The daily morning journal and courier., 1897-08-18
OUR TROOPS IN MIMIC WAR
DAY OF WEARY MARCHING AND
 HARD WORK AT CAMP COOKE.

tatls-News About the Tented City.
 Yesterday was day of weary marching and hard work generally for the soldier boys at Camp Cooke, Man. tic. The day broke cloudless and cool, and at an early hour the camp was awake and all were getting ready for the important work of the day.
 Reveille and roll call were at 5:45 a. m., followed by breakfast, police call and guard mounting, The important work of the day was outpost duty, for the first time in four years that these manoeuvres have been executed at camp. The formations for outpost duty were made shortly after o'clock. The four regiments of the brigade. battery A and machine guns participated in the movement. The men carried their haversacks with cooked rations for one meal, and twenty rounds of ammuni- tiion were issued to each infantry man. great care being taken to see that no stray bullet cartridges got mixed with the blanks.
 One thousand rounds of ammunition were taken by each of the four ma chine gun platoons and twenty rounds for each gun of the light battery, 1eav- ing the camp deserted of nearly all but the guard.
 Leaving camp the regiments deployed along two roads leading to the vest ward toward Roxbury road which lies west of Indian Woods, which are near 1x, composed the advance guard.
 The First and Third moved into posi- tion by the north road, the Second and Fourth by the parallel south road. Reaching Roxbury road the lines were formed for the manoeuvres.
 Three lines were formed. First, sen- tinels; second, pickets, and third, sup- port.
 The First and Fourth regiments were held in reserve with the battery and machine gun plattoons.
 The details of the movement were conducted by Colonel Burdett of the First.
 The efficiency of the outpost was test ed by twenty-four scouts, five privates and an officer from each of the four regiments, who dressed in fatigue uni form to make them distinguishable and were sent half a mile in advance and commanded to get by the cordons of sentries, pickets and supports as best they might, and report to camp They were forbidden to don civilian clothes or hide in passing wagons, but could avoid observation in sny other way they possible.
 If seen and fired at or halted before they got fifty yards beyond the line, it was considered a halt, and the attempt to run the blockade a failure.
 Three lines of outposts spread out to cover three quarters of mile, advanc- ed slowly, covering every foot of the ground. The efficiency of the outposts is shown by the fact that only one of the twentyfour scouts was able to get through the lines and report at camp. Private Bartram was the solitary man. He is member of the Second regiment. Co. l, of Meriden, and was the center of much admiration among his com- rades last evening. He was one of the five men detailed from the Second reg iment under Lieutenant Smith of the Grays. The other men were Corporal Curtis of Go. F, Privates Applegate of Co. B, Private Barnett of Go. G and Private Shindler of Go. G.
 Other regimental details were com- manded as follows: Lieutenant Chap- man, c. First regiment; Lieutenant Morgan, Q. M., Third regiment; Lieu- tenant Joy, E., Fourth regiment.
 The difficulty of escaping the outposts is best shown by Private Bartram's own story as to how he got through. He said: T was passed by the first line as lay hidden beneath the leaves of bunch of bushes behind g. stump. One of the advancing party stepped upon the stump and then clean over me, but did not observe me- I was just about crossing road when heard the second line advancing upon me. at once secreted myself in the bushes beside the road. A party of horsemen of the regimental staff pass- ed close beside me, and Lieutenant Colonel Callahan of the Second refined up his horse almost within hand reach of the place where I was lying hidden They passed on, and shortly after [ supposed I must be safely past the third and last line also and stepped into blacksmith shop for drink. While there he warned me that the men were coming, and I ran out of the back door. I avoided this last line by swim ming past them about a quarter of a mile in Pickerel pond. I was seen and fired upon when seventy-five or a hun- dred yards by them but safe according to the rule. I came to camp and re- ported to the proper officer''
 Private Bartram had his clothes dry- ing on his tent pole last evening" Lieu tenant Smith, with some of the other men of his detail, was halted after passing two lines of the outposts. Most of the scouts were captured by squads of the outposts, who, surrounding a supposed ambuscade, would march in toward the center, rendering escape al- most impossible.
 Thirteen scouts were captured in this manner. The fourteenth was Bartram, and Private Vincent, also of the Sec ond regiment, Company I, is said to be the only man to bring in scout single handed. He bagged Private James Carney of Company H, First regiment. all alone.
 Captain Lathrop's Wilkins Tigers. Separate company (colored). of this city. captured three of the twenty-four scouts.
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