S. A., stationed At Mt. Vernon,
Ala, and Lieut.. R.W. Dowdy, us. A.,
stationed at Sewanee, Tenn met Fri
day evening, and decided by lot the
place in the order Of the drill Of
the respective companies, resulting Ia
the Volunteer Southrons HrsE, Clai-
borne Light Guards second. Aberdeen
Guards third, Columbus Rifemen
fourth. The programmes were long
and hard ones, and were placed IN the
hands Of the respective companies
about one hour before they were or
dered ito the field, The pro-
grammes were made as nearly the
same length as possible. Eleven
o'clock was appointed as the hour for
the commencement Of the drill, and by
that time an immense crowd had
gathered at the fair grounds. The
day was far from favorable, and every
sign indicated rain. Promptly at IL
O'Clock, in response to the bugle call
from the judges stand, the Volunteer
Southrons marched out to the field.
AS they passed the grand stand three
cheers were given for them, and
enthusiastically given. As, with the
steady tread Of conddence, the favorites
unanswered into line for inspection,
it was evident they had made up their
minds to do their whole duty,
officers and privates. The inspec-
ton was evidently satisfactory, as
fault was found with only two guns.
They certainly presented a superbly
elegant appearance. In the manual Of
arms, both with and without numbers,
they were about as nearly perfect as
any set of men can hope to be. They
loaded and fred as one man. In this
department Of the drill they
are far superior to any other
Of the four companies. The
weather by this time had become op
pressively hot and sultry, and rain be
gan to fall. Still the drill went on
notwithstanding the rain and mud
and the company had about half com
pleted the field movements when Pri
vate Charley Beer, overcome by tn,
heat, tainted and had to be borne from
the field. His place was taken b,
Jim Phillips. 1t was eviden
the men were suffering from
the heat and mud, and soon Franz
Bonelli was called on to take the placl
of Private Henry Trowbridge, who ha,
been overcome by the heat, and sool
Frank Broughton was compelled Il
drop out, his place being taken By
George Cox. These misfortune
evidently had a depressing eff
feet on the balance of the
men, but it was remarkable how soor
they recovered, and executed some Of
the most difficult movements Of the
programme in splendid form. This
reporter noticed at least three errors
by Captain Searles, and a very damag-
ing error by First Lieutenant Martin
AS was afterwards developed
the Volunteer Southrons finish,
de their programme and put
one extra movement before time was
called on them, a feat not accomplished
by any other organization. AS they
marched from the field in as perfect
order as they went, the verdict was
that they had made a fine drill, and
that the company that did better
would certainly win the first place
They were cheered more heartily. DR.
O'Leary, the company surgeon, was on
hand. and at once took charge of the
disabled men and soon had them all
right.
The Claiborne Light Guards came on
the field in good form, but 1t was soon
apparent that they had no chance to
take first place, and little chance fol-
second place, owing to numerous er.
rors by the captain and company. II
was thought by competent critics that
they had the hardest programme, a:
well as very hard drilling. owing to the
rain and mud. But their apparent fail
ure did not prevent their numerous
friends from cheering them heartily al
they left the field.
AS the Aberdeen Guards marched tt
inspection three cheers were proposed
and given with a zest. 1t was ap
parent that they would put up a goot
drill. But their first shortcoming wa;
on inspection, and they also
lost on the manual, both witt
and without the numbers. In Thu
field movements they recovered re
markedly, and put up a first
class drill, though Capt. DinkinS
made several bad errors. The
Aberdeen Guards, it seemed to this
writer, were the most responsive to
proner orders and executed a wrong