Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-09-20
in PLACE OF CAVALRY
When Bicycles Can Be Used in War.
far<
Practical Res'st. T the Lsns Trip OF
port to he Department.

made an interesting report to the adjutant
general of the army IN regard to the BIZ
cycle trip Of twenty-one men of the 18th
Infantry, commanded by himself. and ac-
companied by assistant surgeon, from Fort
Missoula, Mont. to st. Louis. Mo-, an ac-
count of which appeared in The Star some
time ago. Lieut. Moss summarizes his ex-
perience Of the trip as follows:
Il. Too much stress cannot be laid on the
fact that all the members Of q bicycle
corps should be experienced, intelligent
| men. who thoroughly understand and can
take good care of their machines. Had I
to make the same trip again I would not.
for a moment, think Of taking single
man who had not had at least three years
experience in cycling.
2. bicycle corps. should have good
cyclist mechanic, and complete set Of re-
pairing tools. -;
so. A corps of cyclists should be armed
with carbines, which should be carried on
the bicycle itself.
in ascending or descending grades sleeper
than 40 degrees did we find our wheels to
be a hindrance: at other times, when We
could not ride, the wheel was a great aid,
as 1T was much easier to roll our bicycles
than to carry them on our persons.
.. Everything should be carried on the
machine itself, and nothing on the rider.
If placed on the body in addition TO carry
rider also experiences certain amount
of physical exhaustion from the weight
bearing on his body. Besides this, one fall
ing from a wheel with any weight secured
to the body is much more likely to sustain
an injury than one whose limbs and body
are entirely free and unhampered.
70. Brakes are necessary on military BIZ
cycles, Going down even slight grades, it
would be impossible to control, without
brakes, bicycles as heavily loaded as ours
were. Furthermore. 1t is sometimes neces-
sary to make sudden stops, which could not
be made without the aid of brakes.
~. In my opinion 1t is impossible for
one commander to handle more than forty
or fifty men on bicycles. 1t is impossible
travelling over ordinary wagon roads; every
man naturally picks the best way, and
detachment is sometimes. unavofdably
strung out over long distances IT, how
ever, it is absolutely necessary to keep the
command intact all the time. 1t could he
accomplished. in measure. by having the
corps dismount and walk over the rough
est stretches OF the road.
SO. The wind is one of the worst and most
discouraging things to contend against.
20. Steel rims or the ordinary single
wheel wood rims will not answer for mill
tary purposes. By experimenting. however.
L think the question could be readily solved.
10 Although some of the tires used did
remarkably we'll the military cyclist will
never reel safe and easy unless he has non
puncturable tfresi and one of the most i'm
portant points to be solved in military
cycling is the construction of a resilient,
pune ture-p proof tire. This will very likely
be attained within the next two or three
years. ryI
III. Bicycles to, be used for military pur-
poses should {al. be supplied with gear
interchangeable as far as possible, and the
machines so constructed that tandem
could be readiiYemade from two single
wheels; te) the crown of the front fork and
the front aXles should be unusually strong
T. No fixed rules can be adopted as to
the method of travelling. i. e., riding so
many minutes and then walking SO many
minutes. etc, etc: these things are deter
mined by the geography of the country and
other matters. The commander of a bicy-
Gle corps must simply use his judgment
about such matters. =
"13 Some han'dle-bar device for taking
up the vibration or part of it, is badly
needed. On several coca sions myself and
some of the soldiers suffered during the
day. and were kept awake at night from
pains in the hands and arms. caused from
the constant jarripg of the machines while
riding over rough roads,
II The regulation ration is not suffi-
Gent for cyclist who does much riding.
Two days rations generally lasted US for
four meals. The question of rations, like
many other points, will have to be deter
mined by experiment.
Military cycling In our army Is in its
very infancy. and no one but a person who
has had actual experience in THIS line can
fully appreciate the possibilities of the
wheel as a machine for military work
The bicycle has number OF advantages
over the horse-it does not require as much
care; 1t needs no forage: it moves much
faster over fair roads; 1t is not as con-
,spicuous and can be hidden from view
more easily: 1t is noiseless and raises but
little dust. and it is impossible to deter
mine direction from its track. Further
more the fighting strength of a bicycle
corps is not diminished by horse holders ;
Under favorable conditions the bicycle is
invaluable for courier work. scouting duty.
road patrolling. rapid reconnaissance &c
A bicycle corps as an adjunct to infantry
or cavalry could render excellent service
where speed rather than number Is requir-
ed, such as taking possession of passes
bridges and strong places ahead of the
command and holding them until reinforce
ments could be gotten from the main road.
On the other hand. in rainy weather, over
bad roads, &c. the horse is superior The
very thought of the. bicycle doing away
with the cavalry altogether is ludicrous.
Each has peculiar functions of its own
a particular field in which. under certain
conditions. the one is superior to the other.
The question, therefore, which confronts
US is: Should not a modern, up-to-date