Evening star., 1896-11-14

tne morning, ne never SpOllS the 1OD Dy ~
| ing down in his stall before morning in
spection and drill. Aside from his natural
esprit du regiment he wouldn't subject his
| rider to such an humiliation for worlds.
It should be mentioned here, by the way,
that cavalrymer, officers and men, are
| unalterably opposed to the system which
| compels them, when they are transferred
| from one post to another, to leave behind
| the horses, to the training of which they
] have often devoted years. 1t is q greater
wrench than can be imagined for the cav
alryman to leave his faithful friend behind
him, and all hands are eager for the re-
| sumption of the system which permitted
| them to take their horses along with them
| when they were shifted.
| Personal Attachments.
| The mere separation Is not the worst Of
| the present system The questionable judg-
| ment of 1t lies in the fact that very many
| cavalrymen so train their horses to fierce
| ly resent being even touched by other
hands than those of the riders to whom
! they have become accustomed. Thus when
| troop is transferred to a new post the
soldiers under the present system, have a
pretty hard siege for while in overcom-
| Ing the animosity of horses that make all
sorts OF Efforts to eXLel them from their
stalls as intruders.
During the summer and autumn seasons
the most of the drills at Fort Myer take
place on the large parade ground overlook
Ing Arlington cemetery. They are largely
few sights even In and around Washington
that are better worthy visit than the
beautiful, and at times even inspiring, evo-
| lutions and exercises of this squadron of
cavalry.
The dress parade of the week takes place
on Friday mornings. 1t is fine ceremony,
with band accompaniment, but it Is such a
dignifed AFFAIR that the visitor sees none
| Of the phenomenal rough riding that is a
feature of the ordinary drills on other
days: The so-called monkey drill of the
cavalry is good deal more interesting, and
quite as difficult, anything in the horse
manship line to be seen under circus tent.
| To be good cavalryman in the American
service nowadays soldier must become
quite as expert in his business as a circus
rider Of the first class. During the progress
of the monkey drills'' at Fort Myer the
soldiers perform feats Of horsemanship that
circus riders only attempt on star occa-
s1onS, and often attempt them unSuccesS-
fully.
Some Skillful Riding.
The professional riders in tights, for in
stance, are very few in number who COM
monty exhibit to the public the extremely
difficult feat of leaping from the ground
upon the back of a horse in full galloping
career, lighting upon the bare, glossy back
upon their feet, without SO much touch
ing the horse with their hands, and cen
tlnuing the swift ride standing. Those of
the circus riders who do this. and make a
great to-do over it, wear cloth mecca sins,
n,
the better to enable them to stick on. Cav
alry-nen at Fort Myer account il common
enough thing to perform this skillful feat
| in their regular riding boots.
These soldiers do not hesitate at any of
the tricks in horsema nshD in use among
the Indians of the plains among the
steppes-ranging Cossacks of the Russian
empire. They jump astride their horses
backward "a Scheme for a successful re-
treat to give the retreating party a good
firing aim at the pursuing enemy and
have reduced the Indians fashion of con-
cealing themselves from the enemy by en-
tirely screening themselves on the farther
side of horse, and thus speeding away
like the wind, to higher science than the
Indians hemselves.
They stand on their saddles, grasping the
Bride with the left hand, and blaze away
with the pistol in the right They vault
completely over the backs of horses in mid
saiop sometimes by lightly touching the
saddle pommel with one hand, oftener ly
not touching the horse or saddle at all
They teach their horses the tricks CT the
hunter, and take fences Of amazing height
with more amazing ease. Many of them
lift their horses over the bars while kneel-
ing in the seats of their saddles. They
uncinch their saddles and cast them away
while plunging along at racing speed
Then. on their return, they scoop up the
saddles with one hand, still going at
gallop sling them over their horses backs
and ride with uncinched saddles.
Their daring in performing these feats
knows no bounds. and even the recruits
''just put to duty after having gone
through the drilmasters' ordeals, are in
sp!red to the successful accomplishment of
all manner Of difficult tricks. 1t is the old
timers In the service, however-the men
who, in actual conflicts the border, have
often been obliged to resort to their skill
in horsemanship to preserve their scalps-
who are the most skillful In these exercises
Keeps Them Active.
The constant exercise in the saddle which
rot fn lyaa, l,f,,
timber and active long after the period that
the less active foot soldier regards as
proper retiring time. Among the four
troops at Fort Myer there are any number
OF clipper-built. clean-limbed, gray-haired
men OF fifty, who have been in the cavalry
service for from twenty to thirty years,
who In these monkey drills are able still
to give the boys" cards and spades and
then beat them.
Nor must it for a moment be imagined
that the officers do not gambol through the
same feats performed by the men. They
DO. and with equal enthusiasm and skill
They are all West Pointers, and nearly
every one Of them has seen hard Indian
service. Four Of the officers of the 9th
have medals Of honor. which are Just as
hard to get as the Victoria Crosses bestow-
ed upon the bravest of the brave in the
British service.
The line of demarcation between officer
and man is less strictly drawn in the cav
airy than in any other branch of the SER
vice. 1t is necessarily so. In the perform
ance of 80 much field and frontier work
officers and men are thrown more closely
together than those of the other arms In
order TO appreciate this, one would have to
chance upon a squadron of cavalry making
long practice march through the western
states. A good deal of the military fub-
dub of garrisons is for the time done away
with on such occasions, and the constant
exchange Of number four" salutes is tenn
porarily abandoned Officers and men eat
from the same mess kits, and borrow smok-
ing tobacco from each other When the
squadron gets into garrison after having
been out on one Of these practice marches
for months all hands look alike The Off
GERS are practically indstinguishable from
the men. All are equally begrimed heavily
bearded, seedy, sometimes bare footed
Such a march brings out the good points
both Of officers and men, and they gener-
ally think a whole lot of each other at its
conclusion.
In the Drill Hall.
During the winter months the drills of
the squadron at Fort Myer all take place
in the large brick drill hall Wednesday is
the day especially set aside for visitors and
during the past few years Washington's
uppertendom has been out in force at the
Fort Myer drill hall every Wednesday. 1t