The record-union., 1897-08-29
The FRENCH ARMY.
ITS APPEARANCE COMPARED
WITH AMERICAN TROOPS.
Nearly Three Million Soldiers Can
be Mobo1ized in About Six
teen Days.

past President Felix Faure at Long
champs. On Tuesday April 9th,
saw the fifty thousand men comprising
the elite of the regular and volunteer
forces Of the United States as they
marched past President Mckinley at
the dedication of General Grants
tomb. AT Longchamps. as at New
York, it was the National Military
Academy of each republic-the St. Cyr
cadets and those of West Point-which
Won the most marked applause for
military bearing, precision of move
ment and regularity of marching The
characteristics of the fighting force
of each nation are Well shown by their
respective corps of embryonic officers.
The st. Cyr cadets have a free, swing
ing. elastic gait, more gymnastic than
military, which forms a striking con-
traSt with the West Point step with
its steady, measured cadence. The St.
| Cyr cadet is, as a rule, shorter, less
robust and of lighter weight than his
West Point colleague. and wears an
easy, loose fitting blue tunic and wide,
airy, red trousers, quite different from
the close, sfnartly cut and severe gray
uniform of West Point. The ST. Cyr
! cadet preserves a certain individuality
/ in his appearance and manner, while
| the West Point cadets seem to be
moulded upon one and the same model,
! and ONE of them resembles another like
coins struck from the same mint. II
appeared to me that the ST. Cyr cadets
as they marched past on July 14th,
/ evinced less military precision, less ac-
curacy in alignment and less rigidity,
especially in preserving the regulation
distances, than was the case with the
West Point cadets on April 9th.
The French infantry of the line came
marching by with a nervous, swinging
yet somewhat jerky step, totally differ
emf from the fine marching" of the
United States regulars or of such crack
! corps as the New York Seventh, the
Fifth Maryland or the Boston Cadets.
In fact, the marching of the French
infantry is radically different from that
of any other army in the world. 1t
has been my good fortune to see re-
| views ait PotSdam at AlderShot, at
| Tsarskoi- Selo, at the Vienna Prater,
and I have seen Turkish and Egyptian,
American and British troops, in actual
campaign. 1t is evident that in the
march past at a review of the French
pointdng, but yet these same little
''piou- pious'' cannot be outmarched in
rapidity or in long distances by any
foot soldier in the world
| BAGGY CLOTHES, GOOD BOOTS.
The French linesman is badly tail
! ored" his clothes do not seem to fit
him properly, but on the other hand,
! he is perhaps the best shod soldier in
Europe. His plant laced shoes made
of excellent leather, comfortable, dur
able and waterproof may be consid-
cred as models. One regiment, that of
| the 311th of the reserve, which was
modified especially for the occasion,
marched past in campaign uniform
with kit and cooking utensils just as
! If they were taking the field in actual
warfare, and after the St. Cyr cadets
! it was these "reserYists who
have already served their three years
| in the active army and have since re-
| turned to civil life-who carried off the
honors of the day. The cavalry diyls-
! ion, commanded by General Rapp, was
I greeted with enthusiasm, especially
| When the charge was executed with
| startling percisdon-the troopers rein
| ing in their horses TO a halt in beautiful
alignment within twenty PAGES of the
| reviewing stands.
| There is as much difference to the
| outward eye in the bearing and APP
| pearance of a trooper of the Sd or the
9th United States Cavalry and
! French chasSeur- -cheval, or dragoon
as between the trim, well-cut uniform
Of the one and the baggy, booted over
! alls and ill-fitting tunic of the other.
! But when work begins" the French
| cavalryman proves that If he is not
ornamental he is at least useful. In
! dividually, the French horseman shows
! a want of smartness, but he is pictur-
esque enough in mass with all his blue
and scarlet If, as We see him trot-
| ting through the streets of a garrison
town, he appears anything but a fero-
cious warrior, the long line of cuiras
siers, dragons and chasseurs that
came laundering down on the reviewing
stand last Wednesday are a foe too
! formidable to be encountered with a
/ light heart
The French horseman does not ride
as well as his prototype in the United
| States regular army, but the horses of
j the French army are better and more
! serviceable than those in the United
/ States The half-bred barbs of the
chasseurs are up to any amount of
work and the heavier Normans and
Bretons of the dragons and cuirassiers,
although perhaps too light for the
weight they carry, are splendid speci-
mems of horseflesh. The French ar
tillery-believed elsewhere than in
France to be the corps d'elite of the
army-was beyond praise. The physi-
que of the personnel of the field and
horse batteries is superior to that Of
the line. and the average efficiency of
the officers is higher The steel gun
that it is armed with is a most effective
weapon-the fieldpiece of 90 NM.
weighing 1913 hundredweight, and fir
ing a II 9S-pound common shell, 1S.5-
pound shrapnel; the horse artillery gun
weighing $50 hundredweight with a
! 131J-pound common shell and a 1884
( shrapnel The large number of bat
teries attached to an army corps-more
than four guns to a thousand infan-
try and cavalry-is not the only indica-
tion that the French place great reli-
ance upon their artillery. The batter
les as they marched past on Wednesday
presented an admirable appearance.
The old maxim of spit and polish" was
not as minutely carried out as is, the
case with the batteries of the United
/ States regular army The steel names
and collar chains were in some in
stances not as bright as they might
/ have been, nor were the leather har-
nesses absolutely immaculate But
the horses are beyond criticism. and
everything pertaining to each piece and
- Ill l.,