Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-06-24
HONORS OF THE CAMP
What Critics Say of the Work Of the Ma
tional Guard.
Praise Awarded for Efficiency in
Various Kinds of Duty-Maj.
ReveIPs Battalion.

Now that the 1895 encampment of the
District National Guard is a thing Of the
past summing up of the work done and
the regulations achieved by the various
organizations participating in the camp
duties will probably be looked for. Official
reports will be slow in making their appear
ance, even in official circles, and many of
them will never reach the public eye. The
officers WHO have had immediate super
vision over the various lines of military
endeavor have, however, said sufficient
about the relative qualities of the various
battallons to render possible compare
tive statement which will doubtless be of
interest to National Guardsmen and to citi-
zehs who are interested in the brigade.
Taking into consideration all those essen
tials which contribute to the making of
soldierly reputation-ma:nly discipline, at
tendance and cleanliness of camp and
equipments-the honors are awarded by the
| obServant experts who We're present in the
camp to the first separate battalion. From
start to finish Maj. Revells' command has
been easily at the head of the column ard
TINS by consensus of opinion that will not
admit of controversy At the other end of
the column is the third battalion, but for
that TACT there are reasonably good excuses
to be offered. The third battalion is COM
posed mainly of youngsters who can hard
~ be said to have reached years of dis
erection, and practically all of them were
prior to the present encampment, strangers
Ii
ade camp in which business was attended
10. Companies A and b OF the battalion
old in many respects remarkably Well, but
Z and u wrecked completely what might
nave been a decent average. Any observer
OF National Guard events need not be a
prophet to imagine that changes of con-
siderable importance are likely to take
pldce IN the third battalion within the next
thirty days. Credit will have to be given
the third battalion, however, for having
atle iargest attendance; consideration Of
considerable Importance and one which
counterbalances some of the disciplinary
weakness, which caused some of The re-
sponsible officers of the brigade a great
deal of concern. Smallest in point of at
tendance was The second battalion.
battalion Drill.
Superiority in the matter OF battalion
drill has been awarded without difficulty
to the first battalion, weak in point of num-
bers even at The best of times, but doing so
exceedingly well as to secure clear lead
much to the qualification of Maj. B. R.
Ross, the battalion commander.
Superiority in the extremely important
matter of guard duty goes to. the fourth
battalion, the best guard mount and the
most satisfactory guard duty in camp hay-
ing been put up Icy company of the
fourth, Capt. Harry Walsh. The instruct
ing officers are unanimous in declaring that
a company of well-trained regulars would
not have done any better. The second bat
talon, Maj. R. A. O'Brien, is a close sec
ond. Sundays guard mount and the ex-
tremely heavy duty consequent upon the
presence of a great crowd having been per-
formed very satisfactorily. The worst tour
of guard duty is, unfortunately and unfair
ly perhaps, credited to company A of the
first battalion, but for that black mark
| company AS resp onsibility only extends to
its failure to have a sufficient number of
men in camp to do the duty assigned 1t.
Had company A been able to present men
enough for duty there would have been
necessity nj her
battalions of the same regiment; men who
unquestionably We're incompetent.
More HOnOrs for the First Battalion.
The best record in the aiming, sighting
and position drills-so far as numbers are
concerned-goes to the holder of the big
bouquet-the first separate battalion, while
second honors in these same drills belong
to the sixth battalion, and, of course, to
Maj. George Bartlett. But while there
have been marked differences between the
various commands en- various lines ii is
insisted by those officers whose experience
enables them to make comparisons that
even the weakest battalions in 1895 have
been far above the average of 1889 and
1S0-the two prior years when encamp-
ments were held. Measured as whole the
brigade is vastly more efficient now than
it gave evidence of being five or six years
ago. If provision is made by Congress for
an annual encampment the advance will
continue at an increased rate Of speed, say
the officers who hold responsible positions,
until there will be only little left to be de-
sired.
Closing Dress Parade.
The District National Guard reached
Washington, after its ten days outing at
Fort Washington, shortly before o'clock
Saturday afternoon and proceeded to the
White Lot, where the ceremony of dress
parade, followed by trooping the colors, was
executed for the benefit of a large number
of interested spectators. The troops were
then dismissed and the soldier lads lost no
time in getting to the armory and exchang-
ing the dustyuniforms for civilian attire. The
guardSmen were sunbrowned and presented
the appearance of warriors returning from
a campaign. Everybody was good-natured,
however, and the unanimous opinion is that
the encampment resulted in unspeakable
benefit to the brigade.