The Portland daily press., 1885-01-07

| to frighten them in the least. The
men intelligent and active, fulfilling the
conditions requisite for light artillery soldiers.
| Captain Proctor impressed me as an excellent
| officer and good instructor, while his lieuten-
| ants understood in the main. their duties and
| performed them well. In firing practice
| blank cartridges only were used, and | noticed
| that after each discharged all the Nos. l dip
| ped their sponges in buckets OF water and
| sWabbed out the guns. This manner of spong-
| ing is unnecessary, and would not be praetica-
| bic in the field; aud, moreover, it is believed
| by some authorities on ordnance that the
| moisture, in conjunction with the products of
combustion Of fred gGnpowder, creates a sub
stance which retains fire. Therefore it goes
without saying that danger of premature ex-
plosion is liable to happen from that method
of sponging. 1t is but just to Capt. Proctor to
state that, as soon as his attention was called
to it, he ordered his men to sponge in the
usual way. 1t should not be forgotten, how
ever, thar when the firing has ceased and the
battery is in park then the bores OF the guns
ought to be washed out and the pieces de-
pressed. This is requisite for their care. (See
United States Army Artillery Tactics, par.
1920
Noticing that the left piece of the left pla-
toon was not fred after the first round, 1 as
certained that several accidents had occurred
with that piece, caused, By premature explo-
sion, and that the men, in consequence there
of, had become tmid aud disliked to ire it
more than once at each drill. At the request.
the light into it with mirror. 1t was in ex-
cellent condition, as, in fact, we're the other
pieces, which were examined in like manner.
This inspection restored the confidence of the
men, and convinced them that the piece they
had considered dangerous was as safe as all
the others.
BRIGADE DRESS PARADEs.
My notes regarding the brigade dress parades
are, that no mistakes occurred except on the
first day, when the Adjutant General made
his report to the General before ordering the
adiutsnts to their posts, and also gave the
command "Salute' after the ommand "Ofi-
GERS; halt" The manual of arms was well
executed, aud at parade rest the ranks were
steady aud presented a fine appearance. A
distinguished feature of the dress parade was
the manner OF its formation, which was in line
Instead of column OF masses The bands OF both
regiments were consolidated with excellent
effect at the parades.
In the matter of salutss by the enlisted men,
both when under arms and by the hands, there
was marked neglect. l did not see single
instance of soldier standing at attention
when commissioned officer passed him, and
In many instances no attempt whatever was
made to salute commissioned officers. IL was
seldom that non commissioned officers march
ing squads or posting reliefs brought them to a
carry arms, or themselves gave the ser
geant's salute" No matter what the social
position, or what degree of intimacy may exist
between the men and officers in their homes,
they should not forget that IL is incumbent on
them to observe, on duty especially, those |
formal marks of respect and courtesy which |
among military men are indispensable to dis |
cipline.
TARGET PRACTICE.
In target practice it was patsnt to any OBJ |
server that the officers and men were partica- |
larly interested. The general inspector of |
rifle practice, Col. E. G. Harrington, had |
charge of this branch of instruction during the |
encampment, and gave it his personal super
vision, having the men at the ranges at all |
times during the day when they were not 9TH |
erwise engaged. Acknowledged, himself to |
be one Of the best shots in the State of Maine, |
t not of New England, he is so enthusiastic |
and indefatigable in his effolts to secure a |
high standard Of Workmanship of the militia |
of the State, that, in my opinion he is unques- |
tionsbly the right man in the right place. He |
visits the companies once a year, and gives |
them the benefit of his instruction, ex-
perience and skill in rifle shooting His re- |
ports on the subject show a wonderful i'm |
provement on the part CT the men. Among |
the matches the novelty match is deserving |
of special notice: Imitation men, made of one |
half inch boards, were raised at full length |
above the pit and kept in sight just five sec
onds at a time; every company had its own |
team of ten men who were ordered, in turn, to |
face the pit at distance of $50 yards advance |
until the wooden men appeared, then halt, |
load and fire at them, one round per man,
keeping this up until each man had had an
opportunity OF firing ten shots; the time from |
the first advances to the last halt was two min |
utsss and shortest distance from the pit was |
100 yards. Examination of the target men |
showed that they had been hit on an average of |
twenty-seven times to company, or, in other |
words 27 per cent. of shok fired were hit. 1t |
cannot be gainsaid, think, that these are re-
markably good scores for quick and off-hand |
firing.
CONCLUSION.
Brigadier General Brown, who served with
distinction in the late war, and who was Sc
verely wounded in front of Petersburg while
in command of the Thirty-second Maine Inf,
was assiduous in his endeavors to make the
camp camp of instruction. The result of his
personal efforts and example, combined with
the happy faculty he possesses of being able to
command large bodies of men with tact as
well as with dignity, was seen in the marked
improvement of his brigade during the short
time it was in camp. In this he was assisted
by competent staff and by the field officers of
his regiment, who promptly and cheerfully |
carried out his orders. Take it all in all, it is
my judgment that in department, drill, ap-
pearance, the condition of the arms acooutre-
ments and clothing, and in marksmanship,
the volunteer militia of Maine will compare
favorably with that of any other State. The
troops composing it are intslligent, active, aud
hardy and able bodied men, who could be re-
lied upon in any emergency that might arise
which required their services. Between the /
ages OF nineteen and thirty-fve, having the
professions, trades and occupations of the
typical New England city and town, they re-
minded me of the volunteer regiments that
Maine furnished in the war of the rebellion,
the record of whose splendid services on almost
every battle field of that war Is reposited in /
the archives of the State and written in the
history Of the nation.
It was particularly gratifying to me to note
the good feeling that was expressed on every |
popular with the militia of Maine.