Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1885-12-10
M(istellaueous &eadiug.
UNCLE SANS SOLDIERS.
GLIMPSE OF LIFE IN THE REG ULAR ARA

General James S. Brisbin, in command at
Fort Niobrara, Nebraska, says in the course
of long letter to the Chicago Tribune:
What do we do from morning until night
every day in the army? Lots of things;
and if YOU think it is dull and idle to be at
frontier post just come and let me put
you on duty for a day or two. Take pri-
vate soldier in the army, subject to all the
rules and regulations of military post.
Just at daybreak and when he wants most
to sleep the earth seems to be split open by
mighty boom from the great gun on the
parade ground, and the bugles call our mer-
rily, "Get up, soldier; get up, soldier;" and
get up he must, and be lively about it, too,
or the sergeant will help him out of bed.
1t is not yet 6 o'clock, and to give him a
good appetite for his breakfast the sergeant
will drill him for an hour. At $50 comes
the regular assembly, when you fall in and
answer to your name at roll call. AT 6.35
sick call will 60, and if you feel very bad
and wish yourself at home with your moth
er you can 60 up to the hospital and the
doctor will give you pill. After that you
can get some breakfast. At 7.45 fatigue
call will be sounded, and you will be turned
out to work. At $50 there is a guard
mounting. If you are not for guard you
can keep on working until las, when recall
will sound and you can then come in to
dinner. One hour and fifteen minutes is al
lowed for dinner and rest. At p. NJ. fa-
tigue-call will sound again, and you will go
out for an afternoons work, if you are not
for drills. At recall will 60, and if you
are q cavalryman you must 60 down to the
stables and feed and groom your horse for
an hour. At you will get your supper.
At sunset you will fall in for retreat and
answer roll-call again. You will proba-
bly, be drilled for half an hour at the manu-
al of arms, or attend dress parade and be
run about to try your wind. After that you
can attend school for half an hour to an
hour, and then reflect on home and all its
pleasures until 8, when tattoo will sound
and you will be turned out for another roll
CALL At $50 taps will sound, and you must
not. Not light is alloWedi in quarters after
taps, and no talking or moving about. If
you are not sleepy you can count over in
your mind 1000 two or three times until
you fall asleep, or you may reflect silently
on the greatness of your government. Next
morning you will again be awakened sud-
denly out of your sleep by the great gun, to
go through the same thing as the day before.
The variations in your life will be when
you are detained in the quartermaster's de-
partment to drive a team of six unruly
mules after night. No matter if you do not
know anything about driving a team; you
must learn it, By-and by you will be de-
tanned as company cook and made to cook
for fifty or sixty men; then you will be
put in the bake-house and made to learn
bread-making. If you are handy with an
ak you will be sent out to cut saw logs or
wood, or attend at the Sawmil. Should
you have an aptness for tools, the quarter
master will have you detained as carpen-
ter, and you must build houses, stables, lay
sidewalks, mend wagons, and do whatever
you are set to do. Ifyou do not do it well,
or grumble, they will arrest you, put you in
the guard-hOuse, prefer charges against you
for conduct to the prejudice of good order
and military discipline, and court-mar-
tial will sit on you, stop your pay for
month, and order you to be worked under
guard for month or two. Ifyou are very
efficient, in a year or two you may get to be
corporal, and the last year of your five
years enlistment a sergeant, but this will
not help you much, for you have all the
more to do and the captain will he after
you constantly. You will have to be con-
stantly on the alert and efficient by day
and by night, or you will be reduced to the
ranks.
But the officers-I hear you say-they
have good easy time of it, with nothing to
do but draw their pay. An officer is con-
stantly on duty with his men, and that is
sufficient answer. l have officers that go
out as soon as they get their breakfasts and
are on the 60 all day long. They have
hardly time to eat their meals. Take, for
example, the target-range officer. Shoot
ing begins as soon as it is light enough to
see bull's-eye at Il hundred yards, and
continues until night shuts out the BULBS
eye from sight. The range officer is on
duty all day, and a company officer for
each company. AS there are generally only
two officers and often only one, for duty
with the company, you can readily see they
have no snecure They must attend all
drills, stables, roll-calls and parades. Add to
this boards of survey, courts martial, officer
of the day, and other duties, and they are
kept constantly on the go. All hay, wood,
oats and stores are received at posts by
boards of officers.
know very generally citizens think SOL
diers have an easy time Of it in the army,
but this arises from an ignorance Of the
service and its duties. have been school
| teacher, farmer lawyer, editor and various
other things in time, and / can say sim
cerely | never worked so hard as have had
to do in the army. When one gets up to
be teld-ohicer it is not so hard, but even
then there is great deal to do, and for the
captains, lieutenants and privates the work
of u soldiers life is simply prOdigious.
Promotion is very slow, and OF all the young
men who enter the army as officers only
one in ten ever becomes field officer. OF
the enlisted men only one in seven or eight
becomes a corporal or sergeant.
And is there no light to this dark picture
of army life? | hear you say. Yes; army
life is not wholly without its pleasures.
When the days work is done and the even
ing comes on, the men gather on the broad
porches of their quarters and laugh and
chat or play games. They can go, too to
the post traders and drink beer and play
pool or billiards. They have also their
days off duty, when they can go on pass to
the neighboring village and have a good
time. They can get hunting passes and &C
out hunting and fishing for a whole week if
they choose. They have baseball clubs,
and are allowed to play ball Sundays.
Saturday afternoon is given to the soldiers
to clean up for Sunday morning inspection,
and, as the cleaning necessary only takes an
hour or so, they have most of the afternoon
to themselves. They have theatrical troupes,
balls and parties, and are allowed to be out
of quarters until - at MI ght when there are
plays, dances, etc., at the post.
The officers have their weekly hops at
the larger post, dinner parties, social games
at cards, picnics, and private theatricals
They spend good deal of their time even
ings at the officers club room at the post
traders establishment, and play cards, bill
Iards, or drink beer. There used to be a
great deal of gambling and drinking in the
army, but that is now pretty much done
away with, and st would be hard to find
steatlier or more quiet set Of men than our
army officers at frontier posts.
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