Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1888-03-10
In THE NORTHWEST.
GARRISON LIFE ON THE WILD
FRONTIER.
diers' Duties and ADJUSTMENTS
in an Isolated Place.

Harrison lie on the frontier; says / orr
Keogh Mont correspondent of the
Philadelphia Record, is not so pleasant in
many ways as most Eastern people would
be apt to imagine. A fort nowadays, in
the fullest acceptation of the term, Is no
fort at all-merely a collection of houses
and stables dropped down anywhere on
the prairie, and just far enough distant
from each other TO be beyond easy mutual
communication. This fort, for instance, is
laid out in the shape of diamond, with
officers quarters fronting on two sides,
while the barracks of the enlisted men
occupy the remaining half. The center is
a beautiful level lawn, called the parade
ground, in the middle of which is lofty
staff for the garrison flag, and the whole is
used for drills, exercises and, in fact. for
ali company and battalion maneuvers.
When an extended skirmish line is to be
formed the companies are march beyond
the gar rison limits and then the whole
open prairie, stretching out miles in every
direction, can be utilized for this most
important drill, which has become the
chief tactical exercise for modern warfare
No longer will the serried phalanxes OF
modern armies march into action as they
used TO do. Artillery and repeating rifles
have stopped all that. Hereafter infantry
fighting will be done in skirmish line, and
at long range in the bargain.
&C
run all the way from one-company posts tC
twelve or fourteen. In the early days Of
hostilities up this way Fort Keogh was q
most important station, and accommodated
at one time full regiment of infantry and
four troops of cavalry, besides a regimental
band. There are here now seven com
panies of infantry, one troop of cavalry and
regimental band. The latter is kept here
by reason of the fact that this particular
fort is the headquarters of the Fifth In.
fantry. The same rule holds good through:
out the service; wherever headquarter-
are there viii the band be stationed a
regiment of cavalry, under the present or
ganization, consists of twelve companie.
and band The officers are: One Col
onel, one LIeutenant-Colonel,t three Ma
.jors, twelve Captains, fourteen First Lieu
tenants and ten Second Lieutenants. The
two extra First Lieutenants in each or,
ganization are the Regimental Adjutant
and Quartermaster The Adjutant is {
sort of chief clerk of the concern. He does
or manages all the clerical work, receive.
and answers all communications, for il
would be considered breach of etiquette
to address communication direct t
the commanding officer. Everything
should be done through the Ad
jutant. The Quartermaster has got
to be rustler to keep pace with
his business. This is an exceedingly diff
cult position to fill acceptably, for that
officer, as rule, is the most roundly
abused of all in the military service, and
in nine cases out of ten the fault does not
lie at his door. A company organization
is one Captain, one First Lieutenant and
| one Second Lieutenant. Seldom is it that
a company is completely differed. If the
Captain be present he will command in
person, but his Lieutenants are detached
for one thing or another-away from the
post on special duty at colleges, West
Point, recruiting service, sick, vacancy
in the company, or from a hundred other
| causes or if present at the post they are
temporarily detached specially to perform
such duties as those of Post Adjutants
Post Quartermasters, Post Commissaries
Instructors of Rife Practice, ordnance
officers, Provost Marshals, or off in the
field surveying, escorting Paymasters, chas
ing Indians, and the like. The duties O
all officers and soldiers are calculated t.
teach any tenderfoot on short notice tha
the military servants of Uncle Sam away
out here on the frontier completely an(
thoroughly earn every cent they get by
the grace of Congress.
a soldier is enlisted for FIVE years WHY
any man voluntarily comes into the sery
ice it is hard to say. There are variou,
reasons, and, Us rule, the personnel Of
the enlisted line is very fair indeed, and
they are quite credit to themselves Il.
well as to the flag they represent. The
pay is small, duty neither hard nor labor
ious and the discipline strict In the
ranks of the army to-day we have Il,
bright talent and Is well-read and edu
Gated men as can be found in any other
profession or trade on earth. Some of the
finest officers who to-day wear the shoulder.
straps of high commissions have risen
| from the ranks by their own endeavors and
by steadiness under hard trials and tribu.
lations. OF course, it is easier serving the
| United States at Fort Monroe Fort Porter
Governors Island and elsewhere in the
| East than 1t is far out here in the high
Northwest, under the shadow Of the giant
Rockies.
MOSQUITOES NUMEROUS AND PERsisTING
In summer it is pretty plain sailing, al
| though at some OF the posts distributed
| along the Missouri river it is not safe OF
comfortable for the soldier, or officer either
to attempt to do guard duty or other WORT
at the hight of the warm season unles.
well protected by head-nets and castiror
| gloves, on account of the ways of The
festive mosquitoes. These interesting in
| sects are built for business in this latitude
They come in swarms, and are SO numer
Gus and so persisting that it is not exagger
alton to say that life is positively 2 burden
for a few weeks of each year. Mules
ponies, horses and cattle ali suffer terribly
from these pests, while man would als(
| find existence next TO unbearable should
he not be able to provide himself with
adequate protection in the way Of head
nets ana long-armed gantlets.
A WIDE RANGE OF TEMPERATURE.
In summer we have had the temper.
allure as high as 1889 F. in the shade. Or
the night of January 18th last the Their.
mometer at this point sank to the awful
temperature of 65o below zero. Putting
the two together, we get range of 1889,
the difference between the extremes, which
leaves it pretty hard matter for any other
spot on the known globe to parallel. Or
the night in question the writer was in the
open air, well wrapped up and comfortably
protected by furs, and, to own up to the
plain honest facts, felt little or no discom.
fort while experiencing this wonderful de.
gree of cold. Mercury freezes at 39o OF
400 minus, and after that spirit thermom.
eters must be depended upon On that
occasion, except when breathing through
the mouth instead of through the nostrils
it was hard to conceive that the spirit
bulb was cayorting around the 60 minus
Il. u